You might say that Lake Conroe Thousand Trails, near Willis, TX is our “home” Thousand Trails. So far each of our travel “adventures” has started and ended here. We’ve been here often enough that we head straight for the section we like the best when looking for a camp site. We find it kind of funny that we’ve found the exact same site open for three different stays now and are calling it “our site.”
Since I have written about this particular place a couple of times prior to this I’ll just focus on a few things. First, Thousand Trails has poured a great deal of money into Lake Conroe, making it one of their primer properties. The pool is the primary focus of the place. It has been completely redone with lots of places to sit, including several cabanas that each has its own refrigerator and even a TV. I’m kind of wondering about how well the electronics will survive in the open air environment, but for now it’s pretty impressive. The other really big effort has been the enlarging of the cove that includes a new swimming beach. There’s more to come at the cove, including a community of residences and the development of the “island” in the middle of the cove as a recreation focal point. Also, several of the campsites have been freshly graveled and leveled and the electric service in most sites is now both 30 and 50 amp. The restrooms/showers are all being updated as well.
I’ll mention that there is a new electric policy in place. Since so many sites are now both 30 and 50 amp, and since there’s a $3 surcharge for using 50 amps, the campground charges the extra charge based on how the RV is wired. If the RV has a 50 amp plug on it, the extra $3 is charged up front, no matter where you park. If the RV has a 30 amp plug, there is no surcharge unless you park in a 50 amp only site. Most people with 50 amp rigs prefer 50 amp sites, so the policy works fine for them. A few, though, want to use an adapter and save the $3 – so there’s been some controversy. The staff says it’s a pilot program from the company, but I’m guessing this is how it’s going to be and, as other Thousand Trails add 30/50 amp service to each site the policy will be standard everywhere.
Aside from all the construction and upgrades the other major story for us has been the weather. One storm in particular was quite threatening with high winds and a torrential downpour. Surprisingly, there was no real damage in the campground. I think we were seriously close to seeing a lot of damage. The weather here, though, wasn’t as bad as it has been in the middle and north of Texas. A tornado hit Lake Whitney Thousand Trails, which was to be our next stop. With that campground temporarily closed, we extended our stay here for a few days and then added a short stop at a Waco campground. We’ll see what happens next and the Lake Whitney campground is still in play if they can get it open again before we move on north and east.
Let me share what I think is an important Lake Conroe tip: just know that the pull through sites are the worst in the campground. Not only are they generally rough and unlevel, they are “back to back” sites in which your neighbor’s slide will practically touch your camper. Listen, the back in sites here are big and there aren’t any tree problems – you’ll like this place a lot more if you find one of them and stay away from the pull throughs. (BTW, I’ve seen 40+ foot 5vers being pulled by HDT’s on those sites – you’ll fit!)
While we think of Lake Conroe Thousand Trails as our “home” preserve, we’re more than ready to get on with our 2015 Adventure!