Eisenhower State Park

It’s a great state park, it really is! For me, I had not camped out since I was young. Eventually, me and a couple of other college friends decided to get away from all the stress of tests and school work for a relaxing weekend.
The area is very woodsy and have rocky roads, but there is a very scenic view of the lake. There are about four bays and a lot of trails to hike. However, the trails were very muddy, so we had to work our way around it. The rocks are relatively easy to climb, and it’s amazing what you can see when you get high up to see the marvelous view the park has to offer. And just to imagine, the Oklahoma is right across that lake! We camped in the most northern tip, and we had several neighbors around us. There were a couple kids being rude to our group, but I won’t let that get in the way of the full experience.
We only decided to stay two days, one night. On the first day, the high was 63 and the low was about 45. We had reserved two campsites because one campsite is suppose to hold 8 people, but it’s big enough to hold more if you have a large enough tent. For each campsite, there are two parking spots, and we had taken up all four spots.
Each campsite is equipped with running water, a picnic table, and a fire pit. You are able to buy fire wood at the park entrance because collecting your own firewood is prohibited. Note, the fire pit is pretty small! It’s a bit difficult to cook food. We only brought one frying pan and couple cans of food, but it did the job. There was a bathroom within walking distance of our campsites, and they were not bad themselves! They were clean for the most part, but the girl’s restroom had no soap dispensers, but the men’s restroom did.
We had all arrived around 6 PM and it got dark very quickly. A park ranger came around at 7:30 to give us a heads up about quiet hours at 10 PM. He did not make frequent rounds, but we made sure to keep it low afterwards.
It was a very chilly night with the low at almost 40, so make sure you bring extra clothes if you’re camping out in the winter. It quickly got warmer as the day progressed in day 2, and we spent the time exploring the bay. I can say I really enjoyed myself here. Surround yourself with good company and you’re guaranteed to have a great time at any state park you choose. I can’t wait to see has other parks Texas has to offer!

Eisenhower State Park is located just off Hwy 75 and exit 72. Eisenhower State Park is part of Lake Texoma and the Army Corp of Engineers 55% the Red River Water Authority.
Eisenhower State Park offers a wide range of camping options for the outdoor enthusiasts. From hike in primitive camp sites to full hook up sites with both 30 and 50 amps.
The Marina is privately owned and operated and offers various boat rentals. The park office offers a pole and tackle program given those interested a chance to do some fishing. Dont worry about a fishing license. The State Park has that covered. The State of Texas waives the license requirement when fishing within the State Park property.
Eisenhower State Park has numerous hiking trails, horse shoe park, clean restrooms and play grounds.
Eisenhower State Park is just minutes away from downtown McKinney, WinStar and Choctaw Casinos, and Turner Falls Wildlife area.
UPDATE: Because of the recent heavy rains the Eisenhower State Park entrance off of Hwy ⁷⁵⁄₆₉ is closed. The bridge on exit 72 was washed out from the high water. As of June 2015 the road will be closed until further notice. Contact Eisenhower State Park Office for more information. The Park Office can give you the alternate route to access the park.

Once you’ve been to enough Texas state parks, they all seem to blend together a little. Eisenhower is a fine place for a weekend camping trip but nothing stands out as being exceptional.
As with any camping experience, your neighbors can make or break your trip. We had the fortune of camping next to probably the worst neighbors I’ve ever had and I’m trying really hard not to let that reflect on this review. It’s not the park’s fault we drew the douchebag stick.
I have yet to encounter a Parks Ranger who wasn’t friendly and willing to help you in any way they can and Eisenhower is no exception. As with all parks, the rangers cruise through the campgrounds on the regular to make sure everyone is being good. (unfortunately, this didn’t include telling our narcissistic neighbor to STFU at 3am.)
I do like the firewood option, $.50 suggested donation per «stick» and the sticks can be pretty substantial. This beats most of the other parks $ 3−6/bundle (with a bundle being 3 – 6 pieces of wood).
The showers didn’t have heaters, which is a bummer on a freezing cold night, but the water is freakin hot as hell so it makes up for it. There was plenty of TP and the sinks had soap, which is a nice perk when you find it.
Eisenhower isn’t my favorite park but it worked when the camping bug hit. I think it would be a better warm weather option when the lake is swimmable and everything is green.

Another great State Park. My wife and I have been here a few times to hit the trail and most recently to camp and fish. We got to use our ENO Hammock Sleep Systems and found a great site for us to hang them side by side. We plan to visit often and I can’t wait to take my kayaks out on the lake to do some fishing!

My husband and I decided to take our kids camping for the first time ever, at Lake Texoma. After searching for some time for a camp site, I happened upon Eisenhower. The amentiies sounded like just what we needed, so I booked us 3 nights at a site with electric and water. We stayed Sat-​Mon nights, so the park was not crowded at all. We ended up buying a State Park Pass when we checked in because the deal was unbeatable! On to the campsites:
They are very large and many have electric and water. The fire pit/​camp grill left a little to be desired, but I obviously had something else in mind. The set up is a fire ring with a camp grill attached, and I had pictured a tall camp grill and a seperate fire ring. Most of the sites are very shaded and we picked one that was surrounded by the trees.
We will definitely return!

We came here Saturday to do a little light hiking on the trails. We hiked between markers 1 & 2 and between 7 & 8, one hike in the morning and one in the late afternoon. The trail between 7 & 8 is supposed to be a hike & bike trail, but only a masochist would bike on it. It is *very* rocky and not well maintained at all, there are several long segments where you would have to carry your bike or go off the trail which I presume isn’t what they would desire you to do. The description says there are ‘random lake views’ but you cannot see the lake from this trail at all; what you can do is hear all the road noise because you’re only about 20 – 40 feet from the road. We did see three deer pretty close to the trail, that was the highlight of the day.
Between markers 1 & 2 is better maintained and less rocky, though bikes are not allowed. It is supposed to be the nature trail with guides and 20 areas of interest, but they were just numbered with no information and I really didn’t see anything different about them vs. the rest of the trail.
There seemed to be a lot of people camping but we didn’t camp so I can’t really comment on the facilities. I would think if you did camp here you’d want to get one of the campsites nearer the beach.

The camp grounds are nicely kept. Decent bathrooms. Stay away from the swimming hole! Lol! Only so I can keep all to myself. Thus far it is my favorite «designated swimming area». The park has lots of trails too but it was TOO hot this weekend for us to check them out. Next time. The fishing is really good. Tons of big fish. At the marina, you can get «fish food» and feed the turtles carp and catfish that hang out under the dock. Ginormous fish. Pretty cool. The fishing dock near the marina is nice and long but the one near the camp grounds was too small. One family left no room for anyone else.

Ok so here is the deal. I have camped here a few times and have always had a good time (minus the time I camped in January and there were HUGE tree spiders above your head everywhere). This last time was not so great.
Apparently they have become much more strict. Drinking is a no no in state parks, however, as long as you’re respectful and not causing any problems, you aren’t bothered. That clearly isn’t the case anymore.
Most of the ladies who run the front office are nice. Unfortunately, we had to deal with one who was a pain in the ass. After she mistakenly gave one of our group members a day pass instead of an overnight one, she insisted we go all the way back to our campsite to get the ticket we had to tape in the windshield so she could make sure we paid (eventhough she was the one who took our money AND clearly remembered us since she tried to argue with us about saying we wanted a day pass).
Quiet time is at 10pm. At 9:45, a park officer came by our campsite to tell us that our music (which was playing on one of our phones so it couldn’t have even been that loud, regardless of the fact that it wasn’t quiet time yet anyway) needed to be turned off. His attitude automatically really defensive, despite the fact that we were going above to show we were respectful and weren’t trying to cause anyone any problems. He ended up coming back to our campsite 10 minutes later to say we were still being too loud (music was off). We whispered the ENTIRE night and he still came back a 3^rd time to write us tickets for drinking in a state park. It was obvious he was looking to give us a citiation, which was disappointing because we could not have been more accommodating to him and others.
The campsites are really close together, but the area is beautiful and the bathrooms are clean enough.

I grew up in this area, but ironically enough I never went camping here! My family and I were looking for some place not too far away and not completely booked up… enter Eisenhower! It was a whole family (& adopted family) affair. We have had a good time despite being a little cold the first night. The great thing about Eisenhower is that it is close enough to allow some family members to run home if need be. Thinking I need to talk to hubby about a park pass!

I love coming here to camp!
They’ve got docks that you can boat from and fish off of. There’s so many trails that you can go walking and biking on and to just have fun exploring around. I came here at least 3 different occasions to camp and it was nearly always at the same spot. It was on the Northern most peninsula of the park in the tent camping area. They do have shelters and rv hook ups too. Anyways as it’s part of a mini peninsula theres a small cove that you have to hike down to get to and it’s a little place where you can go swimming. I’m not really sure that you’re supposed to, but I always did because the lake bottom of that area was nearly almost crushed rock instead of gross mud. Hiking around the peninsula is fun too, but you have to be careful not to slip off the rock. At the tent camping areas they do have a big area for you to set up your tents (I suggest bring a tarp to lay down before setting up.), nice sized grills, and a camp fire area with some large rocks already setup. There’s also water faucets between each camp site and in each main area of camping there’s a mini building for showers and restrooms, if you’re not into taking care of business in the «wild.» Oooh if you didn’t bring your own firewood you can pick some up near the entrance of the park.