The Two RV Gypsies: Full-Time RVers
at Medina Lake - Thousand Trails
215 Spettle Road
Pipe Creek, Texas
May 5 - 7, 2015

These comments are just the experience of the two RV Gypsies and do not make the campground good or bad in general. For campground reservations, phone: - '830.751.2406.

BUT this campground had some interesting things not seen at most campgrouds, including deer, a chapel area, and more - so scroll all the way down this page. PLUS, there are lots of NAVIGATIONAL choices at the bottom of this page.

The two RV Gypsies enjoyed Medina Lake RV Campground. It is situated about an hour's drive from San Antonio. This campground is a wilderness area with lots of wildlife, perhaps snakes, spiders and other critters, plus poisonous plants, so the campground provided some general camping safety tips in their paperwork. Be sure to read it if you camp here.

Like most Thousand Trails campgrounds, 50 amp full hook-up sites are NOT in abundance. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

All camping vehicles MUST be occupied and attended overnight by member. (Do they knock on doors or peek in windows to enforce this?) Just because there is no tow car with the RV, does not mean nobody is in the RV.

Any vehicle may be removed without notice or liability and placed in storage at the discretion of the preserve manager. Most other campground rules applied. The campground had extremely low water pressure. TV via antenna came in fair. No Wi-Fi at sites. This was a very large campground.

Thousand Trails sign
Thousand Trails sign

Below: Interesting decor at the Thousand Trails entrance

minature horses and carriage
bull
minature horses and carriage

Below: Picnic area and playground near the lake that were in real need of maintenance. This campground is humongous and this part of the campground is an area that does not get much use now that Medina Lake has dried up (at least at this time).

picnic tables
swing set

Below: The new home of the two RV Gypsies and in the hot tub. It is very rare that Lee Duquette uses the hot tub. Karen Duquette does sometimes, but not that often because they are usually very busy exploring the town. They had the hot tub to themselves, or they would not have used it.

the home of the two RV Gypsies
The two RV Gypsies in the hot tub

Swimming pool hours on this date: Sunday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Adult supervision required at pool.

Below: A very large pool - notice the dirt in the pool by the stairs. Plus a kiddie pool - where is the adult supervision for the child shown below??????

pool
kids pool

DEER IN THE CAMPGROUND - they were everywhere.

DEER IN THE CAMPGROUND
DEER IN THE CAMPGROUND
DEER IN THE CAMPGROUND
DEER IN THE CAMPGROUND
DEER IN THE CAMPGROUND
DEER IN THE CAMPGROUND
DEER IN THE CAMPGROUND
DEER IN THE CAMPGROUND
DEER IN THE CAMPGROUND
DEER IN THE CAMPGROUND

MEDINA LAKE

Medina Lake is a reservoir on the Medina River in the Texas Hill Country of the United States. It is operated by the Bexar/Medina/Atascosa County Agricultural District. Medina Dam was completed in 1913 in a privately financed project, creating the lake to supply irrigation water for local agricultural use. Lake Medina is in northeastern Medina County, and southeastern Bandera County, about 40 miles northwest of San Antonio.

It is a crescent-shaped reservoir running west to east. It is 18 miles long and 3 miles wide at its broadest point. It is contained by the Medina Dam at the lake's south end. At the time of the dam's construction, it was the largest concrete dam in the country and the fourth largest dam overall. The dam is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The lake is fed by and discharges back into the Medina River, and serves both recreational and irrigation uses.

However, as seen in the photos below, there was no water here at Medina Lake on this date. The campground paperwork says, "Swim at your own risk - when lake is present."

MEDINA LAKE
MEDINA LAKE

It was only a few decades ago that Medina Lake was highly regarded by anglers. Now fishermen cannot even access the dried-up lake. Not only was the fishing great, it was record-breaking. Gone are the bass, crappie and catfish. Surprisingly however, no major fish kill has occurred. As for those who hope to fish the waters again, not all hope is lost. Should the lake refill to even half-capacity, Texas Parks and Wildlife plan to restock the reservoir. 

MEDINA LAKE
MEDINA LAKE

Below: Floating docks, but no water and the boat ramp - no water at the bottom

MEDINA LAKE
the boat ramp

THE RECREATION HALL

This campground offered lots of activities on certain days, mostly week-ends. There was a miniature golf course, volleyball court, horseshoe court, ping-pong tables, basketball court, pickle ball, shuffleboard, pool tables, playground and swings, sandbox, a junior size Olympic pool, kiddies pool, hot tub, sports court, laundry facilities and more. While the two RV Gypsies were here, they hardly ever saw other people. Only one person was in the Recreation Hall at this time.

the front door to the Rec Hall
inside the Rec Hall
dining area
TV area
kids area

ADULT ONLY AREA

ADULT ONLY AREA
military tibute area

Chapel area with a song book on every seat

Chapel area
song book
another TV area
coffee area

Smoking area

These look real, but were not

smoking area
fake coca-cola
Elvis Presley area

Outside area

Outside area
Outside area

Menu for the two RV Gypsies Adventures
in  Texas
May 4 - 10, 2015

kook below

Houston TX & Blue Elbow Swamp

Westlake RV Resort in Houston

The Alamo

Restaurants in San Antonio

Louis Tussaud's Waxworks

Ripley's Believe It Or Not

SegCity Segways Tour

San Antonio (the city)

Medina Lake and Thousand Trails in Pipe Creek (this page)

San Angelo Visitor Center

San Angelo Riverwalk and art

Old Town San Angelo

Nature Center & Sunken Gardens

downtown San Angelo


San Angelo KOA

Monahans Sandhills State Park and rolling down the sand dunes

kook below

the next adventure of the two RV Gypsies AFTER you have seen all of the above, please continue on to New Mexico