Hello,
I have only had my trailer for a few months so still early in my camping around Texas. While not in South East Texas, here are a couple of parks in Central Texas that are really good. Here are a couple reviews I posted elsewhere.
Pedernales Falls:Located between Dripping Springs and Johnson City, Pedernales Falls is a great place for the outdoor enthusiast and family camper. From south Austin area, it took us about 35 mins to get to the campground. The Campground is clean, most sites have plenty of tress and shade and there are plenty of hiking trails for all levels.
The campground has primitive sites as well as developed sites with Electricity and Water hook ups. The are single car wide but most are deep enough for an RV or Travel Trailer. Some sites are more wide open with sparse tree coverage while others are more secluded with lots of trees.
There are about 70 sites total for the campground but it can fill up quickly so reserving in advance is a good idea. There is wood and ice available for purchase if needed but no local store for grocery items if you forgot anything.
The restrooms are cleaned daily and have shower stalls. They are within walking distance for most sites but they do have a few parking spaces by each bathroom in case you don't want to walk to them.
The park has a number of nature activities for the outdoor enthusiast. There are plenty of hiking trails for all age ranges. Some trails may be physically demanding while others are easy. The walk to the falls is fairly easy with stone steps down to the river front. Though the steps can be a bit steep for the less mobile but no more challenging that your typical stairway in a residential home. However, there are no handrails on those steps. The falls are one of the highlight features of the park and are quite beautiful but this is obviously subject to drought conditions.
There are equestrian trails for those that have horses. There is also a bird blind for those that enjoy bird watching. We saw a number of cardinals and several other species though we are far from experts on the subject. There is a swimming area but we did not make it down there to check it out.
Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on your perspective but expect to unplug during your visit there as cell reception was challenging at best in the campsite. We did manage to get 1 bar if we stood in the street in front of our campsite and could get emails/texts as well as make calls but surfing the web is not really an option. So it can be good in that it forces you to enjoy the park more and your electronics less but if you need good connectivity for some reason, you will be challenged to get anything at this park.
Overall, this was a very nice park and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a great place to camp and enjoy nature.
Guadalupe River State Park:Overall, great campground in central Texas between Austin and San Antonio. About 1.5 hour drive from Austin and 1 hour from San Antonio. 2 main camping areas, Cedar Sage and Turkey Sink along with walk in camp sites for tent campers that is close to the river front.
Sites are clean and have lots of shade. Cedar Sage is primarily for tent camping and small trailers (teardrop and tent trailer size). Turkey Sink has larger spots for bigger RVs and travel trailers. Turkey sink also has lots of trees and good shade coverage but not quite as much as Cedar Shade as they need to allow room for larger vehicles. Both Cedar Sage and Turkey Sink have water and electricity hook ups. Sites also have fire rings (which can be used when there is no burn ban) as well a tables. They also provide a pole for hanging lanterns by the table.
Bathrooms are clean and well lit and also have shower stalls available. There is also a dump station for RVs that want to empty tanks before leaving the park.
There are some nice walking/hiking trails that are also open to mountain bikes. There is also a horse trail for the equestrian campers. Most trails lead down to river front.
I forgot to get pics of this park.
Jim Hogg State Park (Cedar Breaks is also close by and similar to Jim Hogg):OK, here is a brief review of the park...sorry did not get that many pictures but did get some video.
http://youtu.be/I9ISBJGzlUkOverall, park is clean and staff is friendly. The campground hosts made regular passes through the grounds to ensure things were going smoothly.
Bathrooms were clean (not spotless, but not smelly either). Bathrooms also had a couple of shower stalls with hot water. However, the bathroom closest to us was closed as they were replacing the septic tank. We had to walk to the upper restroom so it took a little longer than you might want.
Lot's of big RVs, 5th wheels, etc. but folks were friendly. It was mostly retired folks but there were some young families and even a few tent campers.
Water at the lake was really low but even so, it is still a huge lake.
Sites were paved with both electricity and water. Some had a lot of tree cover while others had very little to no trees. Each site had a designated fire ring and separate BBQ stand. Sites also had a covered picnic table. No recreation area that I could find (basket ball courts, volleyball, playground, etc.).
They did have a dump station on site right as you exit.
It was close to grocery stores, etc. in case you needed anything yet you still felt like you were away from the city.
Hope these help.
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 6:59 pm
I also love the trees and grass. Don't see much grass around in the desert campground in AZ! Can't make the gathering in April...but am excited about my first long (2-week) trip in May!
