Texan RV Park

Big Red School House

Written By Dale Libby

I was bitten by the RV bug at a very early age. The day my dad brought home that 12′ pull behind camper my world changed. Tent camping was fine but this rig had running water, toilet, shower, beds and a small stovetop. Times have changed but my love for RVing never dieded. 

September 21, 2021

Texan RV Park and Campus – 9024 US Highway 175W, Athens, TX 75751

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link To RV Park: Texan RV Park and Campus

Link to MAP: Directions

Full Hook-Up Pull Through – $52

Just outside the small town of Athens, TX you will find this RV park just off I175 West. It is the home of the NRVTA Training Academy. The park has some 86 sites and at the time we were there they were adding another 12 or so Premium Back-In Sites.

From Attending School Review

I thought I would do a short review of the park. I believe that the likelihood of finding a space during the week here would be challenging. I say this due to the overwhelming success of the NRVTA Academy. Most of these sites will be occupied by students attending various classes at the Academy. So this will be a review geared toward anyone who might attend classes.

The park is certainly worth a stop if you happen to be this part of the state. Who knows you may even get the opportunity to run into a technician or two that might help you with a nagging problem on your rig. For a complete review of the school and my overview of the week just click here for my You Need Schooling post

A) Site Quality: ⛺️⛺️⛺️.5 / 5 

Recently purchased by the school around late 2016, they have made a bunch of improvements to the sites. The bulk of the sites are gravel and very spacious. The road system at the moment through the park is a mix of gravel and pavement. I would say for all the rain they had during the spring when we were there, it was in pretty good shape.

The management team is working daily to fill and level the roadway. As a matter of fact, we had booked a pull-through and due to heavy rains, it had been washed out.  They moved us to a back-in toward the rear of the property. Prior to us arriving they were hard at work trying to fill and level that site and the one next to it.

Insights
  • The park was full of students the week that we were there.  There were very few sites empty. The management team appeared to be moving out a number of seasonal residences that occupied and many of the back-in sites in the rear of the property. My guess is they were making room for the large numbers of students they were attracting.
  • Many of the teaching staff are living on-site and occupy several of the RV sites. These will be the only full-timers you will run into at this location.
  • Upon arrival, the staff was cheerful, happy to see you, and check-in was very easy. There is an escort to your site, and he is very helpful with instructions.
  • If you are staying in the park during the summer months, we were there in June. I would highly recommend back in sites 303-311. They are the few that are shaded.
  • I particularly liked sites 301, 302, 303. All had great views of the lake with plenty of green space.
  • The pull-through sites 201-213 mid-property are very large and close to the clubhouse and laundry.  There are a handful of back-in sites in that same area that have a great view of the lakes. These sites are ideal if you are attending class. You are but a short walk to the Big Red School House.
  • We brought our bikes thinking that I would use them to get back and forth to class in the am. I ended up walking to class from our site when it wasn’t raining. It took about 10 to 15 minutes to get to the schoolhouse.

B) Facilities: ⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️/5

If you are attending the training academy the facilities and classroom were very good. All of the components of an RV were available for each of the labs. There were several RVs on the property they used for classroom exercises. If you are just passing through, you will find the necessary items you would expect at any RV park, restrooms, laundry, propane, and showers.

The bonus of being on an RV Training academy campus owned by the people who are training you, if you have an issue at the site it will get fixed quickly. They have put a bunch of work on the sites around the campus. Working electrical pedestals, sewer upgrades, good water pressure, and a pay-for-play internet system. There is free wifi for reading email or searching the web. If you want to stream you will need to upgrade.

The cell reception at this location is good. We used our hot spot to stream any tv content we wanted.

C) Amenities: ⛺️⛺️⛺️/5 

At the moment they are few and far between. This park is currently set up for students and not your passing through RVer. There is no pool or playground for the kids. You will find all the basics as mentioned above to get you by for the time you are there. If you like to fish, the ponds are stocked and it’s a great pastime while attending class. You will need a bit of relief after the 7 am to 6 pm class schedule.

D) Location: ⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️/5 

If you are attending class in an RV this is the place to stay. If you are not traveling in your rig, they do have very nice cottages situated near the front of the property. Otherwise, you are staying in Athens at a B&B or hotel which is a good 20+ mins or so away.  You will find a number of restaurants and grocery store options in downtown Athens. We particularly liked Brookshires Grocery Store, they had a great selection and solid produce and meat department.

The school does try to organize off-campus trips. The Saturday at the end of the first week of school they had a dinner and wine tasting at one of the local wineries. During midweek there is a pot luck dinner at the Clubhouse that is well attended by teachers and students.

E) Paw – Friendliness – 🐾🐾🐾🐾/5

Zoey found this park to be very friendly to dogs. There was plenty of green space behind the site to relieve her. The dog park area was situated at mid-park and very large. Zoey and I could get out for our walks after class. Typically we would walk around the lakes and sites to get a little exercise.

They are currently working on improving this area. If you bring a dog to the park you will be charged $1 for new improvements they are planning.

Wanderers Overall Rating:  ⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️/5 

 

 

Previous Tips & Upgrades

Tire Pressure Monitor

Tire Pressure Monitor

We have heard hundreds of stories from RVers relating to tire failure. Some of the tire failure issues an RVer may encounter can be a minor nuisance and some failures can be catastrophic. 

read more
Truck Lane Fueling

Truck Lane Fueling

You have finally decided that the RV and Car fill up lanes are not for you when it comes to filling your RV fuel tanks. Highway driving takes you past numerous Travel Centers and you have seen your fellow RVer’s in the Truck Fuel Lanes. Why not give it a go, can’t be that much different from what we are doing now. They say it’s much faster to fuel that way and there is DEF at the pumps.

read more
Magne Shade

Magne Shade

The patented Magne Shade™ system uses small but very powerful Rare Earth magnets that are mounted on the outside of the window with a hi temperature 3M peel and stick tape. Our shades are designed to fit your coach glass tight, we incorporate a simple and effective fabric adjustment system in our design so your shades won’t stretch out of shape and sag over time, as a snap-type system can.

read more
Vortex Fan

Vortex Fan

Great little fan. Sucks so much air it creates a vacumm on our bathroom door. Looks good, overall good quality, fit as easy as claimed, and took all of 40 minutes to install seamlessly. My guess is i could have cut this down with another set of hands.

read more
Bring In The Crane

Bring In The Crane

We use our truck on and off through the year to haul, yard debris, landscaping, mulch and such. The hitch is a 175 lb problem when you want a clean bed to work with. Ginny and I thought we could easily handle the hitch once we took it apart. Not so as we found out,...

read more
Mr. Beam

Mr. Beam

Interior lighting at night on the RV has always been an issue for us. We struggled with solutions, from flashlights to battery operated led lights. Each had their draw backs, fumbling with switches in the dead of night the main one.

read more
Propane Monitor

Propane Monitor

Propane management is certainly very important particularly durning cold weather. Yes you can spend $80.00 to install a monitoring system that you can read on your levels on a smart phone.

read more
Microwave Safe

Microwave Safe

One of our early discoveries while we were on our maiden trip was the glass rotating tray in the microwave presented a problem. As we traveled the tray would take a beating bouncing around as we moved down the road.

read more

Itineraries You Might Like

DC Move In

DC Move In

The primary reason we purchased the RV was to visit with family. The secondary reason is to be on call when we are needed. We were needed in Ft. Belvoir, VA to help with a move to a new Military assignment for our Son-In-Law, Daughter, and grandson. It had been some time since we visited the east coast. We lived in NYC for several years during our working days. We knew this was not going to be a budget visit, nor would it be a pleasure to drive in our 35″ Grand Design Solitude 310GK-R in that traffic.

Carolina On My Mind

Carolina On My Mind

There is nothing like a ride through the Carolina pines in the spring. We love the Smokie Mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway, and the shores of North Myrtle Beach. Our good friends in Atlanta have been wanting for us to join them in the North Georgia mountains near Ellijay. The pandemic slowed that to a halt as of last March. Now that we are all fully vaccinated we are looking forward to getting together in the coming weeks.

The itinerary will take us down to Ellijay, GA then south to Augusta. We will then head northeast to North Myrtle Beach, spend the week and then head back to the Smokie Mountains near Pisgah, NC. We can’t wait to get back on the road and off to some of our favorite places to visit. Here is a rundown of the parks we will be visiting. Some of them have been old standby’s, others will offer a new adventure.

Vegas Slow Go

Vegas Slow Go

It was an all hands on deck moment. We had to get to Vegas. Ginny’s mon was in the hospital there and was not doing well. After a week and a half of tests, prods, and pokes, they were going to release her. It was going to be imperative for us to be there to help with home care. We both had concerns about COVID and travel. We have been living in QPI, quiet, peaceful, isolation. I will do my best to give you a snapshot of precautions and COVID protocols at each RV Park.