Waylon Jennings RV Park: A Free Campground

Waylon Jennings RV Park is located in a small West Texas town named Littlefield. We found it quite by accident when we were heading back to Florida from a summer RVing trip to the western United States.

We were tired and were looking for a cheap place to stay that wouldn't require too much of a drive from Tucumcari, NM, where we had stayed the night before. When I found Waylon Jennings RV Park in my camping book, it seemed like it would be the perfect stopping point for us.

We had never been to Littlefield, Texas, but assumed it would be a typical little western town with wide streets and friendly people. It was all of that and more. Littlefield turned out to be the kind of sleepy western town reminiscent of those described in Louis L'amour novels: small, dusty, sleepy and dry. As it turned out, it was also the birthplace of Waylon Jennings.

At first we thought the town had named Waylon Jennings RV Park after Waylon Jennings because he was probably the most famous person who ever lived there. We were wrong. Waylon Jennings RV Park carries his name because he actually donated the campground to Littlefield as his way of thanking the townspeople for helping him get his start in the music business.

He felt Waylon Jennings RV Park would bring visitors to his birthplace who might spend some dollars there, and thus help the local economy. Unfortunately, the townspeople didn't make doing that easy for us.

The day we arrived, we were dying for a big old Texas sized steak dinner. Unfortunately, it was Sunday. By the time we set up camp and went looking hungrily for what we thought would be a memorable meal, every restaurant in town had closed up shop! We could not believe we were in Texas and couldn't find a steak! Needless to say, dinner that night was soup and a sandwich in the RV. At that point, we felt lucky that Waylon Jennings had made it possible for us to even camp there!

The Waylon Jennings RV Park has about 100 full hookup, 30 amp spots. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s all a traveler needs. The best part is that it costs absolutely nothing to stay there for the first four days.

Waylon Jennings RV Park has a small stage near the front entrance. Locals will tell you that back in the day, Waylon and his pal, Willie Nelson, used to show up unannounced, get out of their big travel bus and put on free performances for anybody within listening distance. Afterwards, the citizens would often invite all campers to their barbeques. All of this was free.

Today Waylon is gone and the stage sits empty, but if you are around on a weekend evening, the locals still may invite you to join them for a free barbeque.

You can’t create history like this, and staying at Waylon Jennings RV Park makes you feel like you are part of it. There is nothing better than to sit in front of your RV on a warm Texas night and listen to a CD of Waylon’s music.

He lived a wild and raucous life, but donating Waylon Jennings RV Park to his community is one of the good things he did. He should be remembered for that, and you should honor him by giving at least a little of your business to the town that gave him to us.

The restaurants do open up again on Monday and so do the stores. So if you ever get to Littlefield, buy something or eat something. Stay at Waylon Jennings RV Park and Let Waylon Jennings know that his campground did do some good after all!