Lone Star Travelers Blog » lakeside camping

Inks Lake State Park, Burnet Texas

joanie7 — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:53:24 +0000

Visit our Inks Lake State Park Photo Gallery

Inks Lake State Park is a pleasant family oriented park in Burnet County just 60 miles north of Austin, Texas. This scenic 1201 acre park in Texas Hill Country is part of the Highland Lakes Chain (consisting of 7 lakes) on the Colorado River. Located on pink granite outcroppings of the Llano uplift, geology hikes are offered through the billions of years old granite hills. Hiking is also popular to the Devils Waterhole where swimmers jump off the cliffs into the cool clear water. Alternately you may join a canoe tour out to Devil’s Waterhole or rent a canoe or kayak at the Texas State Park Store and head out on to the 803 acre lake yourself. If you rent for 24 hours you may keep the canoe or kayak overnite at your campsite. Other activities include boating, water skiing and sailing on the lake, fishing from one of two lighted piers or ‘Fishing with a Ranger’ (2-3 times a week) also golfing on the 9 hole course operated by Highland Lakes Golf Club. Tee times are 1st come 1st serve. The golf course is located on park property with 6 of the holes lakeside, the entrance is outside the park. 7 1/2 miles of hiking trails for all skill levels include lakeside cliffs and hilltop trails. You will see many white-tail deer, wild turkeys and possibly armadillos and foxes. In Spring the area is blanketed with wildflowers including the Texas State Flower the Bluebonnet. In winter bird watchers keep a sharp eye out for bald eagles. Campsites at Inks Lake State Park consist of 9 primitive back-pack in 1.5 miles sites (no water, pit toilet on trail), 10 walk-in sites with water and electricity, 50 water only sites and 137 water and electric sites. Like Tyler State Park in East Texas, Inks Lake State Park In Hill Country is a wonderful park for families. Kids have a great time here with all the other kids and all of the activities. Also like Tyler State Park, Inks Lake State Park is popular and can be crowded. Be sure to make reservations. We loved the natural setting and scenic beauty of this park however please note the camp sites are set close together and will afford little privacy. There is very little shade so if you are camping in the hot Texas summer be sure to bring your own in the form of golf or beach umbrellas or a screen shelter.

Visit our Inks Lake State Park Photo Gallery

Tyler State Park, Tyler Texas

joanie7 — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 21:17:13 +0000

Visit our Tyler State Park Photo Gallery Approximately 100 miles East of Dallas Texas in Smith County you will find the popular Tyler State Park. The cities of Canton, Marshall, Longview and of course Tyler itself are close by carrying over a very urban feel to the park. When we visited in March 2007 parents of camping families were actually driving their kids back and forth to school at the nearby cities. At 985 acres this is a fairly small park with a pretty but also small (64 acre) spring fed lake. Lots of people fish from the shore (although we didn’t see anyone catch anything.) Canoes and paddle boats are available for rent in season. (5 mph limit on the lake.) There are 37 tent campsites with water, 20 sites with electric and water and 57 full hook up trailer or RV sites both pull thru and back in. We stayed at Site 36 which backed us right in to a great lake view however none of the sites offer privacy from your neighbors. 13 miles of mountain bike trails for all skill levels are well used as well as a 2.5 mile hiking trail and a .75 mile nature trail. The worst thing about this park was the restroom. It was cleaned every morning however with just this one rest room under heavy use serving two camping loops by midday the condition was poor. This park was opened by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1939 when bath facilities would have been adequate. Tip: Take a 15 minute walk to the bath house at the swimming area and use the toilets and showers. (no crowds, clean, no wait.) This is a pleasant park however it is busy with lots of kids and campers constantly coming and going. If you are looking for peace and quiet and communing with nature this is not the park for you. If you are an active family looking for your kids to be constantly busy (swimming, boating, hiking, biking) and probably meeting other kids this park is great. The Tyler Municipal Rose Garden is located in the nearby city of Tyler, known as the Rose Capital of the World.Visit our Tyler State Park Photo Gallery Note: Texas Parks & Wildlife announced on March 19, 2008 “Tyler State Park produces Budweiser ShareLunker.” At 14.5 pounds the largemouth bass is a new lake record.

Cleburne State Park, Cleburne Texas

joanie7 — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:06:15 +0000

Visit our Cleburne State Park Photo Gallery. Head southwest of Fort Worth Texas approximately 50 miles or so and you will find Cleburne State Park in Johnson County. Opened in 1938 this is an older park and it is showing. We observed that most of the buildings were in a minor state of disrepair. This is a smaller park (528 acres) with small Cedar (116 acre) Lake open to non motorized (or no more than 5 mph) water craft. The lake is spring fed and the peaceful setting looked good to us for kayak fishing. There are 7 miles of mountain bike trails for all levels and lots of hiking trails. The park is quiet, uncrowded and the camping fee is reasonable. Choose from 27 full hook up sites for trailers or RV’s however you will find only one of the loops is lakeside. 31 electric and water sites for tents or trailers do not have a water view. We liked the tranquil setting however did not think the facilities or grounds were kept in very good condition.Visit our Cleburne State Park Photo Gallery.

Lake Tawakoni State Park, Wills Point Texas

joanie7 — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 21:48:21 +0000

Visit our Lake Tawakoni Photo Gallery Located in Hunt County, just 50 miles East of Dallas, Texas, Lake Tawakoni State Park offers camping, mountain biking and hiking as well as boating, fishing and swimming. This small park (376 acres) sits on the south side of the massive (37,800 acre) Lake Tawakoni Reservoir. The park is named for the pre historic Indian tribe (the Tawakoni) who traveled from Oklahoma into Northeast Texas to settle in this area where they remained until the mid 1800’s. Today the park is home to 215 bird species as well as 40 acres of native tall grass prairie rarely found in this part of Texas. 5.5 miles of easy hiking can be enjoyed and for the cyclists 3 of those miles are level biking with lots of fun twists and turns. 78 back in or pull thru multi-use campsites with electric and water are spacious, level and offer good privacy. Sites 54 and 55 have views of the lake. Lake Tawakoni State Park drew International attention in the late summer of 2007 as thousands, some say millions of spiders from many different spider families wove a massive communal spider web that began to grow at a nature trail and eventually spread over several acres. The best thing about this park is it’s remote rural setting still within easy driving distance of Dallas. The nearest Wal-Mart is in Terrell. 20 minutes away.Visit our Lake Tawakoni Photo Gallery

Purtis Creek State Park, Eustace Texas

joanie7 — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:43:50 +0000

Visit our Purtis Creek Photo Gallery

Located in Henderson and VanZandt Counties, 60 miles East of Dallas Texas, Purtis Creek State Park is a nice size park (1,582 acres)with a small lake (355 acres.) Developed in 1984 as a fishing lake it was stocked in 1985 with bass, channel catfish, crapppie and more. Fishermen arrive here early in the day (only 50 boats allowed on the lake at any given time) to troll slowly (no wake strictly enforced). If you catch a bass it’s catch and release however you are welcome to clean other species of fish at one of the fish cleaning stations and take it back to your campsite for dinner. Choose from 59 back in RV sites some with lake views equipped with water and electric (dump station in the park) or 13 primitive sites that are hike in or boat in. The only hiking trail is an easy 1.5 mile loop. The emphasis here is on the fishing! The best thing about this park is the comfy feel and great ambience. You can totally imagine yourself canoeing or kayaking in to one of the primitive campsites for a private secluded camping experience. The facilities in this park (restrooms, buildings) are dated but adequate and clean. 200 species of birds have been identified in the park however with limited hiking viewing them is more challenging. The worst thing about this park is limited hiking or biking for those who do not care to fish. The closest major shopping is Wallmart approximately 14 miles away in Gun Barrel City.

Visit our Purtis Creek Photo Gallery

Cedar Hill State Park, Cedar Hill Texas

Cedar Hill State Park, Cedar Hill Texas

joanie7 — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:41:46 +0000

Opened in 1991, Cedar Hill State Park quickly became popular with campers, bicyclists, hikers and fishermen. This 1,826 acre park sits at the edge of Joe Pool Reservoir, a 7,500 acre man made lake. Two boat ramps with a total of ten lanes stay busy all summer with many of the visitors from the nearby city of Dallas, Texas. Boats are available for rental at the Joe Pool Marina. More than 300 developed (water & electricity, two dump stations) and 30 primitive walk-in campsites are offered for those folks escaping the city for the weekend or a week. The Dallas Off Road Bicycle Association (DORBA) has built and maintains 15 miles of challenging mountain biking trails here. The park was developed at the site of a 19th century family farm, the Penn Farm. A self-guided walking tour taking visitors through restored barns and buildings is an interesting and educational experience for families as they experience what life was like in this area before the tremendous growth of both Dallas and Fort Worth. There are 4.5 miles of easy to walk pleasant hiking trails . An excellent guide to the Talala-Duck Pond Loop is available in the book ’60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Dallas/Fort Worth’ by Joanie Sanchez. The best thing about this park is the location. The proximity to both Dallas and Fort Worth allows city folks to enjoy time in the outdoors without a long drive. The worst thing about this park is also location. The closeness to two major cities does create crowds especially n the summer and on school breaks. This is a very clean park including well maintained restrooms. The campsites on the many upper loops are fairly large and generally level however if you prefer lakeside camping the sites are smaller, not so flat and better suited for tents or smaller travel trailers.

Coyotes in Cedar Hill State Park, Cedar Hill Texas

No related posts.