Red Arroyo Campground

We stayed in the Red Arroyo campground at San Angelo State Park for one night. There was good separation between sites. It was a Monday night in June so it was not very crowded. Our site backed onto the lake which was disappointing because it was down. Site was asphalt and reasonably level. We were able to get local TV stations on our antenna. As with most state parks, there was no wifi. There are longhorns at the entrance to the park.

Add the $4 per person, per day entrance fee. Our 3 nights were $84 because of that. We choose a drive through loop site that faced rolling hills with a glimpse of the 6% full reservoir. The park is filled with Geocaches, which my caching husband loved. We took many hikes, hitting dozens of caches. We drove through all the roads several times in late afternoon and were rewarded with many deer, bison and longhorns. It was windy off and on, not sitting outside in the evening weather. We didn't need the bathrooms, however they were clean, if dated. Electric and water were fine. If we had more time actually in the park, biking would have been great. We did see several people out in kayaks, we didn't have time to use ours.

We have enjoyed staying at San Angelo State Park because of the natural things it offers. We stayed in the Red Arroyo campground. The sites are large and well-spaced apart. You don't have much privacy due to the lack of trees since this is where the prairie and desert come together, but the distance between sites helps. Also, having a picnic table and covered shelter at each site is a nice touch.

One thing we noticed is that when the wind gets going here it really blows hard, so be prepared to take care of anything that might need to be held down. Several times it was bad enough that we had to close our roof vent.

The night sky is decent because it's so wide open, unfortunately, it's not as dark as we had hoped because of the lights from nearby San Angelo. You also tend to hear some road noise -- it's not bad, just louder than we expected considering how this place seems like it would be in the middle of nowhere from most of the pictures. Given the expansive horizon, though, you're in for some really cool sunrises and sunsets right from your campsite.

The hiking, biking, and equestrian trails here offer a lot of variety and with 50 miles of them, it's tough to get bored. Note that the North and South units have separate trail systems and there's no road within the park to reach the two units. You have to drive out on the main road and it's too far to bike or walk.

In addition to trails, make sure you check out the wildlife blind set up near the Red Arroyo loop, plus on Saturday and Wednesday mornings, the rangers do supplemental feeding of the bison and longhorn cattle herds, bringing them right up to the fence for visitors to see. It's a nice treat! As you hike, you're likely to see plenty of wildlife, too. We have seen deer, owls, birds, and javelinas so far.

Cell service was pretty good for Verizon and T-Mobile. (2-3 bars consistently)

The only real complaint (other than tiring of the wind after a while) was that the bathrooms are really old. They are kept clean and the showers were hot with good, modern showerheads. But in Red Arroyo, there is only one shower for women and one for men for the whole campground. And there also are very limited toilets in the main bathhouse and the secondary bathhouse has at least one defunct toilet in the men's room. The whole park could use a bathroom/shower house overhaul. It hasn't been very busy with campers here but we could see that a busy season could wreak havoc on bathroom availability.

Note that if you're coming for O.C. Fisher Lake, that is a reservoir that is emptying out and never likely to come back. A ranger told us the lake is at about 6-8% of its glory days. The place is filled with boat ramps to nowhere and when hiking you can find several abandoned campground loops.

All-in-all a good place to stay but go in with your eyes open.

We enjoyed staying here for a couple of nights. Although the lake isn't much, we enjoyed the peace and quiet. It was fun riding our bikes throughout the park. The park is home to a hear of longhorn cattle and a heard of bison. The wildlife viewing area was a great place to see several different birds, including a couple of cardinals. We will certainly stay here again!

Nice campground that is well maintained and located on the edge of San Angelo.

Sites a well spaced, with most providing excellent views of the surrounding area.

More than 50 miles of easy and moderate well marked trails for hiking and mountain biking.

State Park has a herd of Bison and Long Horns. Saw lots of wildlife, including: deer, coyote, rabbits, white pelicans and other birds.

We stayed here for 4 nights in early May 2019. We stayed in the Red Arroyo Campground at the South entrance of the park. The best thing about this park is the amount of space between spots. Plenty of space between you and your neighbors. The park is beautiful and very quiet. When we were there the wildflowers were in full bloom. Spots are water and electric only, but there is a dump onsite. We had spot #13 and it was steep, but we were able to tuck our 30ft trailer at the bottom where it leveled out. No levelers required. The park has many trails for hiking and biking. Some of the trails were a bit muddy, but they had recently had rain. Cell phone service was good. We were able to get internet through the hotspot. Overall, it was a nice stay and we would stay here again. $20 price reflects camping fee only. Day use fee is $4 per person if you do not have a Texas State Park Pass.