Balmorhea State Park Campground

You don't go here to Camp and I'm not impressed with the campground. Basic sites, varying amenities, HOT in summer. But, Clean bath house. On the fun side, it's over run with jack rabbits. You've never seen so many jack rabbits. However, people don't go here to camp, they go here to SWIM. Fantastic CCC spring fed swimming pool that is so deep in sections that divers come here to qualify. There is also a great historic motel. Cabins that are reasonable. Short hiking trail through the 'wetlands'.
Balmorhea is not much of a town, basic supplies and gas. This is however a great place to take a break from I20 and a must see if going south into Big Bend Country. You won't regret spending at least one night here during hot weather and if you have kids they will NOT want to leave. Lots of 'townies' on the weekend, get down to the pool early and stake a spot. Where in earth the townies come from, who knows! Bring your floaties and rubber ducks.
This is not your typical camping experience, but oh what fun you'll have cooling off!

This campground is in the middle of nowhere, about 11 miles off Interstate 10. One can see the green amongst the dry, brown, sandy background. The campground is very clean, sites are pull through sin arch form with electric, water, and cable (did not work in our site). Dump station on the way out of the campground, all the sites have a pavilion over the camping table, with a fire ring, and bar-b-cue pit. Lots of birds, and animals in the park, a pair of Great Horned Owls make their home at this park. The park was built around the San Solomon Springs, a giant natural pool was made from the waters of the spring. The spring flow through creeks, and canals to ciénagas (desert ponds). No Wi-Fi in the park, and Verizon it's not to powerful here. Satellite antenna was easy to set up, since the park, and our site does not have much coverage. The bathrooms, and bathhouse need TLC, they were in bad shape. The park offers scuba, and snorkeling in the spring pool. Only one gas station in town, and no stores, or restaurants, the closest stores are 30-40 minutes away either Fort Davis, or Pecos. Near by attractions Ft. Davis National Park, and the McDonald Observatory.

You have to enjoy the water if you are looking to take advantage of this 46 acre park. We stayed in the campground, a private pull through site with electric and water, a picnic table and fire ring. The swimming pool is the main attraction here and, make no mistake, you and your family can easily spend the day at the pool, and picnic in the park area at one of the many shaded tables surrounding the pool.

The pool is not your usual fare but takes up an acre and a half (60,000 square feet), and has a depth that reaches 25-30 feet at the deep end. Entirely spring fed this pool is not chlorinated because 2.5-3M gallons of water cycles through the pool on a daily basis. Crystal clear water allows swimmers to observe the endangered pupfish, the catfish, and even turtles, all of who cycle in and out through the springs. Water temp is a constant 72F-76F. On a hot day, you will find the pool completely refreshing.

A snack bar is on site, run independently, and has a variety of lunch and snack items in addition to basic pool toys like noodles and inner tubes. The cost to access the park is $7/person. Consider bringing in your RV to park for the day in a lot adjacent to the main lot. The campground is the only place for overnight use. Check the park for pool hours as evening vary depending on sunset time. If you want to wear your kids out, pack a picnic lunch and come for the day. If you camp overnight, enjoy the Dark Sky park and the abundant rabbits that come out at dusk.

We stayed for 2 nights and enjoyed our stay. The campsites have pretty views of the mountains and each site has a nice covered patio with picnic table. The spring-fed pool was the main attraction for us to visit and we loved it. I was glad the weather was hot while we were there because the pool water is cold but feels very refreshing when it's 90 degrees outside. I wish we had thought to get snorkel gear before we went. They don't sell it there which was odd. Verizon coverage was good.

This state park is only 46 acres, so don’t expect hiking, biking or grand vistas. Do expect the most incredible swimming pool ever. Built by the CCC in the 1930’s, the pool covers 1.75 acres and holds 3 million gallons of water. The temp is a constant 72-76°, and you get to swim with the fishies, turtles, and local water birds. The depth varies from 3 feet to 25 feet and is enjoyed by everyone from little kids to scuba divers.

The campground is paved with both back-in and pull-through sites. We had a water/electric (50amp) pull through site that was very spacious. No shade or privacy between sites, but most are well spaced and many have a covered picnic area. There is a dump station.
The park grounds have a series of canals and bridges and the 18-room San Solomon Court also built by the CCC. More recently a reconstructed desert wetlands and pond were built to mitigate the loss of aquatic habitat.

Daily rate with W/E was just $14. There is a state park daily $7 per/person entrance fee which is waived if you purchase the $70 annual pass.

We had 3 bars of Verizon 4G unboosted and 4 bars boosted.

There's not a lot of options when you're going through west Texas. The towns are tiny, and you just have to realize you're in BFE and deal with it.
This was totally BFE. The nearest Walmart was 1 hr away. No decent laundromats nearby or grocery stores etc.
With that said, it was a good little state park. Cheap, friendly, and cable hookups although they were staticky.
The bathrooms were not great and the showers turned themselves off after 10 seconds so you had to keep hitting the button. Very annoying. Plus only 1 was working. I would stay here again if I was passing through but not for more than a few days.
Check out the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Gardens for excellent hiking trails and beautiful views. It's about 40 min drive but I couldn't find any closer hiking.

Site accessibility (Roads in are good. The sites themselves were spacious) - 4
Campground location (Nothing around here at all) - 1
Nearby amenities (Very small market, not much else) - 1
Site Privacy (Good spacing) - 3
Campground amenities (Bathrooms were not very nice, onsite dump) - 2
Dog friendly (Not a lot of walking space other than walking around the campground) - 2
Activities (The spring is really it) - 2
Cost ($17/night for 50amp W/E with cable) - 5
Staff friendliness (staff was nice) - 5
Connectivity (Good Verizon and ATT, no OTA but cable) - 4
Total rating = 2.9

Quiet spot to get away from the Interstate and spend a night. If you have your parks pass then it's pretty economical, not sure if I would do it again without a parks pass, the extra $14 makes it a little pricey.

The pool looks pretty cool and if you are coming for that great. The campground itself is kind of tight and dumpy but hey, it'll be nice and quiet tonight I'm sure.

Boosted VZN 4 down, 7 up