Thompson Grove Picnic Area

Middle of nowhere, but a quiet place to relax for the night. We stayed overnight in our 42ft 5th wheel RV. We had to back into the parking area because it's not large enough to turn around any oversized vehicles.

Stayed the night with a couple vans, trucks, some tent campers and an airstream.

AT&T and Verizon cell service both worked well enough to get some school and work done.

No showers or running water. Not much shade.

The parking lot is a short drive off the paved road on a dirt road. We heard a few cars pass but not much traffic.

This was a great FREE place to stop and sleep on the way from Tx to Co. It was easy to find although very isolated. It's very hot and dry in this area but thankfully it was cool at night with all the windows open. However, when the wind shifts a certain direction you will smell cow and only cow. Our 19 foot trailer was the largest parked there out of another 6 or 7 campers on a Saturday night. We were the last to leave in the morning - which was good - because we backed the entire way out of the parking area. Turning around for a larger trailer would be difficult here unless you have the place to yourself, but without designated parking areas everyone just pulls in. Parking lot is mostly level. There is a bathroom but we didn't use it. Fires were not allowed although there are pits and picnic tables.

I camped here for one night while geocaching in the Texas & Oklahoma panhandles. I arrived at twilight to find a few tents & RVs at the site -- all were very quiet. I set up my tent by moonlight and settled in. One last vehicle arrived at 10 or 10:30 PM, likewise respectfully. During the night, the only sounds were a light breeze through the trees and some coyotes a ways off. After catching the beautiful daybreak across the plain, I was packed & rolling.

My reason for giving a 4/5 on Site Quality was the lack of a fire ring or a picnic table, although I had need of neither.

We stayed here on our way to Taos from OKC. You do have to drive about 15 miles off the highway to get to the campground but for a free, super low key place, it’s worth it. It’s nothing special with hardly any amenities but if you have a fetish for moths, there are plenty of those. I would recommend this to anyone set up to boondock or tent camp.

Yes, the picnic area is free to camp in up to fourteen days. Other than it being free, why you would want to camp here remains an unknown. We noticed there are a few rest areas and picnic areas off the main road Highway 87 and really no need to detour more than twelve miles northeast to camp here. The grassland here is impressive, but really not much happening but a picnic and few cows mooing. Actually we were expecting more from something called a “National Grassland”. Still, we will be traveling southeast again later today toward our Florida base camp and plan on staying overnight at another free National Grassland in Crawford, Oklahoma.

AT&T cell service was an acceptable two bars that was far faster and more reliable than the sluggish and erratic four bars we suffered through in Leadville, Colorado. The vault toilets were clean. Plenty of trash receptacles, grills, and picnic tables. No other amenities. Hard rains and a blistering wind drove a group of tent campers out, but there were three other lone vehicles parked in the lot when the sun came up. No designated sites for RV’s, just a large gravel parking lot. We chose a parking spot that flooded with the rains and left a slippery clay mud bath to plod through in the morning. But it was free.

Cute little picnic and camp area. Clean bathrooms (with TP) and empty trash cans. Free up to 14 days. We stayed one night with very little daylight camping but overnight was wonderful, quiet (only the sounds of wild animals and nature), and perhaps without clouds would be a nice stargazing location. Unfortunately we a cloudy night. Also had great little picnic setups with fire pits. AT&T cell service is a go!