Bastrop State Park - Wild Texas Forums: Parks, Travel & Recreation

rockhill · 04-29-2007, 05:51 PM

Just got back from a 4 day visit at this park. In looking back it had been 10 years since we were there last. Previous post had mentioned the road noise and it was certainly plainly audible from where we were, (site 15). Seem to be worse on Thursday and Friday so maybe drivers were taking the weekend off. Heard extensive use of jake brakes by the truckers on 71. Most places ban their use but I guess not in that area. An boy had the area grown up in 10 years. Not a sleepy little town as much as a bedroom community for Austin. The town did happen to be having a "Yesteryear" festival downtown and it was good to see plenty of folks out for that.

As for the park, it definately needs the monies that our state government keeps diverting away. Facilities I saw or used needed some up keep. All in all a nice weekend in the pines

Shannon · 04-29-2007, 08:38 PM

Re: "Jake brakes

I'd never heard that term before, so I just Googled it. I knew the sound was generated by semi trucks but didn't know what caused it, and I just heard it yesterday (sadly, in my neighborhood, since we're right off Blanco Rd. just outside Loop 1604 in San Antonio... too much semi and construction vehicle traffic for a single lane road... sigh I digress.)

Cool to know the proper term for it! My "word for the day", courtesy of my own website. Nifty!

BigBendHiker · 04-29-2007, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockhill

Just got back from a 4 day visit at this park. In looking back it had been 10 years since we were there last. Previous post had mentioned the road noise and it was certainly plainly audible from where we were, (site 15). Seem to be worse on Thursday and Friday so maybe drivers were taking the weekend off. Heard extensive use of jake brakes by the truckers on 71. Most places ban their use but I guess not in that area. An boy had the area grown up in 10 years. Not a sleepy little town as much as a bedroom community for Austin. The town did happen to be having a "Yesteryear" festival downtown and it was good to see plenty of folks out for that.

As for the park, it definately needs the monies that our state government keeps diverting away. Facilities I saw or used needed some up keep. All in all a nice weekend in the pines

I have heard trucks make that sound before, but never knew what it was from. I learned something today.

You are right....Bastrop has turned into a bedroom community for Austin. Quite a change from where it was a few years ago...

srds · 04-30-2007, 05:06 PM

You are right about noise ,the reason my wife said she would never stay there again.I liked the trails and it was'nt that crowded in filling.
srds

Have Fun

campermom · 04-30-2007, 11:26 PM

Jake brakes are also called engine brakes. I see the signs outside towns like Johnson City, and Blanco. I asked my husband, the truck driver about it. It is a very effective way to slow the engine, thus slow the truck, especially with a heavier load, with less wear on the brakes. It's like down-shifting a 5 speed. Some drivers use it more due to what they are hauling. With all the gravel haulers around here, that might be why we hear it often. Hubbie says he seldom uses the Jake but when he does, it's not in town. Now, if all truckers could be that courteous.

Mean Machine · 05-02-2007, 02:39 PM

A really nice and quiet alternative to BastropSP is Buescher SP. They are only about 10 miles apart if that far, and connected with a really neat park road.
I actually prefer Buescher, little lake for canoeing/fishing, never as crowded.

MissionCamper · 05-05-2007, 08:17 PM

The jake brakes are annoying, but I prefer the sites at Bastrop over Buescher hands down. Diff'rnt strokes.......

Maury · 05-09-2007, 03:34 PM

Thanks for the noise update! I am an old guy taking my 9 year old son to his first Bastrop visit the first week of June. I have not been to Bastrop since my college days in the late 1970s. I took a few poor photos back then and have added one with hopes someone knows if this cave/hole is still there and what trail it is on. I had trouble posting the photo with this post so here is a link to it on my aol.com photos.

New here

Maury

http://tinyurl.com/ypud7g