Hidden Gem State Park in West Texas

Monahan’s Sandhills State Park

Welcome back Readers! I want to share a little gem hidden in west Texas called Monahan’s Sandhills State Park in Monahan’s Texas. This place is a little sand paradise, with big hills of sand all around you. Enjoy a sandy day at Monahan’s!

This is an fun experience for the whole family to enjoy. Bring your camper and park in a campsite with electricity and enjoy an extended trip. Pets are welcome, your dog will love running and digging in the sand all day long.

I want to share a little about our experience here in Monahan’s and what you would expect on your trip too. Now we stayed in our camper for 4 nights here and felt that was enough sandy time for us by the end of our trip. We had sand all over our camper and truck! I have two children who played in the sand in front of our camper for hours on end with their sand toys. We saw a few bugs, but nothing serious.

I will be talking about the drive into the campground, the site we stayed in and its amenities, cost and things to do around the area. The location is right outside of Monahan’s, Thorntonville and Odessa, TX. The cities around are pretty small, but there is a major Walmart 30 minutes away in Odessa. I would suggest going to the store for food and supplies before driving to the park, so you won’t have to go and make that trip again after a long drive.

We stayed 4 nights in the campground and it cost us $23 a night. The website currently (February 2023) states $15 per night, so make sure to get an update on their fees on their website here. The campsites have 50 AMP electricity, picnic table and grill, and some have water hookups too. There is a dump station, dumpster and restrooms with showers are

walking distance away. A few fun activities to do at the park is to rent sand disks and slide down the dunes, wonder on foot or horseback through the sandy paradise and visit and learn about the area at the visitors center.

One thing I did not expect and a fair warning to you, it is extremely windy out there in the sandy hills. It gets everywhere and my kids got a little irritated at the wind too. Also walking in the sand needs to be a form of exercise because walking up and down the hills while riding gets very tiring!

Another tip to keep in mind, especially bringing your RV. Is to be extremely careful driving around the sandy bits of the campsite. The campsite we stayed in was just like pulling off on the side of the main road, no backing into the site, although they have those sites available.

A few fun things to do outside the park is to explore the surrounding towns with shopping, museums and restaurants. We went to Odessa and found a replica of the Stonehenge located on the campus of the university of Texas Permian Basin. It was very interesting to see and let the kids run off some steam at the C.J. Kelly Park on their playground and beautiful sunsets.

Here is a list of attractions around Monahan’s Sandhills:

· Odessa Meteor Center, Odessa TX

· Million Barrel Museum, Monahan’s TX

· Ellen Noel Art Museum, Odessa TX

There isn’t a huge list of attractions and things to do around the area, because most people come for the sand dunes. This is perfectly fine, because you will have so much fun sliding down the hills, walking around exploring and maybe even have a mini photoshoot because the backdrops are beautiful.

Come enjoy the sand! As always travel long, travel happy!!

Shelby Long

Follow along on Instagram & Facebook Page @longsaturdays