Lockhart State Park 7 out of 10

Lockhart State Park

Lockhart, Texas

April 2009

This State Park is located about an hour from us. It was an easy drive down the I30 Tollway and South 183. The park is really close to town. It was pretty busy with lots of golf traffic. Yep, the park has a 9 hole golf course and clubhouse. The park also has a large swimming pool, full basketball court, and 20 RV camping sites.

The first ten RV spots are in a circle and are big enough for large

trailers. They have level paved pads, fire ring and covered picnic

tables. They are relatively close together and have limited shade.

The second ten RV spots are along the river. Some of these spots are pull-thru, but most of them are pretty small and are ideal for

pop-ups. Without being able to reserve a specific spot, I would recommend arriving early before the weekend crowd to get a spot that would fit your rig.

The park also has a pavilion that overlooks the park. There are several hiking trails that connect the pavilion to the other parts of the park.

Running through the park is Clear Fork Creek. Not really big enough to tube, but still pretty.

Pros

- Close to Austin

- Golf Course

- Swimming Pool

- Creek

- Good Hiking Trail

- Close to Town and really good BBQ

Cons

- Small Park - only 20 RV sites

- Large pads don't have shade

- Most of the pads by the creek are for pop-ups


Rating

7 out of 10

Palmetto State Park 8.25 out of 10

Palmetto State Park
Ottine, Texas

April 2009

This is a really unique State Park located about 1.5 hours from Round Rock. it is just outside of Luling and about 20 minutes from Lockhart State Park. We were pleasantly surprised.

The layout of the park is a little strange.

It is very similar to Mother Neff State Park, where headquarters is a short drive up the road from the park. There are also several homes and an old abandoned Polio hospital next to the park (you can imagine the campfire spooky stories we got from that place). The San Marcos river runs through

the camp and there is a low water foot path crossing that connects the RV section to the tent camping section. The river was pretty big with lots of tree branches and stumps....not really ideal for tubing.

However, the park has a small lake that is right next to the river. Paddle boats, motorized fishing boats and canoes are available for rent. During the summer the lake is also popular for swimming.

The heart of the park is the lake and surrounding playground, Artisan well and pond. All around this area is 21 tent campsites. The campsites are really large.

They have lots of shade, picnic table and fire rings. Several of the sites overlook the river from a bluff.

A short hike across the river is the RV section consisting of 17 RV

sites and a bath house. The sites sit on a circle and have tons of shade.

Most of the sites had a decent size pad. There were a couple of pads that were a little small (perfect for a pop-up). The pads are paved and very level. For the first time in five years, I didn't have to make any leveling adjustments. The picnic table sits on a concrete slab with a BBQ pit and a fire ring. Some spots had really nice smoker/BBQ pits.

The fire rings also had a flip over grill. The sites are good size. However, we had some neighbors behind us that pitched a tent not six feet away from our fire ring. Go figure?

The hikes are easy and I would recommend the Palmetto nature loop. We found the interpretive trail with the water tower very interesting.

Pros
- Close to Austin - about a 75 minute drive
- Lush Tropical Environment
- Small Lake & River

- Paddle boats, Fishing boats and canoe rentals

- big camping sites with lots of shade
- good easy hiking trails

- Park Store with some supplies (popcycles)

Cons
- Weird layout

Rating

8.25 0ut of 10

Camp TexLake - Girl Scout Camp - Lake Travis

Camp TexLake
Girl Scout Camp
Lake Travis
April 2009

Inks Lake State Park - Revisited

Inks Lake State Park
Burnet Texas
April 2009

This is an awesome State Park. It has always been a favortie of mine. It located about 1.25 hours from Round Rock. I usually take my boat when visiting this park.

The park sits on Inks Lake which is a small constant level lake. Fishing is pretty popular on this lake.

This park has 20 cabins, 48 primitive tent sites and over 100 RV spots. There are multiple spots that sit right on the water. Most of the park sits on a no-wake cove off of Inks Lake. This is one of the few parks where you can just tie up your boat right next to your camp site. No need to trailer back and forth. The pads are relatively flat and some of the paving is crumbling.

The park has several hiking trails. The most popular is Devil's Waterhole. Cliff jumping is popular in this area.

The park also has a wonderful State Park store. You can purchase
most of your camping supplies at the store.