Texas - Fairfield Lake State Park

The first weekend in August we decided to take the camper out and we headed to Fairfield Lake State Park. This state park is located about half-way between Houston and Dallas.  We enjoyed our visit on that hot August weekend. Read on to learn more about our adventures! 

Located in east Texas, Fairfield Lake State Park is a great place to visit if you want to get away from it all. The state park is located 9 miles from the small town of Fairfield.  Once you arrive at the state park headquarters, you then drive approximately 5 miles back to the Post Oak camping area which is where we stayed. The Cook's Ferry & Springfield camping areas are a little closer to park headquarters, but still feel very remote. 

Fairfield Lake State Park has 1,480 acres to explore by foot, bike, or horseback. You will find 10 miles of hiking trails and 15 miles of equestrian trails.  If water activities are more to your liking you have 2,400 acre Lake Fairfield to entertain you.  

This state park offers 93 water and electric campsites as well as 33 sites with only water.  The Post Oak area, where we stayed, had concrete pads which was nice.

Post Oak area has pull-through as well as back-in sites. All sites are concrete in this area.

 The Cook's Ferry & Springfield area had asphalt pads and looked to need an upgrade. At the entrance to the Springfield area there is a playground and volleyball court. 

Our site, number 109, was fairly level and had access to the lake.  If you prefer, a boat ramp is nearby to site 109 as well. The site was a good size with a fair amount of privacy and lots of shade trees.  However, there were limbs lying all over the campsite.  It looked somewhat unkept. Site 109 had cell phone service on Verizon. Some of our neighbors in the Post Oak area complained about no cell service. We were unable to get OTA television reception. When we visit this state park again we will try to get site 109 again.  I feel like it is the best site at the state park. 

 

Campsite 109

Trail to the lake from campsite 109

Lake access from campsite 109

We spent the cool part of the days kayaking, fishing, and bicycle riding. When the afternoon sun was too much, we opted for a few board games. Be aware, camping in Texas in the summertime is HOT!  The best times to enjoy the great outdoors in Texas during the summer is early in the morning or late in the evening. 

We rode our bicycles on this hiking/biking trail.  The trail was not kept up very well. 

Our preferred bicycling option.  There are miles and miles of park roads you can explore by bicycle. 

Each night of our stay we drove into Fairfield and picked up dinner.  The first night we picked up dinner from Something Different diner.  My husband and son had fried fish and I had the chicken fried steak. The food was merely okay. Maybe it was because we drove 20 minutes back to our campsite to eat the dinner.  The food was greasy and not very tasty. The second night we drove back to Fairfield and picked up an order to go from an all-time favorite restaurant, Sam's Restaurant. We had burgers and onion rings. The burgers were gigantic! We could have easily split one burger between two people.  The onion rings were the best onion rings I have ever had.  There were so many onion rings that we could not finish them.  No way was I throwing them away.  In the fridge they went and the next day I popped them in the toaster oven to heat them up.  They were just as good day two as they were day one.

Maybe it was because it was sales tax weekend in Texas or maybe because August tends to be REALLY hot, but the state park was not crowded at all. It makes me wonder if I might find the same results if I went to a different state park the first weekend in August. Subscribe to my blog and I will let you know next August.

Our weekend getaway was just what we needed as we prepared to head back to school and my son started his senior year.  Spending time with family is to be treasured. Camping is a wonderful way to spend time with those you love. 

I hope my blog helped you plan your next great adventure.  Wherever your travels take you, may God bless you.