Camping in Central Texas

Enchanted Rock fills early with day hikers - parking is very limited. IIRC there are some reservable spots but they fill months in advance.

I've ridden my bike near Inks Lake and in Pedenales Falls but haven't camped there, scenic places.

A bit of a drive but nice hiking in Hill Country Park west of San Antonio.

FWIW, I haven't lived in Texas in ten years.

 

Haven't camped at Inks lake... but I did some day hikes there about 6 years ago. Went with a good friend and I don't think we saw more than 3 other people the whole time. It was really nice.

There's some climbing at E-rock (if you're into that sort of thing)... but Woofer's right about the crowds.

Haven't been to Pedernales Falls since I was about 6 or so... lots of families camping out there as I remember.

 

I've camped all three places. My order of preference is:

1.) Perdenales Falls
2.) Enchanted Rock
3.) Inks Lake

I'm sure that helps a lot.

 

hopefully not the one that wipes from back to front because using leaves will make it that much worse.

 

Garner State Park is nice... but of course, it is going to be spring break and all these places are gonna be packed.

You can always drive a little extra and head to Big Bend!! Do some backcountry and get away from EVERYTHING!!

 

I've only camped at Enchanted Rock at the places you have mentioned
Enchanted gets crowded and over spring break I'm sure it would be very crowded. It is, however, a really great spot to go. Lots of hikes the rock itself is cool...wildlife is always around there and they are pretty tame so they come right into the campgrounds (good and bad)
If you want a quiet peaceful retreat Enchanted Rock is not the place to go but for fun camping its great,

 

Try Lost Maples. I think that's what it's called... I went there for my spring break my senior year of high school. It had some great hiking trails.

 

Out of Central Texas I would say Big Bend is the best in Texas but it's also the most crowded during peaks times for the same reasons in spite of its isolation. IIRC it takes about a twelve hour drive from Austin. OTOH, the primitive desert camp sites are nice in that you aren't likely to see another human being, though.

 

big bend is great, but not really central texas and it does get more crowded than usual for spring break than normal.

for central texas my pick would be either e-rock or lost maples. e-rock WILL be full for spring break though so if you dont mind crowds and want to go i would get reservations now.

lost maples is really nice. there is some hiking to do and it shouldnt be as crowded as e-rock for spring break. there is enough hiking trails out there to keep you entertained for a couple days. hilly, canyons, creeks...a good hill country experience.

are you backpackers or car campers? if you are car campers than lost maples might not be so cool. backcountry is nice cause there is plenty of room out there and you can get away from people. you can just start hiking out and set up camp out in the wilderness.

if you are car-camping than i would recommed a little known place called krause springs in spicewood, about 45 minutes northwest of austin on hwy 71. its a small, family owned campground w/ access to the pedernales and some good swimming holes. not very big though, and not much in the way of hiking. very nice for an overnight stay though. you can build fires out there too! mmm smores!

there is lots of great camping in central texas, but with so many students around it gets crowded during spring break. if you have at least 4 days i would just go to big bend. ive been 5 times and i cant wait to go again. two words...SOUTH RIM!

 

big bend is actually closer to 8 hours (dont scare him away!) and well worth the drive.

and primitive camping is the only way to go (plus its free)

 

i take that back. it would still be cool, just a little more crowded.

however, backcountry camping is the way to go.

 

Lost Maples and Pedernales are two of my favorite place in all of Texas. Near Pedernales is a private place I went to about 10 years ago that will absolutely rock your socks named Krause Springs. Beautiful place with a different atmosphere than the typical state park feel. A google search should give you a decent idea of what its like.

 

oops. thats what i get for not reading all the posts. jo mama is right about Krause Springs- not a ton of hiking unless you dont mind jumping fences. another couple are hill country state natural area (LOTS of hiking) and guadalupe state park (nice cliffs). I HIGHLY recommend a float down the Medina river- still my favorite thing to do in the hill country.

 

For all of those singing Big Bend's praises I have to agree. I used to go annually. Primitive camping is as sweet as it gets, there.

I've heard that since 9/11 the whole Boquillas canoe thing no longer is possible. That's ashame, because out of a 4-5 day camping trip, we always planned one day for Boquillas.

Anyway there is a lot to do at Big Bend, and a lot of it is totally amazing. It's rugged country, but a lot of fun.

 

yup, since 911 they shut down the informal border crossings they had and the 2 towns, boquillas and santa elena are not much more than ghost towns. they depended on people from big bend comming over and spending money and they depended on big bend for services such as gas and groceries. last time i was there there were little kids on the mexican side of the rio grande trying to sell us bracelets. it was really sad.

they really need to reopen those crossings-i cant imagine any terrorists comming into the u.s. thru the chiuauan desert and big bend. at the least they could just have some border patrol guy monitoring who comes and goes.