BLORA - Lake Belton

BLORA - Belton Lake Outdoor Recreational Area Ft. Hood
Lake Belton
March 2009

This park was closed and is scheduled to open in May. The park is huge. It's for Ft Hood personnel but is open to the public (fee). It has a large beach, lots of picnic tables along the shoreline and a waterslide water park on the top of the ridge. I heard it gets really busy during the warm months.

WestCliff Park - Lake Belton

WestCliff Park
Lake Belton
COE
March 2009

This park was also closed and is scheduled to open in May 2009. It looked really good. All of the pads, picnic tables, shelters and restrooms are new. This park is really close to the shoreline and it not like the other parks which sit up on a ridge.

I have this park down for a possible return visit. Being only 40 miles away, this will make an excellent spot for a quick three day weekend trip.

Mother Neff State Park

Mother Neff State Park
Moody Texas
March 2009

Home of the first Texas State Park. Located at the top of
lake Belton or about 30 minutes from Temple/Belton. The
park does have some nice hiking trails and a couple of nice group
shelters. It also has a Junior Ranger program where the kids can
go around the park and fill out a trivia sheet to get a certificate
and Jr. Ranger badge.

The Leon river runs to the west of the park and is small and
muddy. The Rock Tower at the park office is interesting.
There is a small RV loop with six sites and 14 tent sites. All have
really good shade. All of the spots are close to each other and not
very nice. The bath house is closed and looks like it is falling down.
The RV loop didn't have any RVers there and it looked like maybe
the electricity was out of order.

This would not be a destination, but if your are traveling through the
area and would like to take a nice nature hike it would be worth the
stop.

Pros
- nice group shelter
- nice hiking trails

Cons
- RV loop and sites are small and right next to each other
- tent sites are small
- No showers or running water (restrooms were portables)

Rating
2 out of 10

Temple's Lake Park

Temple's Lake Park
Lake Belton
COE Park
March 2009

This is fantastic day lake park. There is not any camping allowed.

This park has been closed since the July 2007 flood. They are

putting in new covered picnic tables and have redone the swimming area. The park has a penisula that sticks out into the lake. Both sides have sandy shores are very shallow. The kids had a great time at this park.

We collected litter from the shores to satisfy a Scouting

(Cub and Brownie) activity and could only come up with one small bag of trash.

This park does have a group pavilion and a boat ramp. The boat

ramp was fairly active.

This was our top spot for a picnic on Lake Belton.

White Flint Park

White Flint Park
Lake Belton
COE Park
March 2009

This is a pretty neat little camping park that is just off of SH 36 as it crosses the lake. You can see the park and boat ramp from the bridge. The park sites on top of a ridge that slopes about 200 ft

to the water. Some campers did have their boats tied off in the

water down from their camp site.

The park has 12 screened in shelters that face the water and across the drive is 13 RV spots. All of the tent camping is next door at Winkler Park. This park was at capacity. The boat ramp is open

to day use, but the RV section is restricted with a coded gate. This does limit the traffic that goes through the RV section.

I really liked the shelters. They looked new and are well laid out. The RV sites had nice new level big concrete pads with an extra parking spot for your boat or second car.

Pros

- Good view of the lake

- Lake access from RV sites (down a 200 ft slope)

- Restricted access limits traffic

- Covered picnic tables

- Extra parking spot for boat trailer

Cons

- Not a lot of shade

- Sites were close together

Rating

7 out of 10

Winkler Park - Lake Belton

Winkler Park
Lake Belton
COE Park
March 2009

This is a small sister park that is located just up lake from White Flint Park. It has 14 tent camping sites that overlook the lake. It is very popular with fishermen and sometimes referred to as a fishing camp.

Pros
- Just off SH 36 and right next to White Flint Park
- Nice view of the lake

Cons
- Only tent camping (no RV or shelters)

Rating

5 out of 10

Cedar Ridge Park - Lake Belton

Cedar Ridge Park
Belton, TX
COE Park
March 2009

This is probably the most popular camping park on Lake Belton. The park is located about 15-20 minutes from Belton off of SH 36. The park is about half way of the lake. The park is very big with several different sections.

One section is has 8 screened in shelters that overlook the water. Access is limited with a coded gate.

Another section has 40 RV sites and another section has 28 RV sites that are also gated with limited access. Sandwiched in between the two RV sections is the Pier 36 Marina. The marina does have fuel ($2.29 a gallon) soft drinks and ice for sale. They do not sell beer.

The RV spots all have a large concrete level pads with an extra parking spot for a boat trailer or second car. Covered picnic tables and fire rings. Shade is limited and the sites are sort of close to each other. Some sites would be ideal for groups of RVers traveling together. We were expecting some water front sites and there are some water viewing sites. But with the lake level being low, the sites are not really on the water (nothing beats a constant level lake IMO).

There were very few empty sites and the park was pretty busy.

Pros
- Covered picnic areas
- Nice, new level large concrete pads with an extra parking space
- Limited access with reduced traffic
- Marina with ice and fuel
- Centrally located
- Two boat ramps

Cons
- Sites close together
- Lack of shade

Rating
8 out of 10