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Anything I should know about besides the heat factor? Well I am a little concerned with the heat. I camped at Double Lake this past weekend and it was HOT. The site we had did not have any airflow. I'm just wondering how it will be.

Shannon

Heat and crowds are the two primary things you'll be facing. Since Guadalupe River's so close and accessible from San Antonio and neighboring communities, it sees large day use crowds all summer. The crowds are mostly concentrated to the riverfront day use area, where if you arrive "late" (after noon), it can get challenging finding a bare patch of grass to claim as one's own, sometimes.

Since we live about 15 minutes or so from Guadalupe River, it's one of the parks we have camped most frequently at. My last stay there was in February, but I make day trips out there occasionally to hike the multi-use trail, as well. (Haven't since the weather got nasty hot, however. Personal preference.)

I don't recall too many bugs, and depending on where you camp you can get some form of breeze. The walk-in sites nearest the river day use area are very enclosed and will probably be the hottest, except for any sites that have -0- shade, which would of course make them hotter. My favorite camping area lately at GRSP is the Cedar Sage Campground... usually one of the spots near a trailhead (#34, etc.) I was last there in February, so I can't comment on what type of prevailing winds, if any, you might have in July there. Good shade at most of the sites there, and they're spaced a little further apart than some of the other campsites in the park.

Make sure you have reservations already, or very soon. The parks popular sites can fill up with overnight campers, leaving you camping in a tent amid nothing but RVs if you're not careful. (Nothing against RVs, but I've found it a little discouraging on the few occasions I've been the only tent amid dozens of RVs somewhere.)

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- Shannon Moore
Your Host @ WildTexas.com
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dwalsdorf

Shannon:

As a GRSP vet, do you think the northern or southern areas of camping spots get better winds. I'm looking at 33/34 on the northern area (water only) or 61/63 on the southern/eastern edge (electricity + water). A great factor for the "water only" side is no RV's, but if one side gets much more of a breeze, I'd put up with the neighbors probably....

TIA.

__________________
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell...it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

Shannon

Sorry I didn't respond to this sooner. Still rehabbing the heck out of my knee after surgery, and not yet permitted to hike so I've been a little absent from the forums (jealous of all you two-good-legs folk!)

My last camping trip was some time ago, due to the knee injury that necessitated my surgery, so I'm a little rusty on the park actually. Sites #33/34 (Cedar Sage camping area) is actually where I last camped, and both are wonderful sites in terms of visual appeal and proximity to neighbors (not on top of each other) and proximity to hiking (literally right by the sites) -- though this means there's a fair amount of foot traffic by the sites throughout the day due to the trail. It's where I plan to camp again soon -- as soon as I'm cleared to hike on my 'new knee'. These sites are probably the best for wind, despite a lot of tree cover, since if you hike just a ways down the trail (heading towards the Guadalupe River) you'll note you're on a high ridge/bluff overlooking the river. Fishermen sometimes come down the trail and if you're camping here you see them heading back pretty quickly, because they realize there's no way they're shimmying down the steep bluff to reach the water! If the wind's coming the right direction, it is a nice point to stop and take a breather after hiking or riding the multi-use trail, particularly in summer. Not sure about prevailing wind directions in summer...been too long since I've been out there.

I haven't camped that far in on the Turkey Sink area (where sites 61 & 63 are), though we did camp there once years ago when the Wagon Ford Walk-in area was under renovation and not available. We were closer to the main park roadway, and suffered through noisy nights of RV generators -- drowned out only by a Texas summer thunderstorm. Don't recall much wind until the storm moved in, and the biggest worry was a dead/rotten oak limb potentially loosing and landing on our tent.

Hope this helps. If I get out to GRSP in the next month or two when I'm cleared to hike, I'll report in with any add'l info. I may do a day trip there this coming week, since I need to get out into a real park for a change (I do a lot of exercise walking on paved walking paths in town as part of my rehabilitation, but I desperately miss the State Parks!)

__________________
- Shannon Moore
Your Host @ WildTexas.com
http://www.twitter.com/ageekgal

dwalsdorf

Thanks for your input. I got to visit the sites last week, and basically agree with your experience. Noticed quite a few sites were closed for maintennance, but 33 was the most spacious and therefor, will probably suit us best.
Thanks again.

__________________
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell...it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.