Pat Mayse State Park - 3rd Party Review by Biggunn

Pat Mayse State Park
Pat Mayse Lake

Arthur City, TX 75411 (or Paris, TX 75460 depending on what section)

Brief Description/Location of Park
Pat Mayse State Park (and the nearby Wildlife Management Area) appear to be relatively new additions to the TPWD network of parks. As of typing this review the park can not be found on the TPWD web page in the “Find a Park” section. Pat Mayse SP is located very close the the Texas Oklahoma border approximately 120ish miles Northeast of Dallas and a daunting 326 mile drive from Houston.

Main Attraction

Pat Mayse Lake

3rd Party Review

Because this is a new park and is very far outside my range fellow PopUpPortal member Biggunn has allowed me to share his impressions and photos of the park

“Well, we camped at Pat Mayse for a week.  First night we got 3-5 inches of rain and it was the first night in our NTU PUP so we thought we were going to die.  Very high winds and lots of rain but the PUP stood firm and had no issues or leaks.  As far as the campgrounds they don't officially open until April 1st but they had just opened the bathrooms and shower unit.  There are 3 sections to the park (A, B and C).  We stayed in A because it is where the shower building was and it looked like it was the only section where the bathrooms were cleaned and maintained.  Showers are 2 per side (boy and girl) and have one spigot which turns on warm water with no place to set shampoo or soap.  Rates were $18 per night and at the time we were there was taken by the honor system dropping the money in a steel tube but the park paperwork was checked daily by Charles the camp manager.  There is a guard shack which was unmanned the entire length of our stay.  Below are some picks of the park.  Lake level was really low and fishing was poor for most people as we camped in A1 right by the boat ramp and got all the fishing reports.  All the outdoor grills are rusted through and unusable for the most part.  Our fire ring had a removable grate so that is what we used for cooking.  Section C has sites that had washed into the lake and were unusable.  The people were nice but we weren't too impressed with the park itself.  Hope this helps someone as I found very little on the park in searching the internet.” - Biggunn, Original Post.

Restroom Facility

Honor system at work.

Camp sites along the Lake.

Floating Pier.

Biggunn's setup.

Photos courtesy of PopUpPortal member Biggunn (used with permission).

Conclusion Pat Mayse SP will be a welcome addition to the Northeast camping scene but for those looking to camp this season it may be worth giving the park a little more time to situate itself. With that in mind, revenue from visitors is needed for the parks to improve themselves so if you do wish to go keep in mind that this is a brand new park with more improvements to come down the road.