Mott
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:03 UTC
- A night
- $28From, per site
- Sites
- 33All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
Mott Park is located on the western shore of Bardwell Lake, less than an hour south of the Dallas-Fort Worth area in north-central Texas. The lake has favorable fish and wildlife habitats, providing plenty of opportunities for fishing and hunting, and great locations for camping, boating and hiking. Deer, armadillo, rabbit, squirrel and a variety of bird species inhabit the area. Keep reading
Recreation
Many local fishermen consider Bardwell Lake one of the best kept secrets in the state. Bass fishermen seldom leave empty-handed. Crappie fishing is moderate, and catfish are usually excellent. The lake has a marina with fishing piers, two of which are enclosed (a small fee is charged for the use of these facilities), and there are several designated hunting areas around the lake, including those for duck hunting.
Facilities
Mott Park offers 33 campsites with water and 30-amp electric hookups and seven picnic sites. The group camping pavilion has four 30-amp electric and water connections and may accommodate 100 people and four RVs. The facility also has a day use area for visitors who are not camping overnight. Additional amenities include a swimming area with benches, two fishing areas, public restrooms with showers, one four-lane boat ramp and a courtesy dock.
Natural Features
The park is grassy and partially forested with plenty of open space where children can play. The lake's blue water provides a refreshing break from the Texas heat, while bright bluebonnets and other wildflowers surround the lakeshore each spring.
Nearby Attractions
Numerous amenities, as well as cultural and historical attractions, lie in the nearby cities of Dallas and Fort Worth.
What the agency tells you
50 amp services are available only for 50 amp campers. 30 amp services are available only for 30 amp campers. Converters/“dog bones” are not allowed.
By using U.S. Army Corps of Engineers parks, you agree to adhere to the written policy of EP 1165-2-316, Title 36. See Here.
The entrance station is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Day use and swim beach close at 9:00pm
Everything else this campground posts · 10
Visitors with a pink 'visitor' car pass must exit the park by 10 p.m. daily
Swimming pools, water slides and sprinklers are not allowed
Nothing may be nailed to trees or other plants.
A permit is required for special events or activities occurring in the park; applications must be submitted 10 days prior to the event; Contact Bardwell Lake Office at 972-875-5711 for more information from Mon.-Fri., 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Multiple site rentals may be made by advance reservation only; walk-up customers may not rent additional sites for family or friends expected to arrive later
All camping vehicle passes must be returned to the gate house upon final departure and check-out
Reservations made with a discount pass require the discount pass and proper photo ID upon check-in and re-entering the facility; Click Here to learn more about discount passes
All boats are subject to inspection for Zebra mussels, an invasive aquatic species; Click Here to learn more
Don't Move Firewood: Protect your forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
All U.S. Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds are a maximum use of 14 days within a consecutive 30-day period per water resource project, which includes all of Bardwell Lake's parks.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 33
- Hookups
- 32 electric, 33 water
- Longest rig
- 140 ft
- Paved pads
- 5 of 33
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets · Pit Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS on 28 of 41 campsite records / PIT TOILETS on 28 of 41 campsite records
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- SHOWERS on 28 of 41 campsite records
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake
- Boating
- Fishing
- Swimming
- Night sky · 122nd darkest of 154 in TX
- Bortle 5
9 of 58 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:03 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 16
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $28 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:03 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
41 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 31 mapped sitesAll 41 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 39 of the 41 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 4 of the 41 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| MOTT | 01 | rv electric | 15 ft | 30 amp | 59 ft | 189 ftBardwell Lake | 212 ft | |
| MOTT | 02 | rv electric | 15 ft | 30 amp | 59 ft | 163 ftBardwell Lake | 194 ft | |
| MOTT | 03 | rv electric | 15 ft | 30 amp | 51 ft | 170 ftBardwell Lake | 273 ft | |
| MOTT | 04 | rv electric | 15 ft | 30 amp | 51 ft | 166 ftBardwell Lake | 321 ft | |
| MOTT | 05 | rv electric | 15 ft | 30 amp | 51 ft | 164 ftBardwell Lake | 374 ft | |
| MOTT | 06 | rv electric | 15 ft | 30 amp | 51 ft | 266 ftBardwell Lake | 304 ft | |
| MOTT | 07 | rv electric | 15 ft | 30 amp | 46 ft | 193 ftBardwell Lake | 411 ft | |
| MOTT | 08 | rv electric | 15 ft | 30 amp | 51 ft | 277 ftBardwell Lake | 353 ft | |
| MOTT | 09 | rv electric | 15 ft | 30 amp | 46 ft | 181 ftBardwell Lake | 452 ft | |
| MOTT | 10 | rv electric | 15 ft | 30 amp | 57 ft | 307 ftBardwell Lake | 396 ft | |
| MOTT | 11 | rv electric | 15 ft | 30 amp | 84 ft | 210 ftBardwell Lake | 501 ft | |
| MOTT | 12 | rv electric | 15 ft | 30 amp | 97 ft | 293 ftBardwell Lake | 511 ft | |
| MOTT | 13 | type not stated | 56 ft | 30 amp | 231 ftBardwell Lake | 633 ft | ||
| MOTT | 14 | rv electric | 85 ft | 30 amp | 167 ft | 174 ftBardwell Lake | 667 ft | |
| MOTT | 15 | rv electric | 85 ft | 30 amp | 90 ft | 155 ftBardwell Lake | 810 ft | |
| MOTT | 16 | rv electric | 72 ft | 30 amp | 68 ft | 182 ftBardwell Lake | 900 ft | |
| MOTT | 17 | rv electric | 76 ft | 30 amp | 68 ft | 163 ftBardwell Lake | 967 ft | |
| MOTT | 18 | rv electric | 140 ft | 30 amp | 106 ft | 153 ftBardwell Lake | 1,054 ft | |
| MOTT | 19 | rv electric | 102 ft | 30 amp | 73 ft | 241 ftBardwell Lake | 784 ft | |
| MOTT | 20 | rv electric | 117 ft | 30 amp | 72 ft | 171 ftBardwell Lake | 700 ft | |
| MOTT | 21 | rv electric | 105 ft | 30 amp | 72 ft | 225 ftBardwell Lake | 716 ft | |
| MOTT | 22 | rv electric | 117 ft | 30 amp | 88 ft | 138 ftBardwell Lake | 613 ft | |
| MOTT | 23 | rv electric | 98 ft | 30 amp | 65 ft | 221 ftBardwell Lake | 646 ft | |
| MOTT | 24 | rv electric | 89 ft | 30 amp | 65 ft | 274 ftBardwell Lake | 657 ft | |
| MOTT | 25 | rv electric | 44 ft | 30 amp | 75 ft | 356 ftBardwell Lake | 771 ft | |
| MOTT | 26 | rv electric | 126 ft | 30 amp | 75 ft | 398 ftBardwell Lake | 839 ft | |
| MOTT | 27 | standard electric | 134 ft | 50 amp | $28 | |||
| MOTT | 28 | standard electric | 126 ft | 50 amp | $28 | |||
| MOTT | 29 | rv electric | 97 ft | 30 amp | 79 ft | 300 ftBardwell Lake | 984 ft | |
| MOTT | 30 | standard electric | 101 ft | 30 amp | 79 ft | 275 ftBardwell Lake | 1,052 ft | $28 |
| MOTT | 31 | standard electric | 121 ft | 50 amp | 106 ft | 411 ftBardwell Lake | 1,024 ft | $28 |
| MOTT | 32 | rv electric | 75 ft | 30 amp | 79 ft | 311 ftBardwell Lake | 988 ft | |
| MOTT | 33 | rv electric | 55 ft | 30 amp | 79 ft | 346 ftBardwell Lake | 919 ft | |
| MOTT | 34 | day use | 147 ftBardwell Lake | 337 ft | $5 | |||
| MOTT | 35 | day use | 149 ftBardwell Lake | 305 ft | $5 | |||
| MOTT | 36 | day use | 140 ftBardwell Lake | 257 ft | $5 | |||
| MOTT | 37 | day use | 170 ftBardwell Lake | 200 ft | $5 | |||
| MOTT | 38 | day use | 50 ft | 169 ftBardwell Lake | 232 ft | $5 | ||
| MOTT | 39 | day use | 50 ft | 125 ftBardwell Lake | 435 ft | $5 | ||
| MOTT | 40 | day use | 40 ft | 224 ftBardwell Lake | 317 ft | $5 | ||
| MOTT | GS | day use | 60 ft | 30/20/30 amp | 226 ft | 399 ftBardwell Lake | 732 ft | $80 |
The agency files 8 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It files them as day use. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
25 of 41 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
High View1.2 mi
Love1.8 mi
Waxahachie Ck3.1 mi
WOLF CREEK (Navarro Mills Lake)19 mi
OAK (Navarro Mills Lake)20 mi
PECAN POINT PARK (Navarro Mills Lake)20 miFrom Ennis, Texas: From Interstate 45, exit onto U.S. Highway 287 Bypass (Exit #247). Travel 4.5 miles and exit at the Bardwell Lake exit sign. Turn left onto Highway 34 and go 3.5 miles southwest. Turn left onto FM 985 and go 1.6 miles southeast to the entrance. The park is located on the left side of the road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Bardwell, TX
Typical weather
Typical October night 55°F, day 79°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 36°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Mott is in Texas’s 6th congressional district. Its representative, Jake Ellzey (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →