The Rio Grande Valley doesn't have a lot of options for people who enjoy camping, like Raquel Cantu.

“For camping, I usually go out all the way to the beach, that's probably the closest thing that I have to be away from people,” Cantu said. “And there's always like Garner State Park, Palo Alto, Big Bend National Park. Those are pretty far.”

That lack of campgrounds is why the city of McAllen decided to start making one.

The campsite will be north of Frontera Road, just off of 23rd Street.

“No matter where you are on this 20 acre property, you are going to feel fully immersed in nature,” McAllen Parks and Recreation Deputy Director of Programs Carina Jimenez said. “We plan for overnight stays in those campsites. There will be tent pads with a screen shelter for meals, and of course everybody loves that sitting around the campfire and just enjoying an evening and the night sky."

The city also plans to build an archery range, a mountain biking trail, and two docks on the property's 100- foot lake.

“We know what amenities we want to bring to the city in this space, and now it's identifying — based on the topography of this space, based on the natural elements that we don't want to remove in terms of vegetation and trees — where all of those amenities are best suited,” Jimenez said. 

The entire project could take more than a year to complete, and talks to begin construction are still in the works.

The city so far has placed $1.1 million toward the project.

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