campermom

A park host at Garner told us about this little hill country gem. It's 2 hours NW out of SA. An easy drive, exit # 456, follow the brown signs. The park is the winter roosting grounds for hundreds of Rio Grande Turkeys. We saw wildlife at this park. They close 1/2 of the park for 6 months to allow the turkeys some privacy for.....you know, "Roosting". The Walter Buck Wildlife Management park has tons of land to hike on during this slow time. (Oct- April) The trails are mostly old ranch roads, similar to Hill Country SNA.

The campsites are nice, some more secluded feeling than others and at least 2 which are ADA. We saw Armadillo, White Tail, Black Buck, Fox, Turkey, Rabbit, and all sorts of birds. TPWD stocks the river with Rainbow trout and I limited out both days, keeping only 2 ( which I gave tot he park host we met there ).

We also drove over to Fort McKavett, 1 hour away, for their annual "Living History Day". That was a blast. My young son really enjoyed the day there.

This park has plenty of river to enjoy and seems lesser known than Garner, Guadalupe, and Perdernales. So, when it's hot out, this might be the place to go.

copuswalker

Shhh

It is one of our favorites and you are right on with some beautiful sites. Tubing is nice and relaxing but the walk is the pits?
Great park even in the summer :cool:

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Alchemist2000

We detoured out of our way on a trip back from Big Bend in March several years ago just to see the turkeys at South Llano SP. We stopped in late afternoon, but the ranger told us that they were hiding due to the heat. We stayed in a motel in town and arrived when the park opened the following morning. There were turkeys everywhere. They were great and well worth the trip to see them. We also saw several deer at multiple locations near the road. We did not camp, but we did hike up to the top of the overlook. It was steeper than I was expecting primarily along a dirt road, but a nice bit of exercise before loading in the car and making the remainder of the trip home.

CyberCelt

We stopped at South Llano River State Park on our first RVing trip, on the way back from Colorado.

There are blinds built for bird watching, each featuring a water feature, guaranteeing you will view birds.

We had never seen so many hummingbirds! Green and gold and red, buzzing around like bees at the headquarters building.

We did not see the turkeys, but the ranger said they close the park during Turkey roosting season so not to upset the breeding cycle.

Only in Texas...

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CyberCelt

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Alchemist2000

Unless it has changed in the last two years, they don't close the park for the turkeys, just sections of the park. There are large signs for the areas where you can not enter. Even during the closed period when we visited, there were plenty of people in the campsites, there were people swimming in the river, and hiking to the overlook was open. I think it was mostly the wooded area near the river that was closed.

campermom

We just got back from 2 1/2 days @ South Llano, April 28, 29, and 30. Upon arrival, it was cloudy with an occasional, sporatic drizzle. The Ranger informed us at check in that the park was in the path of a storm. If the need arose, they would drive thru the camping loop, honking, and sirens on....all campers head to the safety of the restrooms, tornado warning. Luckily we did not experience that. We did get our tents staked well, and tarped over the table area. After dinner, I headed to the shower with my son. The first wave of the storm blew thru and we missed it, but it didn't miss that we forgot to completely close the tent door. With the tent staked so tight, the rain fly seams seeped water into the tent. The clothing bag was on the floor so it got wet, along with the air mattresses and sleeping bags. We put stuff in the truck and went to be early, before the next wave. The storm raged all night. In the morning, I noticed my in-laws were not in their tent. Turns out they woke between the waves of storm and slept in their Altima. If the sun wasn't out, we might have all headed home.

The rest of the trip was great. We hiked to the scenic overlook, and made our own trail down the mountain. We visited the bird blinds and saw Painted Buntings, Wilson's Warbler Oriole, Orchard Oriole, Vermillion flycatcher, wrens, scrub jays, indigo buntings, white tails, swallows, humingbirds, and turkeys. The deer were plentiful this trip also.

Today we took a hike. My son saw a ranger planting seed where the feral hogs ( which were lingering about the riverside this afternoon ) had dug up the ground. My son wondered if he was "the boss of the place". "Well, go ask him?" We spent about an hour with him, my son planting seeds while listening.

The staff at this park and volunteers are just great. They enforce the rules, (bring coozies for the beverages), but aren't nasty at all. They are very happy doing their job and pleasant. During the weather incident it was clear they knew they were the average campers only link to the outside world. Most of us go without tv and radio so won't get the latest weather reports. They really want everyone to have a great time, and really enjoy every aspect the park has to offer.

SunshineSnuz

Sounds like a quite an adventure!

I've been thinking of trying to get us a reservation there as we start trying out different parks around the area...
How were the tent sites? Were they well shaded/secluded? (which site # did u stay in?)

Were you near the water? We also like to do a bit of fishing so are hoping that the sites are close enough to the river to be able to walk so we can go whenever the mood strikes.

The birding oppurtunities sound fantastic, I think my daughter would get a big kick out of that! She loves pointing out birds we see wherever we are and is becoming pretty adept at identifying the more common ones. Did you get any pictures?


Appreciate any input!!

Thanks!

campermom

Sunshine,
The water/electric sites are fairly shady. Most have plenty of shade to be comfortable and some have a covered table ( maybe 50% ). They are spaced fine, some low trees and bushes between each site ( some better than others). We have stayed in 13 and 10, both by the restroom. I have found that if you tell the person selecting your site what is important to you, they will fit you into the best vacant site available, they know their park best. Only once did I decide to change a site ( at Bastrop, in the "Y" of the camping loop, right out in the open).

As for fishing, the river is not super close to the campground. We chose to drive when going swiming or fishing. There are 4 main sections of river to use which have easy access. The first is just above the water crossing upon entering the park. Bass and cats would be there, also good swimming. Location #2, just past the water crossing. During February/March, this spot gets stocked with Rainbow trout. There is a deep pool with lots of current. The water is shallow in places here but the current 5 feet out is quite strong for little ones. The picnic tables in this location are far from the water, not good for supervising swimmers. This is also a great place to "put in" for tubes and canoes. (Tubes are $5 a day) the 3rd spot is further downstream. The picnic tables are high up on the bank ( which are caving in from the water ), in a pecan grove , lots of shade ( just not much beach front but plenty of shallow/protected water for kids. The last spot is the "Tube exit" point. There is "beach" accessable past here but its all river rock. The water here is mostly waist deep, a lone bench was on the bank under a shade tree. This spot is the furthest from a parking lot but closest to the campground. Check the map for how far. The first 3 locations had parking lots, #3 the biggest lot and most shaded picnic tables.

In addition to the catfish, bass and trout in the river, there is a small lake Buck lake about a 1/3 mile from the campground. We saw many anglers try for the bass, cats, and bluegills in there but never saw one caught. This lake is very pretty, like out of a romantic movie. We had hiked around it and startled a huge herd of deer. There are loads of turtles and we never saw a single snake. :eek: