campermom

We camped Bastrop the first weekend in February. There are many options for sites. Primitive, water, water/elec/, and water,elec, and sewer. We got a water/electric site. Since it was going to be cold, we brought electric blankets and an extension cord. THAT"S THE WAY ROUGH IT!

In January we had "Day-Tripped" Bastrop and hiked some of the trails inside the loop. Parking at the top of the hill near the scenic overlook, we hiked down to the lake. The water level was fairly low. A woman was fishing there. She lives there in Bastrop and frequents the park. She commented the fishing is better when the water is up. After a snack in the shade, we hiked back up the hill to the car for lunch. The scenery on the inside of the loop is so much different than San Antonio. The trees tower over head and provide comfortable shade below. The forest floor is blanketed with rust colored pine needles. Quite serene.

We drove the loop in the park, a gently rolling drive which is great for cyclists. Our second stop was a short trail near the "Group Camp" area. At the top of the hill was some ruins of what looked like a small shade shelter. We watched the sunset and made our way back to the truck.

This February trip included a hike along the outside of the loop, starting by the group camp area, then proceed up the hill to the scenic overlook. The terrain was slightly more rocky on this side. Still, plenty of tall pine trees. The primitive sites are located past this area.

We fished the lake one afternoon, catching just some sunfish, played in the playground, and before leaving the park the next morning, we hiked a trail which begins behind the group barracks. Behind the groupd barracks is a real nice picnic area, lots of shade, and the largest stone picnic table I have ever seen. CCC did tons of work in this park and it it still functioning well.

We day-tripped thru Palmetto on the return to SA. This is a small park, which when it has rained, probably looks real nice. There is an artesian well and lake to fish in. I didn't have any luck but another angler caught a catfish. The San Marcos river runs thru this park which is a huge draw for the locals to enjoy a pristine river in such an arid area. I went to school in San Marcos, the river is alot nicer there. We had our picnic and were on our way.

Unregistered

Have you been to Buescher State Park? I heard it is close by. I wondered if you were to stay in a cabin, which of the two parks are nicer? Better for swimming? which campsite has the cabin closest to the swimming area?

campermom

We didn't take the opportunity to check out Buescher while in the area. There is a nice big pool, but it was winter when we were there. You can hear the highway traffic most of the night at Bastrop. We enjoyed out day trip and our overnight trips there.

MissionCamper

Nice as Bastrop SP is, we camped there a little over a year ago and all agreed that the beauty of this park was sadly offset by the road noise from HWY71. At night we even saw passing headlights. Great park, but much too close to the road.

We did visit Buescher while there...Bastrop is nicer IMO and has a swimming pool.

holyroman

we stayed at Buescher last month and the water level in both parks was way down. It was hard to even fish from the shore. less than 2 or 3 feet deep where ever i could cast to. there is a nice trail we biked that would be a good hike from a trailhead in buescher. i was impressed by the camp sites and restroom facilities in the park. hope this helps.