Sanford-Yake Campground

What is better than beautiful views and free showers...oh yeah and great service! We went to the top area for the highest and amazing view! The wind was pretty strong a couple of the nights and we ended up getting a random snow storm that blew from 10 am and quit at 7 pm. And then all was calm for the rest of the night. We had a great week being able to take the kids for an evening bike and walk each night. And we soaked up those free showers. There are four total bathrooms with showers but during the slow season they only keep two open. Big dumpster near the bathroom. There is also a water fill and dump station just outside the camping area...all free as well. It is pretty well kept up for a free shower area and better than a lot of state parks we have been too! We will definitely come back to this area if we are passing through Texas!!! Such a surprising gem in Texas! There are some sites here with electric and water that you can reserve at the bait shop which is down by the boat ramp! We had at least 3 LTE bars unboosted!

So it looks like my first review was deleted. So here goes again.

We made a reservation for this place about two weeks ahead of time. The people on the phone were easy enough to deal with. They sent a confirmation for the site I selected and billed by CC immediately (that's annoying).

When we drove into the park, it seemed like a nice enough place. The view was as awesome as most reviews of Lake Meredith campgrounds say. We got down to the registration office, finished the paperwork and headed up to the site. That's when problems began. There was someone already in our site.

We drove back down to the boat trailer parking area and unhooked the toad. When I got down to the office, they seemed surprised. They promised to get these people out of the site we had paid for since they weren't supposed to even be in the campground. On multiple occasions, they told us they'd run off these squatters.

Unfortunately, the staff lied. They never chased the people off and had us stay in a much less desirable campsite. So my impression of the concessionaire that's running the RV sites is they are complete idiots or liars. You pick.

As for the campground, the RV sites were fairly new. Nice level pads, 50A service and water right there. But they're laid out very oddly. Power and water are on the same side as the picnic table. Which means you'll be running cords and hoses through the outdoor living space.

We also arrived to a filthy campsite. The fire ring took almost an entire 13 gallon trash bag to clean out. The picnic table was covered in crap. And mowers obviously ran over every piece of trash on the ground.

Another downside of this area is that most of the camping along Lake Meredith is primitive and free. That tends to attract a certain demographic. Since it was kind of hot, it wasn't that bad. But there were at least a dozen trailers parked in prime spots that never had a soul at them during the 2 days we were there. That's a clear violation of the rules.

One trailer that was occupied ran a generator deep into the night, then started it back up very early in the morning. Another rule violation. And just plain rude.

But rules? We don't need no stinking rules... And since I saw a park ranger exactly once in 48 hours, it's clear that they don't think there need to be rules either.

Something else to be aware of... while this is a lake, lake access is extremely limited. Mostly because of the low water level. But it's mostly designed for power boaters. Kayakers, sailors and windsurfers need not apply.

So while the view was great and watch weather roll through was fun, I seriously doubt we'll be back to Lake Meredith NRA. We will definitely not be giving any more money to the concessionaire at Sanford-Yake. They just plain SUCK!!!!

I love this entire campground. It’s beautiful a little windy but that doesn’t bother me. Now the flies are entirely another ballgame. You’d think with high winds no bugs right? Wrong you’d swear there’s a carcass somewhere because of the amount of flies. I had to move three times. I may have to leave and come back when the weather gets much cooler. It’s a shame really. Before I forget there are also many Goat head prickleys so if you have a dog beware.

This is the second time we've camped here. It's a very clean campground (except for bottle caps!). We really appreciate the efforts of park staff to keep it clean. They were around daily to clean the bathrooms (which have hot showers!) and pick up trash. The grounds grew was around several days to keep it mowed and trimmed. The spots are open and spacious, with great views of the lake. It seems to fill up on the weekends with people going boating. This campground is mostly used by RV/trailer campers. I'm sure that's because of the wind. The wind in the panhandle is relentless!! I would say that's the only downside to this campground. (That, and all the vicious stickers that get stuck in the dogs paws.) We would flatten our tent during the day just to keep it from getting beaten up by the wind. There's also free water. Some sites are pay sites with electricity. Bottle cap count = 85

This place is free generally, and has a few concrete pad sites with W/E hookups for $25.50/night. Plenty of room, but you may have some trouble at some sites with goat heads. Like an insane amount of goat heads. I tracked some in my RV without knowing and stepped on no joke 8 goat heads at once.

Other than that beautiful and quiet, there's a store or two nearby, and it's been fairly quiet minus one night of labor day where it was a little noisy at midnight from some teenage campers. Not much to do along the lake without a boat, however.

T-Mobile has coverage in some spots but not others. ATT/Verizon worked fine.

Arrived late afternoon on Thursday of Memorial Day weekend and had plenty of sites to choose from. Grabbed a great site on the cliff with awesome views up and down the lake.

This would be a good fee campground but for free it's amazing. The campground did fill by Saturday but it's so large and spread out that crowds and noise are not an issue. Also never had an issue getting a shower at night - what a bonus!

The lake is large and pretty full so even with the holiday crowds, it was not crowded. There is a gas smell that varies in intensity depending on the wind and the associated machinery sounds like a generator.

Overall I really enjoyed the facility and my stay but the weather was pretty nice. I'm sure some of their severe weather would result in a less pleasant experience.