I typically rate campgrounds as they fit into 1 of 5 categories. This campground will be rated as a Basecamp — grounds that offer a comfortable home base that you’re happy to return to after a day of exploring the surrounding area.
Ratings for this category are based on:
Value to cost: 3
Overall grounds: 3
Utility of sites (hookups, layout, accessibility): 2
Local Attraction Proximity: 2
Reservation Process/Ease of Getting a Site: 5
Amenities: 3
Customer Service: 4
Cleanliness: 4
I was really looking forward to visiting this park. I had come across this spot in my search for a unique Houston campground and was excited to see a brand-new campground with cool branding in the metro area. Unfortunately, this new campground misses on some of the more necessary experiences: communication, check-in, wifi and site layout, but does a lovely job for some of the nice-to-haves including a lovely pool, hot tub and pool table.
Before arrival, we received a welcome email. I usually scour these types of emails for info about check-in and activities to do in the area. There was no info about check in aside from our dates and even though they direct you to an "activities" section in the email, there was none. Upon arrival, we used the address provided and it led us to a locked gate that required a code. We had no code and the driveway was so short, it had our trailer sticking out into the road as we tried to figure out how to check-in. A large truck had to navigate around us to enter in her code to access the park. Luckily, she let us follow her inside the gates. There was no clearly designated place for guests to park while checking-in, so we pulled over in front of some already parked trailers, blocking the flow of traffic. I had to assume we entered in the wrong place, but nope... that all went as planned. The check-in team was friendly and said that most people wind up calling the office to get let into the gate for check-in, so prepare your phones as you pull-up. They didn't let us or our travel companions know about this prior to either of our arrivals.
Moving on, the internet situation had us scratching our heads. They have a “no wifi” slogan, and the campground wifi is rendered obsolete within the confines of your designated space, instead favoring a hard-wired ethernet connection to your router, which you will leave outside your trailer. We experienced 4 days of rain while we were in Houston. Not ideal to leave a router with a standard electric plug outside. You can rent theirs for $15 but make sure it has the instructions in the box on how to set it up. Ours did not and we were not told what to look for, so we wound up returning it because (surprise) we couldn't figure out how to get it working. It took us over an hour to get it all set-up and somewhat protected from rain, but once we did the connection was solid. If you have a Cat5/hard wire port on the outside of your trailer, you will be very happy!
This is a brand new park, yet some of the concrete slabs are unlevel. Perhaps the most unlevel that we've experienced in our travels. Looking around the park, not everyone has 3 inches of chocking blocks, so it seems to vary. Our back-in spot was also very narrow with hardly any room to walk between the picnic bench and trailer once we were pulled-in. At $65, we chose the cheapest back-in site. Perhaps we should have upgraded to the extended back in for $72 but length wasn’t our issue. The access to the dumpsters is locked and the code to access the amenities does not work for this lock.
The pros include a fire pit, a pool, a shared grilling area with a green egg and small workout area. The showers and bathrooms are immaculate and the showers are very spacious and nicely designed. There is also some grass around the back of the trailer which is nice. Also, some of the larger premium sites have bigger grass plots between sites. These are all nice to haves and it's the basics that we think are the most important.
The location of the park is about 15-20 minutes from downtown Houston and the Museum district (without accounting for any traffic). There's not much nearby, but it is relatively quiet save for the occasional traffic noise. This place could be a gem among mediocre RV parks in the area, but they need to do some work to get the basic stuff right. You could do much worse for a place to stay in Houston, and I'm confident they can figure it out with a little feedback, but our experience just fell short.
