Russell Park

I had some very confrontational rude neighbors. The spots are too close together

I had some very confrontational rude neighbors. The spots are too close together

We have camped here numerous times before (site 21) and have loved it every time! This time we reserved site 16. When we arrived it was a disaster! There was nowhere to put a tent that wasn’t covered in large rocks. The one reasonable spot had a large broken limb hanging over it that hadn’t been removed from the storm a few months ago. Part of the site had downed brush piled up like it was the dump spot for all the brush. The fire pit had so many huge stones packed around it that my son wouldn’t have been able to safely access the fire ring. There were crushed melted candy and confetti everywhere. We ended up not staying and went to another local park, Berry Springs, and luckily snagged a last minute walk-in spot there. We will be back to Russell Park because we love staying by the lake but we won’t be staying at one of the site on the interior of the loop that’s for sure! And I really hope they get someone to do clean up, there wasn’t even anyone around at the gate house for us to even alert that there was an issue.

We have camped here numerous times before (site 21) and have loved it every time! This time we reserved site 16. When we arrived it was a disaster! There was nowhere to put a tent that wasn’t covered in large rocks. The one reasonable spot had a large broken limb hanging over it that hadn’t been removed from the storm a few months ago. Part of the site had downed brush piled up like it was the dump spot for all the brush. The fire pit had so many huge stones packed around it that my son wouldn’t have been able to safely access the fire ring. There were crushed melted candy and confetti everywhere. We ended up not staying and went to another local park, Berry Springs, and luckily snagged a last minute walk-in spot there. We will be back to Russell Park because we love staying by the lake but we won’t be staying at one of the site on the interior of the loop that’s for sure! And I really hope they get someone to do clean up, there wasn’t even anyone around at the gate house for us to even alert that there was an issue.

We love this park and have been coming for years. What we don't love is loud people that drink and fight until 4 AM. Somebody finally called the sheriff on our drinkin' fightin' neighbors, and they made them promise to be quiet, but they just started right up again after the sheriff left. Nobody cares if you have a couple of beers in camp, but these people had beer bongs and about ten different kinds of alcohol AND they went out to a bar to get drunk on top of it all. I am certain they were drunk when they drove into the campsite that evening. The sad thing is they also had a bunch of kids who were probably terrified in their sleeping bags listening to a group of five adults swearing and fighting and God knows what all.

We love this park and have been coming for years. What we don't love is loud people that drink and fight until 4 AM. Somebody finally called the sheriff on our drinkin' fightin' neighbors, and they made them promise to be quiet, but they just started right up again after the sheriff left. Nobody cares if you have a couple of beers in camp, but these people had beer bongs and about ten different kinds of alcohol AND they went out to a bar to get drunk on top of it all. I am certain they were drunk when they drove into the campsite that evening. The sad thing is they also had a bunch of kids who were probably terrified in their sleeping bags listening to a group of five adults swearing and fighting and God knows what all.

Through the winter I needed to camp at Russell because I live in Houston and work out of Georgetown M-F, usually going home on the weekends. This park closes many campsites in the winter months making them unavailable so I found myself sleeping at roadsides and truck stops when there were good campsites not being used simply because they had them closed. I don’t understand why. When I was able to get a campsite I hardly left my gear out because I’m a hammock camper and I didn’t want anyone to mess with my stuff or steal it. 3-4 times I came out after work to find others in my camping spot. A couple weeks ago I left my hammock hanging so people would know it belonged to someone but when I showed up after work (about 5pm) my hammock had been removed. It was still there and had been put back up but not correct so I had to re hang it. People are so messed up these days. The park is nice and it suits me. Such a shame idiots leave trash and my pet peeve, their cigarette butts thrown all over. I find this appalling and wish I could stuff those butts in their ears. This is more and more typical everywhere not just Russell. Clean toilets and hot showers make me happy. Stupid disrespectful people make me angry. This biological attack called covid messed up a lot of things up but it gave many the opportunity to run around the park without paying making it not so nice for those of us who paid. I like the online system I just wish the park was enforced. People will take advantage of everything and Russell park is no exception.

Through the winter I needed to camp at Russell because I live in Houston and work out of Georgetown M-F, usually going home on the weekends. This park closes many campsites in the winter months making them unavailable so I found myself sleeping at roadsides and truck stops when there were good campsites not being used simply because they had them closed. I don’t understand why. When I was able to get a campsite I hardly left my gear out because I’m a hammock camper and I didn’t want anyone to mess with my stuff or steal it. 3-4 times I came out after work to find others in my camping spot. A couple weeks ago I left my hammock hanging so people would know it belonged to someone but when I showed up after work (about 5pm) my hammock had been removed. It was still there and had been put back up but not correct so I had to re hang it. People are so messed up these days. The park is nice and it suits me. Such a shame idiots leave trash and my pet peeve, their cigarette butts thrown all over. I find this appalling and wish I could stuff those butts in their ears. This is more and more typical everywhere not just Russell. Clean toilets and hot showers make me happy. Stupid disrespectful people make me angry. This biological attack called covid messed up a lot of things up but it gave many the opportunity to run around the park without paying making it not so nice for those of us who paid. I like the online system I just wish the park was enforced. People will take advantage of everything and Russell park is no exception.

We rented two shelters anticipating that we would sleep inside but they were filthy, dirt, leaves, and insects inside. We were unable to sleep inside the shelter and had to drive to Walmart to buy tents to sleep in. The bathroom toilets in the women’s bathroom had a stall that was leaking what looked like sewage across the floor. I was so disappointed, this is such a beautiful park. If the park would invest in staff to clean the shelters and bathrooms it would be a great place to camp. Unfortunately I will never camp here again.

We rented two shelters anticipating that we would sleep inside but they were filthy, dirt, leaves, and insects inside. We were unable to sleep inside the shelter and had to drive to Walmart to buy tents to sleep in. The bathroom toilets in the women’s bathroom had a stall that was leaking what looked like sewage across the floor. I was so disappointed, this is such a beautiful park. If the park would invest in staff to clean the shelters and bathrooms it would be a great place to camp. Unfortunately I will never camp here again.