Park Review- Medina Lake RV Campground (Lakehills, TX)

Thousand Trails
​(Click here for an article I wrote about Thousand Trails.)
Address:  215 Spettle Rd., Lakehills, TX 78063
Phone:   830-751-2406
Website:  rvonthego.com/texas/medina-lake-rv-campground/
# of sites:  387
​Full hookup price:  From $49 per night
Open:  Year-round
Rating:   4 out of 5 stars
​Warnings:  Not all sites have sewer, not all sites are close to the lake

Lakehills is about 40 miles from San Antonio and the rural town rests on the shore of the very large Medina Lake,  The Medina Lake RV Campground (not to be confused with the Medina Lake RV Resort, a different park) is also located on the lake and shares the cooler hill-country weather of the region.

My opinion of this park was made without the knowledge of its community spaces (pool, spa, clubhouse/pavilion, laundry, etc.), which were all closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown rules in Texas for campgrounds.
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This campground has very wide, tree-lined sites with good privacy and gravel-covered pads.  Having spent time in several parks with little or no space or privacy, this benefit cannot be understated.  The resort does sport the usual amenities, plus hiking trails, lake frontage and dock for fishing and boating, and picnic/barbecue areas.

There is plenty of wildlife here.  We were visited often by several whitetail deer and my bird feeders attracted two pairs of cardinals, a pair of goldfinches, several hummingbirds and others.  Just before we left a huge female turkey even rambled through.

Probably the biggest asset of this campground is its proximity to several Central Texas attractions and highlights.  The park is located about 40 miles from San Antonio (and the Alamo), and a nice drive can take you through the famous Luckenbach, Texas, and the quaint town of Fredericksburg, known for its pies and wineries.  The reservoir created by the Medina Lake Dam is also quite large.

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Just as a side attraction, Bandera County put together a neat little program where businesses displayed bicycles painted blue along a couple of the minor highways that go through the district.  I think I found 10 or 12 of them as we drove to and from the town of Bandera and our  northern explorations.

Cons:
The main disadvantage in coming to the Medina Lake RV Campground is the layout, with only a few sections of campsites near the lake and no way of knowing which sites are empty until you physically see them.  From the lake shore to the farthest camping loop from it is about a mile, so it is difficult to know whether to snag an empty site when you come upon it or risk losing it by continuing down to the lake.  Not all sites have sewers, so you have to specifically check for that in each site as well.

The staff was not friendly,  but with the pandemic in full swing, it's difficult to know if that is normal or stress-induced.  The have a $5 per package for receiving UPS packages and they refuse any USPS shipment.  We were told by the post office staff that the campground would not allow USPS packages to be delivered because they weren't allowed to charge a fee for them.  The nearest post office is in Pipe Creek, around 13 miles from the park.

There are no shopping areas close by, so Walmart and other box stores are 40+ miles away.  Even fast food is scarce, with a few places in the town of Bandera, a 20-mile drive away.

The bottom line is that, knowing the secluded nature of the lake in advance, we would highly recommend the Medina Lake RV Campground, a Thousand Trails property.  The staff's attitude during our visit and the lack of an easy way to secure a campsite are the reasons for my rating it less than a perfect "5."  Perhaps when we return in a better time this can change.

Click here for an article I wrote about Thousand Trails.

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