Favorite RV park close to downtown DAllas?

We made a reservation for Cedar Hill State Park, 17 miles to the convention center, so doable. Thanks again for everyone who chimed in to help!

Plantation PlaceThis is in Sunnyvale, which is about 15 miles east of downtown.

Your plan of going back multiple times during the day to check on your pets is gonna be a pain. Depending on the time of day, I-30 can be a parking lot and there are no DART rail stations really east of downtown in that direction.

BEST case scenario is at least 1 hour round trip assuming that you can easily navigate downtown traffic and the highways are clear. 2+ hours during AM & PM rush hour traffic.

That part of Dallas isn't the best, it's really a no-go zone between I-30 and Red Oak. I've been in the DFW area for the last 27 years and there is no place in that area that I would feel comfortable staying at.

Cedar Hill State Park is about 20 driving miles from the convention center. Reservations through the Texas State Parks web site. You cannot reserve a specific site at Cedar Hill the last time I checked.

Lake Lavon USArmy Corps of Engineers campgrounds on Lake Lavon are 30 or 40 miles from the convention center. They are federal campgrounds reserved thru recreation.gov

Lake Lewisville Hickory Creek COE campground is 32 miles from the convention center and is a federal campground.

The city of Grapevine ‘Vineyards’ campground is 25 miles from the convention center. Reservations are through a city / campground web site. Search for “The Vineyards at Grapevine”.

All of these campgrounds require driving primary commuter routes to get to / from the convention center. Drives during rush hour 6:30-9:30 am and 3-6:30 pm will be extremely heavy traffic.

Downtown Dallas is a challenge for most folks. Strongly recommend a Saturday or Sunday morning drive around the area to learn the street names and how to get off / on the freeways.

Thank again for the great info. Just so I'm sure before I make the reservation, I'll be driving back and forth to the Kay Bailey a couple of times per day so the closest park is probably going to be best. I don't even mind parking in a state fairgrounds parking lot without any hook ups since it's only for 3-4 nights. If none of those are available near the Kay Bailey, the Lake Lavon parks are closest? Do you mak reservations through the Texas Park System?

We also appreciate the info. We will be in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area in the fall. We don't know how long we will spend in the area, need to do some more research, we are planning to attend the state fair a couple of days.

Hicory Creek COE park north of Dallas is real nice.

The Convention Center is about as downtown as is possible in Dallas. Personally I prefer to use DART Rail when I need to travel to downtown. I worked at the Federal Courthouse Building for six years and near the Dallas Morning News building for another six.

I’m very familiar with the streets and parking in the area. I still prefer using light rail to driving.

When we return to Dallas for visiting family or doctor visits, we prefer the COE parksmon Lake Lavon to the northeast. Though one does have 30 amp FHU sites, they are definitely not as nice as Cedar Hill State Park. But are less than half the cost of the state park.

Plus all our doctors and family are in Rowlett, Garland or Plano. Family is in Plano. So the Lake Lavon parks are within 15 miles. Cedar Hill is 65 miles away.

Having to go downtown with no other visits to suburbs, I’d strongly recommend the state park. However, Texas state parks have a daily admission fee. The best way to deal with that is to buy the annual pass. That will also give you one night at half price for your camping fees.

If you are going to not be able to spend 7 nights in Texas state parks in the next year, the admission fee might make the state park more expensive than you wish to pay.

Be sure to do the math. (The daily adult admission fee varies from park to park. It is normally $5 to $7, though a few are cheaper.)

EDIT - Looking at the Cedar Hill SP web site

Admission fees for campers are $5 per adult per day.

Camping fees are $25 for water/30 amp electric sites and $30 for FHU sites.

That would be $35 per night for two people in a W/E site, $40 for a FHU site.

The annual camping pass is $70. Everyone in the one vehicle with the camping pass holder gets into any Texas state park for free, for one year.

Thank you for all the terrific suggestions! We will be coming and going from the Kay Bailey Hutchison so want something nearby so we can easily check on our dog who we leave in the RV.

PawPaw n Gram, I appreciate all the effort that went into the numerous suggestions. I will begin checking into them all.

I agree with Cedar Hill State Park. I have hiked the trails several times and it is a beautiful area .

We like Cedar Hill State Park on Joe Pool Lake. It is 26 miles from downtown Dallas. They offer quite a few 30/50 amp sites with a large number of full hookup sites as well. It is a good clean park, great fishing on Joe Pool Lake (or boating), and decent number of trails.