Reviewing three FREE RV parks in North Texas.

Our next planned stop was in Texas. We wanted to take this opportunity to stay at three of the free city RV parks in the panhandle of Texas. Our first stop was at the Ray and Donna West Free RV Park in Muleshoe, TX. We have stayed at this park before so we knew what to expect.

Muleshoe is a small city with a population of around 5,000 people. The city is known for its agriculture, particularly in the production of potatoes, cotton, and cattle. The free city park is right in town and has eight RV spots with water, sewer and electricity (30 and 50 amp). A sewage dump station is available on site. You can stay free up to three nights and there is a donation box.

Nearby is Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge which is worth a visit.. There is also a nice place to eat with a bar right across the  as well as other conveniently located businesses near the downtown area. Oh I must mention there is also some awesome Tex-Mex food to enjoy.

We took a day trip over to the refuge and found some short hikes and  a bit of birdwatching. We spotted quite a few horned larks which are a quite interesting little birds with its tufts of feathers on its head resembling horns. They are plentiful in the plains states which is why we haven’t often encountered them.

Our next free park stop was in Levelland,Texas located 30 miles west of Lubbock.and has a population of 12,600. It is the home of South Plains College and home to the Levelland City Campground. The campground is free, has seven sites, and provides electric (30 and 50 amp). and water hookups s well as a dump station.

The campground is located south of town on Highway 385, next to the Levelland Municipal Airport. It i really a nice wooded park which we had all to ourselves during our three day stay ( the park offers 3 nights max for free and then $20 per night up to seven afterwards). We stayed the entire three nights since it was close to Lubbock where we explored both the town and Texas Tech University.

The museum on campus is worth a visit.  We happily discovered lots of interesting sights including some huge dinosaur skeletons, Indian Art and some cool photographs like the one i took of a tree frog, super cool.

Our last free campsite stop was in Lamesa, Texas. The population is about 8,600 and is located about an hour south of Lubbock on the Llano Estacado. Founded in 1903. the town site had been part of the large Slaughter Ranch, famous for its “Lazy S” brand. The town was carved out of 160 acres of Frank Conner's Ranch

The Lamesa RV Park also called Rodeo RV Park is in a city park with eight back-in sites on asphalt with water and electric (only one site has 50 amp). The park is the least desirable of the three we visited. Campers can stay up to four nights free however, we only stayed one night as the town was a bit underwhelming.

The only highlight for us was the frisbee golf course within the park (in the above picture you can see our RV in the background)..  The course was a few steps from our front door continuing across the street and was a nice little course to play. Big Spring State Park is also nearby but we had visited it before. We panned to stay two nights but aa I mentioned the town left us feeling a bit depressed  so we moved on down the road…Its always nice to be back in Texas!

Lake Sumner State Park, NM

It was time for us to leave Albuquerque and move on over to our next stop at Lake Sumner State Park in New Mexico. It is known for its picturesque and expansive landscape. The State Park has a well-maintained trail system and is home to a wide variety of wildlife. After spending time in the city of Albuquerque, it will be nice to spend time at a peaceful retreat

We enjoyed hiking many of the short trails in the park. One of the trails took us over to an overlook of the lake while another trail took us for a stroll below the dam. The area has a lot or sandstone and the weathering of the sandstone made for some neat rock outcroppings.

Near the state park is the Fort Sumner, a village in De Baca County, New Mexico. With a population of 1,000 Fort Summer's claim to fame is that it is the home to the burial site of Billy the Kid, who was supposedly shot and killed there in 1881.However, not everyone believes that Billy the Kid was shot dead and buried in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. I guess we will never know for sure.

Fort Sumner was also the name of a military fort in the New Mexico Territory in the mid 1800’s. The fort was built to intern the Navajo and Mescalero Apache populations. From nearby Bosque Redondo.

Bosque Redondo is where the Army was responsible for the forced relocation of the Navajo and Mescalero Apache people in 1864. The relocation was part of the government's plan to assimilate Native American tribes into American culture and civilization.

The brutal journey from their homes to Bosque Redondo, known as the Long Walk, was a traumatic experience for the Navajo and Apache people. The relocation led to the death of over 200 people due to starvation, disease, and harsh living conditions. At Bosque Redondo, they were forced to farm and raise livestock which proved to be unsuccessful, and in 1868, the Navajo were allowed to return to their homelands, creating the Navajo Nation.

Sadly, for us the Bosque Redondo Memorial. Was closed but the nearby park allowed us a chance to do a little birdwatching. The park covers 267 acres and is a popular destination for nature enthusiasts and hikers.

We certainly enjoyed our short stay but yet again it is time to move on…