RV park on I20 or I10 near Pecos, TX?

joebedford wrote:
We had pretty much decided to go over to Carlsbad (it's been ten years since we did the caverns) when we got a late callback from a park in Odessa. It messed up our distances a bit but we stayed there instead of Pecos.

Virtually every RV "park" / gravel lot we saw along the highway is filled up with rigs belonging to oil workers.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Yep, that's what happens when the oil business booms. If you want an idea of how busy they are, drive the Permian Basin (I-20) after dark. The drilling rigs (as opposed to just those that are pumping) are easily seen by the lights. Not many OLD pickups driving the roads, either.

We had pretty much decided to go over to Carlsbad (it's been ten years since we did the caverns) when we got a late callback from a park in Odessa. It messed up our distances a bit but we stayed there instead of Pecos.

Virtually every RV "park" / gravel lot we saw along the highway is filled up with rigs belonging to oil workers.

Thanks for the suggestions.

We used to use the Midland Walmart until a few years ago. When we pulled in there they had a LOT of pan handlers working the entrances and exits and we saw a lot of (presumably) drug deals going on behind neighboring stores. A large encampment of transients "camping" in the woods between the WM lot and the interstate. We watched for about an hour and moved on. The Texas PICNIC areas along I-20 are great. Not a lot of overnight trucks so they're quiet, and easy in/out. No facilities though except trash cans and a few picnic tables. Pecos has a Flying J but a ton of trucks.

We often use:

Desert Willow RV Park, Van Horn, TX
Fort Stockton RV Park, TX

Rob

If you have not already gone past it get off of I-20 and use 176 at Big Spring, TX to go over to Carlsbad, NM. I do not know the condition of 176 but it is a TX state road and those are almost always good two lanes with wide shoulders.

Use that or some similar route to get from I-20 over to I-10 west of El Paso.

Sand Hills State Park in Monahans

We just came thru that area and had the same problem. We ended up staying at the Walmart in Midland ( very busy and noisy from I-20). We stopped in Pecos for gas and that was even worse - it took us at least 1/2 hr to exit, drive 1/2 block and get back out and on I-20 again. Most of the rv parks around there are now renting on a monthly basis to the oil workers and have stopped taking overnight guests. You could try freecampsites.net to see if there is anything.

There is a seasonally popular Texas state park with RV sites it is famous for a giant spring fed "swimming pool" built during the depression at Balmorea on I-10 just south of Pecos. https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/balmorhea (oops campground is closed for renovation, still it may be good to know for future reference) If you have the time I would also suggest a side trip down to Ft. Davis in the Davis mountains, and if you have an interest in Astronomy tour Mc Donald observatory about 15 miles west of Ft Davis. There are a couple of RV parks in the town of Ft Davis, and also Davis mountains state park which is nice, https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/davis-mountains