Campsite / Lake / Historical Site Reviews

Brazos Bend State Park

Brazos Bend State Park
Needville, Texas

March 17-18, 2010

WOW!

That's right, wow! We really enjoyed this stop on our 2010
Spring Break trip. We stayed at this park for several days and had plenty to do. As you drive into the park, you notice the
three different eco systems. Off the highway, you have farm land,

then there are prairies with tall grass and then on both sides of

the park road, fresh water marshes.

As we went in the park road , we came across a pack of wild pigs. Then when we hit the swamps, I knew we were in for a different kind of park. When I went to check in, the ranger gave me a safety speech on the park rules for alligators. I thought OK, thanks for the heads up. We've been to other state parks (Huntsville, Lake Livingston) that had alligators and never saw a

single one. Boy was I in for a big surprise. This park is known for it's alligators. They have over 400 tagged alligators in the park.

The park has over 80 electric and water sites and a dozen cabins located in three different loops. We stayed in the Burr Oaks loop and our site was decent size with a nice level paved pad and a fire ring.

The park is pretty big and I would recommend bikes for traveling. Just make sure your riders are proficient, you don't want to crash into any ditches in this park.

There are several lakes/ponds located in the park and there are hiking and biking trails around them. There is also an observation tower were you can view wildlife (alligators) in two of the lakes. But you don't really need a tower to see them. In fact, you have to be careful of not stepping on them. Seriously! The alligators like to sun themselves and can be often found laying in the middle of the trail. So be careful riding your bike and walking your dog. My son almost ran over a huge eight footer on his bike. And I had to carry our dog on most of the trails......she would of made a nice

snack for some of those gators.

Elm lake is were most of the activity was. This has one of the day use sections and it was quite busy with hikers, bikers and picnic goers. Elm lake is very scary looking with tons of huge dead trees towering out of the lake. I couldn't imagine stepping foot in that water. BTW, none of the lakes/ponds allow canoes or kayaks. You can fish and we did see some guys fishing from two of the fishing piers.

My wife did come across a litter of baby alligators and the mom was very protective. That was the only time that we heard a gator hiss. We were about twenty yards away but were still too close for my comfort.

The nature center is one of the best SP centers we've ever visited. My kids got to touch some snakes and some baby gators. The center also has a convenient park store. We really loved the nature center.

The park also has the George Observatory which is open from 3 -10 pm on Saturdays. This is very popular so be perpared for the que.

This is an excellent park for Spring and Fall. It would still be OK for winter, but without the gators. We like to be around and in water during the summer and you couldn't touch the water here. So summer might now work for us. However, for Spring we give it top marks.

Pros

- incrediable wildlife (escpecially the alligators)

- nice camping spots (good size, flat paved pads, decent shade)

- fantastic hike and bike trails

- observation tower

- park store

- observatory

- excellent nature center

Cons

- might be tough to camp during summer

- no swimming/canoeing

RATING - 10 out of 10 for Spring & Fall

Texana State Park

Edna, Texas
March 19 - 20, 2010

We spent a couple of days at this nice State Park on our 2010

Spring Break trip. The park is a decent size with over 130 camping sites that sits right on the shores of Lake Texana. Lake Texana is a good size lake with over 9K acres. The park is split up into three sections/loops. The first section is day use and has a visitor's

center. The second partis for non-electircal camp sites and the last

section has over 75 electrical & water sites. We found it odd that each section/loop wasn't named like the other state park do.

My daughters enjoyed the gift shop that sold ice cream. My son
enjoyed the two lighted fishing piers. We all enjoyed the 3 mile
bike trail that went around part of the park called Texana Trail. It was a nice trail that could of used some more markings.

There is also a canoe and kayak rental station that opens to a

nice size beautiful cove. .....ideal for canoeing.

The park also had a boat ramp and there were several fishing
boats enjoying the lake.

One thing we did notice was the lack of a swimming area and ski

boats. They are not too popular on this lake due to the fact the lake

has alligators.

The nature center had literature on all the local wildlife and tanks

of turtles and baby alligators. We all enjoyed the nature center.

The park was at full capacity while we were there. While we were

a little dissappointed with the lake, the park was thumbs up.

Pros

- gift shop

- nature center
- fishing piers

- good size sites with flat paved pads

- most (if not all) sites had really good shade

- lots of water front sites

- good bike trail

- canoe rentals

Cons

- not close to any store / town

- lake with alligators*

* I admit we are spoiled when it comes to rating lakes. We

thought it would be very difficult to camp here in the summer and not want to go swimming. However, with gators in the lake,

we wouldn't get wet. So with that in mind, we rated this park a little lower.

A good spring winter and fall park. But it would be torture in the

summer.

RATING - 7 out of 10

Goose Island State Park

Rockport, TX
March 15-16, 2010

This park was the second stop on our one week Spring Break and was about 80 minutes from Goliad State Park. The park has two
areas. The first a heavily wooden area and we spent our first
night in this section. Specifically spot 146 in the Lantana Loop.
I don't think I've ever had a more secluded RV spot in a State

Park. The site had a nice long level pad, a picnic table and

a fire ring.

We almost cancelled our second night reservation on the coast side
because we really liked this wodden area site. However, we moved

after one night to the Bayfront side and stayed in site 36. The kids

loved this site. The shoreline is comprised of concrete and the

fishing is excellent. The park has a huge 1600' lighted fishing pier.

We did fish off the pier some , but had most of our luck fishing from
our camp site. The RV site doesn't have a pad but most of the
area around the concrete cabana is flat and level. Some people
has thier RVs perpendicular and some had thier rigs parallel to the
cabana. The park rangers didn't care, you just had to be careful
you could get out without being blocked in. Some people leave for
the day to go fishing or go into Rockport to the city beach. We

were only staying for one night so we just backed it right in. If we
were staying longer I would be inclined to park it in front of the
cabana for an incredible view from the RV.

The city of Rockport is just a short drive from the park. Rockport
has a Walmart and an HEB and we were able to resupply without
any problems. We also went to the Rockport city beach for one
afternoon. This was a day park and was really nice. The bay side
had a boat ramp and fishing areas. The beach was nice.

Unfortunately a boy got hit by a stingray barb on his foot while we
we were there. He lost a lot of blood but the paramedics managed
to take care of him. Needless to say after that, my kids stayed out
of the water.

We stopped at one of the bait shops and bought some fresh jumbo
shrimp and did some shrimp shis-k-bobs one night. None of the
fish we caught were worth cooking....oh well, maybe next time.

Another cool attraction was the "Big Tree" which is located down the

street from the park. It's a nice bike ride or hike. The tree is the
largest oak tree in Texas and is over one thousand years old.

PROS -

- Both sections were awesome!

- Good fishing.

- Close to Rockport (beach, supplies).

- Great RV spots.

- Nice big fishing pier.

CONS -

- Be careful not to get locked in the bayfront RV area if you park parellel to the shoreline.

- Bayfront area can get a little windy.

- No Campfires on the bayfront side.

Goliad State Park - LaBahia Presidio - Fannin's Grave

Goliad State Park - LaBahia Presidio - Fannin's Grave
Goliad, TX
March 12 -14, 2010

This was our first stop on our week long Spring Break trip. We had a nice drive down to Goliad. We left after work on a Friday and it took us about two and half hours to arrive in Goliad. The park was

very easy to find.

The enterance of the park has the Goliad Mission. The mission

has several cool exhibits and is staffed with lots of volunteers.
The kids got to see how cotton and wool was spun and dyed. They also had a loom and were making blankets out of the dyed wool.

They were also able to rink the cathedral bell once when they entered the mission.

The rest of the park was a little odd. They had several camping areas. They had two tent camping areas down by the San Antonio river. Both areas had lots of shade. There was also two RV loops. The Karankawa loop had small size sites with picnic tables and fire rings. The pads were level and but were broken in some spots. This sites were pretty close to each other and didn't have a whole bunch of shades. They also had several pretty nice cabins in this

loop. This loop was very popular and complely booked. The other RV area is basically a parking lot with covered picnic tables and fire rings on three sides. This are is the Jacales camping area. This area would of been OK if you were lucky enough to get one of the outside parking spots. That way your picnic area is right behind your parking spot. We came in

after dark and had to settle for a interior space. Our picnic table

and fire ring was a good 50 yards away. We were only there for

two nights so we didn't really pitch camp. We didn't want to

drag everything that far and didn't want to leave it unattended

while we went and toured the local historical sites.

Besides the crazy RV parking lot, we also didn't like the way the

park was cut in half by the highway. US 183 cuts the park in

half with an overpass. The road noise was the worst I've

ever experienced in a State park.

"Remember Goliad! Remember the Alamo!!

The La Bahia Presidio was just down the road.
This is not part of the State Park system and there was a small

fee. Originally built in 1749 to protect the Mission and the frontier, it later played a major role in the Texas Revolution.

Here, Colonel Fannin and his ill-fated men were held prior to

being executed at Santa Anna's order

Zaragoza Birthplace State Historic Site -
Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence day. This day honors General Ignacio Zaragoza, who defeated the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Visit his reconstructed Birthplace adjacent to the Presidio to learn about this Texas-Mexican hero, born here in 1829.

Fannin Memorial Monument -
Just east of the Presidio La Bahía is the Fannin Memorial Monument that marks the burial site of Col. Fannin and his men.

Pros -

- Lots to do with all of the historical sites nearby.