kenausril

HIya to all.....

Our family just got a pop-up and we are looking to start camping , we are not familiar with parks in our area.....we are in Houston Texas.....can anyone tell us the best places to camp with children ( ages 8-11) we love the outdoors and love the water and to fish and canoe...we are looking for someplace semi close to home within 3-4 hours drive......any park info would be wonderful......thanks bunches...Kimmie


BOOMER SOONERS..............

EMAIL KENAUSRIL@AOL.COM

lost_but_found

There is of course Lake Houston State Park, I know nothing about it though - never been there. Lake Livingston State Park is decent for car camping on a lake. Huntsville State Park has a small lake, some great hiking trails and is very beautiful.
A warning though, this time of year in East Texas we share our pleasure of the outdoors with some nasty insects. And we are the minority. Watch out for those pesky mosquitos, and more importantly, the chiggers and ticks.

Here is a link to check out all the state parks in Texas, maybe you can find something to fit there. The Recreation.gov site is a good place to look as well.

Texas State Parks:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/findapark.htm

Recreation:
http://recreation.gov/advancedsearch.cfm?states=TX

ploddinTod

A small but nice campground is located at Stubblefield Lake, west of New Waverly on FM1375. It has showers and restrooms. I don't know how the fishing is but you could certainly launch a canoe there. Also the Lone Star Hiking Trail has a trailhead at the campground. I believe this is a Forest Service facility.
If you and the kids are into hiking, Lake Houston State Park, New Caney exit from US 59, has a very good trail system. It even has some primitive sites for backpackers. I like to use the trails here during that time of year when Bubba takes his rifle to the forest in search of Bambi. (Tongue-in-cheek to all you hunters out there.)

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PloddinTod

Shannon

Welcome to Wild Texas, Kimmie, and congratulations on the new pop-up camper!

Wild Texas features over 190 parks that are within 200 miles of Houston. It can be a little daunting trying to choose just one, but you may find there are overnight camping accessible city and county parks near you to help "break in" the pop-up and your newfound camping interest at the same time. I don't live near Houston, so I don't get to check out its parks much, but my favorite is Brazos Bend State Park.

Visiting the Texas coast might be another option, since the prevailing winds during the day help to keep most of the biting insects away! However, you might not want to take your brand new pop-up out somewhere that it will get (at best) sand-blasted by wind-driven sand and (at worst) get coated in salty sea air, sand and water that you'll need to thoroughly clean upon returning home.

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lost_but_found

Oops!
Sorry Shannon! I am just so used to using the tpwd site to find parks - I forget about the great info you have posted here. My apologies!!!

lost_but_found

hahahaha

Shannon

No apologies -- any parks I haven't personally visited end up linking you off to TPWD, anyway, but I just wanted to make sure the new arrivals to Wild Texas knew about our Parks section.

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

ploddinTod

I meant Bambi's father, of course. Gotta have that big-rack trophy.

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PloddinTod

lost_but_found

LOL!

Yeah, what's the point in shoot'n sump'n if ya aint got no trophy! :rolleyes:

I guess we all have our own kicks. I like to shoot animals too, but my trophy is a photograph! Seems a little less destructive. But there is that whole population control argument too. Anyway...

Next time you head out to Lake Houston, let me know. Maybe Leslie and I can tag along for a day hike. I would like to see it sometime. Are the primitive sites worth a little over nighter?

ploddinTod

Sure thing! I didn't really check the primitive sites out that closely--I was hiking with a group the last time I was there. I don't think they are as nice as those on the Goodwater Trail (based on your pics). I don't beieve there was a picnic table, for instance. But, with the park being so close to Houston, it's definitely worth a trip.

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PloddinTod

hiwayman

Another vote for Brazos Bend which is close to you. Tons of wildlife! It's really cool walking the trails and watching the gators watch you........not looking at you as a meal...........well.......if you don't get too close I suppose.