Rough Canyon Campground

Great views! Awesome canyon! This small area with 4 sites is literally a diamond in the rough! If we didn’t have a large rig, we would have stayed here for sure!!! You sit so close to the canyon and water up on a hill to look out and take it in. There is some brush so not water views from every site, but it’s so close! Would be an awesome kayak spot! This area could be okay for medium length rigs on the two end sites, but the turn in from boat ramp is tight with obstructions on each side and it’s just a small cul-de-sac of a campground. Plenty of space in parking area to pull over and assess before turning in though.

We visited Amistad National Recreation Area in late January to test out the new solar system for a couple of days. There are 5 different campgrounds within the park that surround the reservoir, all are dry camp sites and are first come first serve. We stayed at Rough Canyon which has 4 sites, all with a covered picnic table, raised charcoal grill and great views of the reservoir.

While we were there we went to Seminole Canyon State Park & Historic Site, its located about an hour SW from our spot at Amistad and is a must see. I recommend taking the guided tour of the canyon and natural rock shelters. People of antiquity once lived in the natural rock shelters carved into the canyon walls. 4,000 year old pictographs line the cave walls, many of them still in amazing shape. Our tour guide was a retired Geologist and was extremely knowledgeable about the history of the park and the people who once occupied it. There are tons of fossils to see along the hike and view from the elevated rock shelters is spectacular!

$6.00 now. As stated before there are four spots with covered picnic tables. No hookups. There are no fire rings but each site has an elevated charcoal grill.

The ground is almost level and very rocky. Coming into the area, there is a sizable dip which might bottom out larger rigs (26 foot airstream was fine).

The lake is good looking, views are pretty good- large power lines though. We were going for remote and were surprised to see condos and “Hookers 1-stop” just a quarter mile away. (Think fishing hooks, not women of ill repute).

Still, it was very quiet with only the infrequent drone of a boat motor to break through the ever present tinnitus.

The park has one dump station, about a half hour away in a different campground.

We were there on Super Bowl night 2020 and our T Mobile connection was good enough to receive texts and get Internet scores but not to stream.

My wife says the skies were beautiful and star filled when she got up to pee.

This spot is about 17 miles from Del Rio. The road is paved until you get to the entrance of the camping sites. There is a boat launch about 500 ft from the camping sites. There are four sites. The cost is 6.00 or 3.00 with a senior pass. Each site has a picnic table. There is a clean restroom a short walk from the sites. There is a small store a short distance from the sites. There was only one other camper when we there. I'm betting it would be difficult to find an open site in the summer months. The cellular service was weak at best. We were roaming part of the time from a cellular company in Mexico.

There are only 4 campsites at this location all situated on edge with lake views so can be windy. We tent camped here for 7 days.
This is my favorite campsite in South Texas and reasonably priced compared to the typical Texas State Park. There is no water but a small store is nearby. Vault toilet on property. Very quiet compared to Governor's Campground. This campsite is actually located at the mouth of Devil's River as it empties into Lake Amistad so water is colder than at Governor's and much clearer as well. $4/campsite fee; $2 with Senior Pass. We saw a family of deer every day in the vicinity.