Tumble In RV Park

Nice no-frill park just east of Marfa.
Big rig friendly, pull-through sites.
Short drive to town for food and gas.
Marfa lights viewing area is down the road.
No attendant, fill out form and put form and cash in box in office (an old rv).
Train track is very close, but not as many trains as other places.
Laundry is literally one regular washer and one dryer, pay cash in slotted box.

We stayed here in our 38' motorhome with toad. We had plenty of room for our coach and car. The park is gravel with mainly a desert landscape. They did not have picnic tables, but we had tables and chairs that worked out fine. We did not use the laundry or bathrooms. The park has no frills, but the price was great, and it was a great base to see the city. We met Melvin, the manager, who was friendly and helpful! There is actually an art installation on site, which was fun to see!

First the good. Site was level and the electrical worked fine. Skies were clear and the sky was beautiful with wonderful sunsets. Laundry had new machines and cost $3 a load to wash and dry. (Honor system.)

But the bathrooms. Dirty. The floors had not been swept in a while and the facilities were not cleaned while we were there. No soap or towels/blower in the restroom/bathhouse. The lounge area had a frig, microwave, stove and table with chairs. Again had not been cleaned in a while.

The park did have an interesting lighted art display facing the highway. We were told it had come from Burning Man some years back.

Last bit of advice as you enter and exit the park driveway stay on the east side of the entrance as the west side has some very rough bumps. If you do that you will be fine. Good luck.

We liked Tumble Inn. No frills but there was electricity and water at our site (unlike the other place where my husband wanted to stay...) so we had everything we needed. The restroom was nice and clean. There's a large art installation on site too - it's lit up at night and look pretty cool.

The campground is near a railroad and the trains come by twice a day. It's far enough that it's not too loud and they don't blow the whistle as they go by the campground, so it's not bad. Better than most campgrounds near railroad tracks. Didn't see any wildlife other than some bugs and birds.

It was an easy bike ride on the highway (nice, wide shoulders to ride on) into Marfa for dining but we got there on a Sunday so our options were limited. Found a taco/ice house place right down the road on Sunday and an awesome burrito place in town on Monday. All the cool stuff in Marfa was closed until Wednesday and we had to leave on Tuesday, so no comments on the galleries, etc. We had planned to try to see the Lights on Sunday nite, but we didn't get around to it, so we went on Monday nite - and there they were! The folks we talked to had been there on Sunday and said they didn't show up, so we were lucky. Spent about an hour there marveling and laughing and speculating about the Lights. It was really fun.

We plan to return to Marfa and camp at the Tumble Inn.

Good proximity to Marfa. Had to edit this review, the entrance desperately needs to be filled in with some more gravel. Our spare tire drug on the ground and damaged the mount. Theres plenty of big rigs here but just use caution if you have low clearance with jacks or spare tires. Otherwise its no frills, easy self check in, they responded to email promptly. It gets very dusty in strong wind but that goes with the territory. Wi-Fi very slow but cell service was fine for video calls.

I pulled into this edgy RV park, tough entrance for a long RV. It has an old trailer where you sign in. You fill out the paper, including your credit card info, (5% surcharge) and go to your spot. I pulled in, had my chase van pull in next to me. Within a minute, a sloppy looking guy comes up and immediately tells me I can’t park side by side. You pay extra for more than 2 people and extra for a second vehicle. I explained that I had paid extra for the van. That wasn’t satisfactory, he wanted me to pay for two spots. He told me he doesn’t make the rules. I said I needed to think about that. While I was discussing it with my daughter, at the other van, he went to the small trailer, opened the safe box, removed my registration slip, and walks back over to us. He hands me the paper and I responded “that’s it”? This guy wouldn’t even respond, just walked away. It worked out for the best. The showers were dark and run down, the place looked like a scrap yard. Sad, we went elsewhere, despite planning a day of checking out Marfa. $0 spent in Marfa after this guy. What Marfa badly needs is a clean, well managed RV park. Also, train runs right behind the location.

Property is covered in stickers, (no safe place for my dog to pee), dusty, no tables or shade at the site, lots of junky rigs, didn’t see a single person who worked there. One building full of junk… Huge rut at the exit, so had to go super slow to turn onto the busy highway. Right next to the railroad tracks, with trains running at night… Our site (not all) had the hookups on the side where you’d want a table or chairs, away from the door side, not that we wanted to sit outside!! It was conveniently located next to Marfa… the only positive.

The park itself is just outside of town which allows for quiet time at the park. Also not much light pollution at night. A new art installation was apparently completed just before we arrived within walking distance from the RV area and just next to the boondocking / tent / car camping area. The installation provides a really cool, low-light, colorful set of lights at night and is seen as ~10 rust colored large pipes sticking out of the dirt in a semi-circle shape during the day. When observing close-up during the day or given the colorful lights at night, you can see they are laser-cut with unique designs. Really neat.
Back to the campground. It's a simple campground with pull-through or back-in sights. Easy access to the full-hookups appears available at each site. A common area with a kitchen and washer / dryer you would expect in a house or smaller hostel are available for all to use (during Covid it is asked that if you have these in your rig, you use your own). The washer / dryer is a simple $3 donation request (awesome) and there is a table inside and outside of the kitchen / common area. The wifi has been well above average. The camp host mostly keeps to himself but is obvious should you need him. I was lucky enough to meet him while walking my pup one evening. Chatting with him was enjoyable and his dog, Brian (I think), was nice.
As for star scores, the following are my narratives: I considered giving only 4 stars but then reconsidered since it would be extremely difficult and labor intensive to fix my one complaint - the desert is not a place for dog to run: As with areas since we arrived to Big Bend, Alpine and Marfa are covered in plants which are dry and mean. They have prickers and burrs and overall are not dog friendly. It is difficult to find traditional grass on which a dog would enjoy running, so that is my one complaint however it is not unique to this campground, nor this town.
I downgraded the Cleanliness a bit only due to what I assume is dog mess around the area. I am very diligent about picking up after our dog so am fairly judgmental to those who don't do the same, especially in what is essentially shared space (a campground). And noise was another one I considered putting at a 4 since the train tracks are nearby and you can watch and hear LLLOOOOONNNNGGGG trains go by a number of times a day. That said, we really liked the trains so I kept my rating at a 5 :-).