American Adventurer
Found · unverifiedUSACEFree

Steele Creek Park

Drive-up · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · TX · 32.00585, -97.44913
We haven't personally camped here. Everything below is pulled from public land data, USGS maps and OpenStreetMap — a real place on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land, but not field-checked by us. Confirm road conditions, current access, stay limits and fire restrictions before you go.

Free camping at a US Army Corps of Engineers park on Whitney Lake, Texas. The Corps states in writing that camping here is free: "Camping, picnicking, and boat launching facilities are free." There is no camping fee, no day-use fee, no permit and no pass required -- you just show up, and sites are first-come, first-served. 21 camp/picnic sites with ground cookers, water faucets through the park, two restrooms (toilets only) and two boat ramps. West side of the lake off FM 56 near Lakeside Village. Stay limit is 14 days in any 30-day period. This is primitive camping: plan on hauling out your own trash, and check current conditions with the lake office before a long drive, since the Corps closes parks for flooding and lake levels swing a lot in Texas.

USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Steele Creek Park
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Steele Creek Park
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Weather outlook
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 546 ft.
Fire & smokeNIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.

Everything you need — measured from camp

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 24 miWDump · 5 miD7-Eleven · Propane · 50 miPWhite Bluff Resort Marina · Fuel · 2 miFDavid's Express · Grocery · 6 miGEubank Drug · Pharmacy · 8 miRxTuckers · Hardware · 7 miHRB'S Auto & Electric · Mechanic · 10 miMLaundry · 8 miLShower · 27 miShAir-up · 16 miAMission Hillsboro Medical Clinic · Urgent care · 19 mi+Orion Taxidermy and Safari Studio · Outfitter · 24 miOQuik pack and ship · Mail · 7 mi@
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • FFuel2 mi
  • DDump5 mi
  • GGrocery6 mi
  • HHardware7 mi
  • @Mail7 mi
  • RxPharmacy8 mi
  • LLaundry8 mi
  • MMechanic10 mi
  • AAir-up16 mi
  • +Urgent care19 mi
  • WWater24 mi
  • OOutfitter24 mi
  • ShShower27 mi
  • PPropane50 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is a real 24-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 2 mi out.

One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors). Open in Google Maps ↗

The site

Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Elevation
546 ft
State
TX
Coordinates
32.00585, -97.44913
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

  • Water featureSteele Creek (river) · nearby
  • Nearest townLakeside Village · ~2.8 mi
  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelBonanza Mart · ~5.2 mi
  • Propane / LPGAllsup's · ~9.0 mi
  • Dump stationDump station · ~4.8 mi
  • GroceriesDavid's Express · ~5.9 mi
  • PharmacyEubank Drug · ~7.6 mi
  • Hospital / clinicGoodall-Witcher Hospital · ~17.9 mi
  • HardwareTuckers · ~7.1 mi

Nearby restrooms — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open this spot elsewhere

Google satellite →Gaia GPS →CalTopo →Back to the map →

Other camps nearby

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this

Source
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Confidence
Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.
How it was placed
Source: USACE Fort Worth District official park page https://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/whitney/Recreation/Parks/Corpsparks.shtml (retrieved 2026-07-20); free-camping wording quoted verbatim in field_note. Coordinates: OSM way 1274951162 (leisure=park); sits between SWF ArcGIS ramps 32.00249 and 32.00955. Verified free = no fee AND no permit/pass required, per Dave's Texas free-only rule. Ingested pending 2026-07-20 04:53:36.
Field check
Not verified on the ground. Nobody from here has camped it. It stays at Researched until someone does.

What we don’t know

A land record can put you within a few metres of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.

Before you go

Your first dispersed night →Fire rules & restrictions →Getting unstuck →Power off-grid →All field notes →
Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →