From my experience, they care more about the container it's in. At least at Martin Dies where we usually camp. I've only had a Ranger say something to me once about alcohol and he just told me to put our wine in something that wasn't promoting alcohol because there was a scout group there. We even had an experience several years ago where several us were playing a drinking game, table covered in beer bottles, with a few underage drinkers, and the two rangers approached us asking us to turn our lights down a little. Did not say a thing about the alcohol.
Hahaha we knew that, but after a few beers we wanted to take a walk and it was literally pitch dark. That was until the ranger came around with his truck and headlights shinning.
Not an uncommon mistake. Some rangers are a little more gung-ho than others. Most, as long as you're not littering, creating noise after 10, and making a fool of yourselves, look the other way.
i drink, smoke and sometimes trip on mushrooms when camping and have never had an issue with rangers...be discreet, handle your business properly and you wont have any problems. i dont car camp though. we always hike in with gear and back-country camp so we are by ourselves. the exception is hill country state natural area - the car camping spots are more isolated. with some of them the camp spots are a 2-5 minute walk from your car, so its kind of a mix of car camping/back-country. and people party out there...rangers seem more lax when it comes to that...probably b/c its not actually a state park.
Interesting... I want to be isolated, but it's been years since I've been camping... so I have a little trepidation about camping without a power outlet. I know, it sounds ridiculous... I sound like a tween. I was honestly planning on hooking up to the 30W connection (using either an adapter or an extension cord) so I could plug in a rechargeable speaker, charge our phones/tablets, etc. Any of the places ya'll have been provide at least somewhat "isolated" car camping (besides the one referenced above)? I'm sure the smoke drifting from our campsite will smell a little, um, skunky and I'd like to avoid that attracting a lot of attention...
At Goose Island, they have several spots that are separated by trees and such. Like, you drive down a road and there's a little inlet for just one camping site. Then you drive another 30 ft or so, and there's another one. Then there's a big area of "common" camp grounds where there's spot after spot. The isolated ones are not as close to the bathrooms and such, obviously.
I would recommend Martin Dies State Park, Crocket National Forest and Sabine National Forest for great camping spots for low light pollution.. If you REALLY want to see some stars in Texas go to Guadalupe Mountains National Park or Big Bend National Park way out west. I did a trip out to Gila National Forest then hit Guadalupe Mountains NP on the way home. The drive was brutal but the stars at both locations were absolutely incredible. Check out some light pollution maps if you want to find the darker areas. That's how I usually pick mine.
Huntsville State Park. Then, you can go on the other side of the freeway and get pictures in front of this:
Are any of these minority friendly? Kinda wary about camping in east Texas. If the alligators don't get you, then Cletus and Billy Bob will.
Perdenales State Park, Garner State Park and anywhere near the Guadalupe River in New Braunsfels. Hill Country is where it’s at for camping.
