Fairfield Lake State Park, Texas, United States

4Henry A 5:00 PM Feb 11, 2023

A pleasant stop
A pleasant stop just a few miles off I-45. I stopped there to look for birds and was not disappointed. We didn't have a lot of time but there are some trails that would be good to try. We are not campers but there appears to be a number of shady spots that would make for a pleasant stay.

3rmhtx 5:00 PM Apr 21, 2019

beautiful park, but so many issues :(
We spent the weekend at Fairfield Lake this past weekend, and between the 12 of us camping had several comments about the park. Sadly, most of these items are negative. We are experienced campers, and have happily spent weekend at many parks in America, but too many of us had concerns this weekend. In general, we managed a great time hanging out with our friends and family this weekend, but in no way because of the park itself. The sites, while beautiful and shaded, are weirdly shaped and many are downright inaccessible if you have any kind of disability. Stairs up and stairs down. The site map did a very poor job of making that clear ahead of time. Sites also have unclear boundaries, and when pitching our tent we could only guess where we were supposed to do so. We were on a site where the playground is. It was an awesome grassy field, with absolutely no marking as to where the site ends and the field begins. We had people using the site, walking through our site, complaining about us being on the site, and using our campsite, all weekend. Our party had six kids between us, and they loved the field and swings, but it would have been nice if strangers didn't walk by our tent all hours of the day and night. Not saying don't use the playground, but I am saying a clearly marked site might have allowed us some semblance of privacy. At the site, the aluminum picnic table is problematic. Not one of our party managed to walk by it without barking our shins, each and every time, shaking the entire table and toppling whatever might be on it. It was however, easier to clean that the usual concrete table. If you are offering a camping site with water, an actual post or brick or something would be helpful to lay your sponge upon. We've camped in many Texas campgrounds, and when not primitive camping, it is nice to have an option for keeping some basic hygiene. We had a broken, jagged edged, wood post above our faucet. We've been to quite a few parks with a short concrete wall, and it is so helpful when washing dishes! Restrooms were only partially taken care of throughout the weekend. We stayed at Springfield area, and floors were almost always muddy, trash cans overflowing, toilet paper was non existent on Saturday night, and my personal pet peeve, not one place to set something down or hang while using the sinks! In addition, the power washer shower head was a horrible way to end the day. My daughter actually cried from the pain the water caused. Finally, the industrial fan in the corner does an adequate job of clearing the space, but should not be instead of a breezeway. Also,airborne bacteria is definitely a concern when you can feel the wind tunnel in the actual toilet stall! Why were both windows boarded up? Fresh air is a must, especially when the park is full. Our group would have liked to canoe. Sadly there was no mention of renting one either on the website, or in the office. We only learned canoeing was an option on Saturday evening when we made our way to the swimming area. Some advertising would be helpful to guests. If you like to canoe at Texas parks, there is the option to rent one here! Sadly, the rangers could not accommodate a site move request,even though we saw empty sites both in our area, and the area where our friends ended up. We would have been happy to move midway, but that option was not made available to us. The park is huge and very spread out. Bike trails between areas are not clearly posted or marked. Our friends rode a mile on their bikes to and from our site, on the main road of the park, multiple times a day, and did not enjoy it. The park and water were beautiful, but it seems like there is a lot they could do to make the experience a better one for guests. We won't be returning to this park.