Featured Facility - Fort Sam Houston Army RV Park, TX

Fort Sam Houston Army RV Park is one of the largest, and busiest, military campgrounds in the San Antonio, TX area. In March 2008, we called to see if there was space available. The best we could do was get a 6 day reservation a week away. I guess we should feel fortunate that we were able to get that. At the end of our 6 days, we asked to extend for another night. They granted us the extension and had us move into a different site. But it was free, since the 7th night is free during a week's stay. The funny thing is, we saw empty sites all week long. After we moved for the extended night, nobody took the site we were told to vacate. When we arrived, we discovered the driving directions posted here were only half right. Of course, we've corrected the directions, including adding driving directions when the "bridge is closed". When we first arrived, the bridge was open and we found the campground without issues. However, it was raining that day and the bridge was closed later that evening. It seems a creek overflows during the rains and they close the bridge. Even after the rains had stopped, a week later the bridge was still closed; they were waiting for the Corp of Engineers to approve the safety of the bridge. While this is the prudent thing to do, it sure made our stay less enjoyable for the week.

Typical FHU RV Site

When the "bridge is closed", getting to the campgound is inconvenient. This is partly due to the one-way roads you need to take to get to the correct gate, which they open only during "bridge out" times. If you're south of Fort Sam Houston, you need to go north of the Fort, then track back on the one-way road to get to the gate. After a few days, we explored alternate side-roads, which may have saved a few minutes. In addition, when the bridge is closed, there's no easy way to visit the main base and return to the campground. We only went onto the main base twice; the day we arrived and one other day to visit the commissary. I STRONGLY suggest calling security at (210) 221-2222 before your arrival to find out the bridge condition. It may save you driving out of your way to learn the bridge is closed (which is a common occurance).

The campground itself is fairly nice. The large RV sites are spaced apart with concrete pads and patios. They include a patio table, charcoal BBQ, with grass between the sites. There's many one-way paved roads, which makes maneauvering into the sites easier. The landscaping and campgound was well taken care of. There's two bathroom facilities, one on each half of the campground, and each includes clean showers. They also have a small laundry in each of the buildings. There are 3 washers (75 cents) and 3 dryers (75 cents) in each laundry.

The ofice staff was friendly and extremely busy. Everytime we visited the office, there was only one person working. The office area also serves as a TV lounge and small store. There's also a small covered patio behind the office; a computer desk with a dial-up connection is also in the office. Unfortunately, the office and TV lounge closes and is locked at 4:00pm each day. It appeared, and I havent heard otherwise, that the 30-day stay limit is strictly enforced here. Guests need to leave for 7 days before they can return for another 30 days. There weren't any signs of homesteading or long-term residents, so this policy is working. We think this is fair, which allows many travelers the opportunity to enjoy the facilities.

The RV Park	The RV Park
Bathhouse / Laundry

Staying at Fort Sam Houston made for a good base of operations that allowed us to explore much of the San Antonio and adjoining areas. Besides the inconvenience of the bridge being out, we very much disliked the frequent nearby trains. We were woken up EVERY night by their blaring horns! When the bridge is out, you normally need to cross the train crossing to get into the back gate for the campground. Once, we waited over 40 minutes at this train crossing for a stopped train. We finally lost patience and drove another 30 minutes to go around, back track on the one-way roads and come in ahead of the train from another angle on the side roads. The train was still blocking the crossing.

While the RV Park itself is nice and reasonably priced, our week stay there wasn't the greatest. With a couple other military campgrounds in the San Antonio area, returning to Fort Sam Houston Army RV Park will be our last preference next time we're in the area. The RV Park has no control over the issues that we didn't like. If there were no trains and the bridge was open, we would have enjoyed our stay much more. If these issues won't bother you, then you'll enjoy this well operated military campground.