Agency-listedUSACEFree
Thomas Lake Park
Drive-up · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · TX · 33.26665, -94.47114
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
Free camping at a US Army Corps of Engineers park on Wright Patman Lake, Texas. The Corps states in writing that camping here is free: "Thomas Lake Park is a free primitive camping area." 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. Picnic tables and a boat ramp only. NO restrooms, no water, no electricity -- this is the barest of the two Wright Patman free areas. 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
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Thomas Lake Park
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 240 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Thomas Lake ParkNIFC · 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 Thomas Lake Park · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · TX
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
- FFuel8 mi
- GGrocery8 mi
- @Mail8 mi
- RxPharmacy14 mi
- EVEV fast charger14 mi
- MMechanic19 mi
- +Urgent care20 mi
- HHardware21 mi
- AAir-up24 mi
- LLaundry24 mi
- OOutfitter25 mi
- DDump44 mi
- WWater45 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 45-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 8 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Thomas Lake Park
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Elevation
240 ft
State
TX
Coordinates
33.26665, -94.47114
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Thomas Lake Park · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · TX (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSulphur River (river) · nearby
- Nearest townBryans Mill · ~2.7 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~11.6 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesBrookshire's · ~14.1 mi
- PharmacyBrookshire's Pharmacy · ~14.1 mi
- Hospital / clinicCHRISTUS Saint Michael Hospital-Atlanta · ~21.0 mi
- HardwareHarbor Freight Tools · ~25.4 mi
EV charging — from Thomas Lake Park · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · TX — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger14.1 mi straight-line N — New Boston, TX - Tesla Supercharger (at a gas station) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 16 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. NACS partner enabled. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach2 within 25 mi · 9 within 50 · 48 within 100 · 213 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS25.2 mi — MB OF TEXARKANA ABB SHOP, Texarkana
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO43.4 mi — TA EXPRESS 919 STATION 1, Hosston
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)25.1 mi — MB OF TEXARKANA CUSTOMER 1 · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 241139 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Thomas Lake Park · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · TX — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- No mapped restroom within 30 miles — plan to pack it out.
Open Thomas Lake Park elsewhere
Other camps near Thomas Lake Park
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Jackson Creek Park~10.2 mi
How we know this — Thomas Lake Park
Fee note
no fee AND no permit/pass required
Source
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
Source: USACE Fort Worth District official park page https://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/wrightpatman/Recreation/Parks/Corpsparks.shtml (retrieved 2026-07-20); free-camping wording quoted verbatim in field_note. Coordinates: OSM way 1300046284 (tourism=camp_site 'Thomas Lake Park'); SWF ArcGIS ramp 33.26603,-94.47143. Verified free = no fee AND no permit/pass required, per Dave's Texas free-only rule. Ingested pending 2026-07-20 04:53:36.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Thomas Lake Park
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Thomas Lake Park
Camping near a reservoir →Finding water out here →Dumping grey & black →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 →