sFARIAS

Hello all,



I’m glad I found this site. I’ve been reading a lot of the posts here and they have been really helpful.

I was hoping to get some advice from you all on what Park I should take my family too. We are a large family of 7 that have recently come together because of marriage. My wife and my step kids have never been camping before and are excited about going. My kids and I have been camping a few times over the years and we are excited about sharing this with the rest of our family. The kid’s ages range from 17-13 years old.

We want to tent camp and plan on going the first part of August. We would like to go camping around the Texas Hill Country. I’ve thought about Lost Maples or South Llano River. I just want to find a park that will not be much of a “challenge” for first timers but will offer enough of roughing it to be adventurous.

Any suggestions would really be appreciated.



Thanks!

Turn Key

Welcome aboard "sFARIAS"! hope you find everything you need and want here. We'll do our best to help you get the best out of your Texas adventures.

Your wanting to camp in one of the best places in the world. There is nothing better then the Texas Hill Country. DW and I camp there at least once a year if not twice.

You have expressed interest in Lost Maples and South Llano River State Parks. Both outstanding parks but I'm thinking the kids may not find them as interesting. For the "teen set", tubing on the river at South Llano is great but there isn't a lot more for them. I love that park due the peace and quite of the area and the fishing, which is fair to good. Lost Maples is very pretty but again, I find it hard to believe it would hold a teens interest for long.

For you I'd recommend either Inks Lake State Park or Guadalupe River State Park. Both have enough going on to keep active kiddos happy. Here's a couple of site references for reviews I've done on both these parks. The one for Inks will give a further refernce to my photo center. I have some pix there of the park. Along with pix from last year, I have some new shots that I took just last month. I wish I had some shots of Guadalupe but it just hasn't happened yet. Here's the site references for the reviews:

Inks Lake State Park, 2005
Guadalupe River State Park, 2004, Part 1
Guadalupe River State Park, 2004, Part 2

I also have a review of Guadalupe River State Park from 2003. It give more detail of the park itself. It would seem that this one is no longer available through the archives but I can send it by Private Message if you are interested.

As an added note, if you go Inks Lake State Park you will be within a couple of miles of Longhorn Caverns State Park. Due to our on going drought, the caverns are not at their peak but still worth seeing. Here's another reference to a review of the caverns. Again, you'll find a reference that will take you to some pix. Not the best I've ever taken but what the heck !

Lonhorn Caverns State Park

Well, that's about all I can think of at the moment. As said, I'll be glad to send a copy of the review of our 2003 trip to Guadalupe River State Park. Also, feel free to ask any other questions you may have. I'm sure others can answer anything I can't.

Welcome aboard and happy camping!

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sFARIAS

Thanks Turn Key! This is some great information that I will share it with my family.

I'll keep you posted on where we decided to go.

If it's not too much trouble I would love to read your 2003 review of Guadalupe River.

Thanks Again!

4everfrio

All the parks TK listed are good parks. There is another that will keep the kids occupied. Garner !! It has the hill country setting with water. There may not be much flow in August but don't let that stop you from getting to know Garner. It has many things for everyone; paddle boats, kayaks, miniature golf, the pavilion dancing, hiking trails, rope swings, trees and large rocks to jump from and deep holes for swimming.(look below the dam, downstream) plus, floating the river in tubes.
If you want a quieter site, camp in new garner. If not, go old garner.
Old garner tends to be a more party atmosphere. By August it should be calmer.
But, beware, Garner is an Addiction. Once you go, you will want to return!
The main thing is Take that family camping!!!
Good luck and happy camping !

Orllas

Tent camping in August??? In Texas??? Yikes!

My son and I camp 2-3 times a year. (Last August, Rusk was miserably hot.) I finally talked my wife into joining us this summer. We are going to Inks Lake in July. But I want her to come away with a positive experience so that she'll want to do it again. Therefore, we have reserved an air conditioned cabin at Inks.

I'd be real wary of taking someone tent camping in August for their first time.

Turn Key

Done! You should have 2 "Private Messages" containing my review on Guadalupe River State Park, 2003. Had to send it in two parts due to the max capacity of the system.

You may also notice some differences between that review and those newer ones such as the one on Inks Lake. I've been developing my review format over the last few years. My older reviews still need to be gone through and updated to fit more with my present format. That's a project for later this summer when the weather is just too hot to camp.

Hope you find the information helpful. Let me know if I can do any more for you. Wishing you a great trip and as always,

Happy Camping!

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Unregistered

My teens and their friend really like Enchanted Rock. For "new" campers Fredricksberg is not far.