86. Guadalupe River SP, 3/29 - 31/25

 Scampsite 15, what a lovely park!  Outstanding amenities - air-conditioned bathrooms! 2 bird blinds! There were many connecting trails that made this park wonderfully walkable.  Many of the trails were closed due to the recent rains, but we still explored everything close to the campground.  We did not get to participate in the Honey Creek hike with a ranger; those need to be reserved pretty far in advance.  The bird blinds are both lovely - the one near the Discovery Center had food and a water feature, even though the water was not on when we were there.  The one off the Painted Bunting Trail had no food but a working water feature.  Both were equipped with nice, large 3-sided buildings, benches inside and chalkboards of current sightings.  

This park is a popular day-use park for locals - the river gets very busy on hot afternoons.  

We did not leave the park at all, but it is close to San Antonio and even closer to Bulverde, so provisions are available if one needs them.  

Scampsite 15.

Bird blind near Discovery Center.

Discovery Center & amphitheater.

Bird blind off the Persimmon Path.

Sunset from the River Overlook Trail.

85. Hill Country State Natural Area, 3/29 - 3/31/24

Clamsite 129 - wait WHAT?  Yep, no electric or water hookups here (except in the Equestrian area) and the majority of campsites are walk-in or fully primitive.  Site 129 is HUGE, fully shaded by gorgeous Live Oaks and is a short walk from the parking area.  The parking area has a porta-potty and potable water spigot.  The weather was perfect, so no need for electrical fans and such at our site!  

So, we camped in our Clam shelter - left the Scamp at home - and it was awesome!  The Clam is a 6-sided screened shelter with attachable wall panels that's big enough for at least 2 cots, a table, and all our personal gear.  We ended up attaching 2 wall panels when our neighbors arrived, just for a little privacy.  

We hiked a few trails: our dog Gordie is old and short-legged, so we did the Heritage Loop and the Prairie Loop with him - both are flat and relatively short.  We did the West Peak Overlook Trail without him - the view from the top was amazing and we were glad we left him comfortably in the truck.  We absolutely did NOT do the trails justice - there are so many of them and we ran out of time. 

HCSNA is known for its equestrian facilities - horses are accommodated at many campsites, the Group Lodge area and Chapa's Group Camp area.  There are small pens, hitching posts and a couple of horse barns, in addition to an arena at the Group Lodge.  

HCSNA is 10 miles from Bandera, which is a county seat, so of course we walked around the courthouse.  The Bandera Brewery made very good craft beer.  We ran out of time to shop but there are many shops up and down Main Street.  We had dinner at the Old Spanish Trail Restaurant, which is always delicious.  

The surrounding area is a paradise of windy, hilly roads and gorgeous scenery and the wildflowers were in full bloom. 

Clamsite 129.

Clamsite 129, pano view. 

2 picnic tables at 129.

Our hammock tents at 129.

Close-up of the Clam, all set up.

The ranch house and barns of the Merrick family, who donated the land for the park.  The house on the far right was built in 1892.

One of the equestrian campsites. 

View from the top of Twin Peaks.

The Group Lodge (the white house), 5 RV hookup sites, a barn and rodeo arena.

84. Lake Brownwood, 11/17 - 11/19/23

 Park #84 for us, Scampsite 50.  We had a great time at this park - the trails were lovely, our site was very cool and perfectly located to access our friends' cabins.  Their cabins were CCC-built and appointed and provided great spaces in which to hang out and have a group meal.  We also got to meet the resident Indigo Snake with her ranger - she (the snake) was friendly and beautiful.  

Scampsite 50.  The elevated picnic table area felt very private and secluded. 

Lake Brownwood.

Inside the Rec Center.  

There probably is a lot to do in the area - Brownwood is a pretty big town.  We spent the whole weekend at the park.  The Lakeside Trail was beautiful and the Texas Oak Trail was more challenging for our old dogs than we anticipated, but it too was lovely; lots of rock stairs. 

Eisenhower State Park, 11/22/2022

 83. We did not camp here - for a multitude of reasons, we've never been able to camp here!  This trip we chose to camp at Ray Roberts and use that as a more central basecamp to other places, Eisenhower being one of them.  This is a surprisingly big park on the shores of Lake Texhoma.  There are numerous campsites, a huge privately owned marina, and a plethora of ATV trails (which were closed when we visited).  We hiked a short, but hilly trail near the shore, saw ammonites in the rocks, and gawked at the monstrous boats stored at the marina.  

Part of the trail took us to the shore, where we could see just a few of the many boats stored at the marina. 

Pano of Lake Texhoma from the marina. 

Eisenhower State Park is also really close to Denison and Sherman, so we explored those towns a bit as well.  Denison has a brewery, a distillery, lots of antique shops, the old Katy Depot, President Eisenhower's birthplace house, and the home of T.V. Munson, the man who saved the wine industry.  

Sherman has 2 breweries, antiques, and is a county seat as well.  

Katy Depot.

Grayson County courthouse.

President Eisenhower's birth home. 

Ray Roberts Lake S.P. 11/20 - 24/2022

 82. Scampsite 92, Isle Du Bois unit - a lovely wide, 2-vehicle pad on a little slope, but surrounded by trees - it felt like we were in our own private space, more so than at other parks.  The Isle Du Bois unit is a park for boaters, fishing, horseback riding and mountain biking - there are several DORBA trails (single-tracks for bikes), long trails for horses, a large boat ramp, fishing pier and fish-cleaning area.  The longest walking trail is paved (unusual) and there were several ADA-accessible camp sites as well.  There are playgrounds in the camping areas as well.  The weather was cold and on-and-off drizzly, so we spent some time outside of the park as well.  

Ray Roberts Lake has 2 more units as part of the state park group: the Johnson Branch, which is on the other side of the lake (north side) from Isle Du Bois, and the Lone Star Lodge & Marina, which is part of  Jordan Park.  

The Lone Star Lodge & Marina has rooms, pontoons, jet skis, kayaks, tubes, and lily pads for rent.  When we visited, there were pieces and parts of docks on the ground, so it looks like the marina part is getting some love.  

Johnson Branch Unit was surprisingly devoid of RV's (and tents, but the weather was iffy, so that wasn't really a surprise) and we never did figure out why.  It's a lovely unit, also with lots of DORBA trails, but smaller trails suitable for kids as well.   

Scampsite 92.

Ray Roberts Lake, part of the paved walking trail and the swimming beach. 

Lone Star Lodge lobby. 

There is A LOT to do in the area: Denton is really close, is a county seat (gorgeous courthouse), has 2 breweries, antiques, restaurants, and a "haunted" old bridge - we visited the bridge in daylight so didn't experience The Goatman.  

Old Alton Bridge, 1884.

Denton County Courthouse.  

Meridian State Park, 9/3 - 9/5/22

​81. Scampsite #12.  We camped in the low-voltage sites, which usually works well for us - this particular park's low-voltage sites are only 19 feet long, so it was a tight squeeze on a steep drop-off that required ALL of our stacking "lego bricks" and a rock!  In the future, perhaps choose the higher-voltage sites, which also had pull-throughs.  The park is beautiful, and has CCC-made features: a refectory, a bridge and a cool grill with a view of the lake.  The lake is small but beautiful.  The hiking trail around the lake was indeed challenging - even had stone stairs in a couple of spots! 

Scampsite 12.

Bosque County Courthouse in Meridian.

CCC Refectory.

CCC bridge.

The stairs on the Bosque Trail.

The bird blind.

From the surrounding area: 

Clifton Whipple Truss Bridge.

Hico bridge.

The pony bridge next to the big bridge near Hico.

Dinner at Zur Autobahn, a German restaurant 4 miles south of the park.  Delicious! 

Meridian State Park is near Meridian, the county seat of Bosque County, Hico, and Clifton.  In Hico we visited a chocolatier and sampled delicious truffles, and visited 2 old steel bridges, one of which is still in use today.  In Clifton we found another old steel bridge, which is no longer in use, and sampled local wines at Red Caboose Winery - try their more recent ones for the latest and greatest! Red Caboose is also located in Meridian, but the Meridian tasting room wasn't open on Sunday, when we wanted to go.  

Mustang Island State Park, 1/1/2022

 80. No camping here, just a day visit.  We walked out almost to the end of Fish Pass though, so that was cool.  (We were already staying in a condo in the area and have decided that camping on the beach isn't really our thing).  

Nearby: Corpus Christi, the Texas State Aquarium, the USS Lexington, of course all the beaches, walking, collecting shells and observing small creatures and birds!