Looking for Ideas: Texas

[garywilson]

The three places you listed are enough for a 2-3 week trip if you like to 'kick back' or take easy hikes... or not so easy.
I'd pull up https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/ and look at the descriptions. Several have special programs during the winter that you might enjoy.
I'd also look at the COE parks. They are less expensive and almost always have campgrounds at a decent lake. With a Keep America Beautiful pass you have 'free' entry and half price camping- $10 a night is not unusual.
Plan for catfish.

There are not many places in Texas that you won't enjoy.

[Bethann]

All the places I was going to suggest have already been mentioned, but I will say that Texas parks are really booked up already. You need to make reservations NOW. I tried this past week to reserve several campgrounds for a few weeks out and they were all full. Texas has great state parks.....and apparently everyone else loves them too!

[chuckyb9876]

If you do head to Palo Duro Canyon SP plan to stay at least 3 days for hiking as you are down at the bottom of the second largest canyon in North America. Then, a short drive away, you can stay in Caprock Canyon and find Bison herds. When we camped there a couple Bison naped near our camper. We also watched as one of them turned on the water spigot next to us and took a drink. It did forget to turn it off however. At Caprock Canyon The campground is on top with you looking down in to the canyon. Also, the prairie dogs are cute to watch. Lots of great hiking at both spots.
Canyon of the Eagles near Burnet, TX has Dark Star nights with a 14" and 10" telescope when they have a stargazing night. We looked at the rings around Jupiter. Inks Lake in Burnet for fishing and close by they have a hatchery you can visit plus Longhorn Caverns. Close to San Antonio is Natural Bridge Caverns and then there are the Cascade Caverns.
Mainly we go to Padre Island and there are lots of activities there. Camping on the beach is a little humid as you are often 20 to 40 feet off the surf. Last year it cost $12.50 for a years pass to camp on the beach. I believe you could stay 14 days out of 21 but upon talking to the police they enforce the rules normally just around holidays and all you have to do is move to a different section of the beach.

[UsefulDrivel]

If you are into wine consider staying in Fredericksburg. Nice German town with walkable downtown shops. The area is home to Texas wineries which have improved significantly in quality over the past 5-10 years. Some of the vineyards and tasting rooms are beautiful and rival their West coast counterparts.



Ironically much of the "Texas grown" grapes actually come from the pan-handle area but there aren't too many actual wineries there.

[ConWood Farms]

If you like BBQ at all, you must visit the world capital, Lockhart, TX not too far from Austin and San Antonio. This city has four of the best BBQ spots anywhere (https://austin.eater.com/2016/6/16/1...e-where-to-eat)

[GlowPlug]

Blanco State Park works for us as a central location to visit the Hill Country area.
You have easy access to Fredericksburg and all that goes along with that.
Austin is about 50 miles if I rememberer correctly and San Antonio is an easy trip as well.
Let's don't forget about Luckenbach,TX which is just outside of the Blanco State Park area.

If you don't already have one buy a Texas State Park annual pass for $75 for one year. If you stay two weeks you will pay a daily entrance fee many times the cost of the annual membership, JMHO..

Gary

[UsefulDrivel]

Originally Posted by ConWood Farms

If you like BBQ at all, you must visit the world capital, Lockhart, TX not too far from Austin and San Antonio. This city has four of the best BBQ spots anywhere (https://austin.eater.com/2016/6/16/1...e-where-to-eat)

Yes, that is a great idea. My wife and I once did a BBQ safari to hit some of the famous spots. Check out the Texas Monthly Top 50 if you want some suggestions, but our favorites were Louie Mueller's in Taylor and Franklins in Austin. Hard to go wrong with any of them on the top 50 list though, and Lockhart has some great ones.

[cruisintx]

Originally Posted by JCSontheRoad

We are planning a 2-3 week winter trip to Texas and would love suggestions about places to go that are not in a city. We love to fish, history, nature, and easy hiking.

Padre Seashore, Big Bend and the Alamo are on the list. Other places/things to do?

Had to look at your profile before offering up advice. Seeing as how that shows Arkansas, it looks like you have gotten plenty of great advice. I might add a few words about timing. Since you are making a "winter" trip, it would make sense you are seeking warmer climates. That said, you will want to stay pretty much south of I-20. If for some reason, you do decide to check out things near the Panhandle, Palo Duro Canyon, Caprock Canyons and Copper Breaks State Parks are all beautiful, unique and back to nature kinds of places. There is not sufficient water in Palo Duro for fishing and I am not familiar enough with the other two to comment on the fishing there. However, there are three sizeable lakes in the Panhandle that typically have pretty good fishing. Those are Lake Meredith that is recovering from golden algae and is being restocked on a regular basis by the NP service as it is a national recreation area. Meredith is not a friendly lake to fish from the bank though. But it is known for some pretty good walleye fishing. Then you have Lake McKenzie between Silverton and Tulia and Greenbelt near Clarendon.

You are probably already aware from previous comments, but if you decide to move around from one region to another, be prepared for at least a full day's drive to get to some. It's about 500 miles (driving) from Lake Meredith to the northern most point of Big Bend; just for reference.

[JWood422]

Originally Posted by UsefulDrivel

Yes, that is a great idea. My wife and I once did a BBQ safari to hit some of the famous spots. Check out the Texas Monthly Top 50 if you want some suggestions, but our favorites were Louie Mueller's in Taylor and Franklins in Austin. Hard to go wrong with any of them on the top 50 list though, and Lockhart has some great ones.

I’m not about to argue who has the “best damn barbecue that side of the Mississippi.” But I do know we love Salt Lick Barbecue. I have a t-shirt that says “You can smell our pits from miles away!”

[kjlars]

Swing over to campendium.com. Search for Texas to see reviews by RVers. I use this all the time and have found it worthwhile to select campgrounds, both public and private. Another site is publiclands.org. Do a google search for the type of camping you are looking for: full service, state park, usfs, blm, etc. Lots of info available with a little effort.

[Volvodriver]

I will be playing Davey Downer here. As a resident of the Lone Star State for nearly 40 years and have done a fair share of traveling and staying in parks and private cgs, if you wish to see things, great, because there is so much to see. but you will find imo alot of campgrounds and parks both government and private owned are full through the winter months. You need to check and reserve early. This year its really crowded with new to rving people visiting our state. Just my thoughts.

Dave

[mharrel]

Big bend is wonderful. It is unique. I have never seen a place like it and I’ve been to all 50 states and all but 2 Canadian Provences/territories. But it is a long way from anything else and can be cold in the winter. If you want to go to Boquillos, or anywhere else in Mexico, be sure to take your passport.

[Tundra 2014]

If going west to Big Bend, Balmorra State park is a nice stopping spot. It is a oasis that was an Indian waters hole. Garner State Park is another nice state park south of San Antonio, actually the most popular state park in TX. It is on the Frio River. Medina, is in the same area and an old German settlement w/ still operating apple orchards and cider company. We would camp at garner and drive to the orchards in the evening to watch the deer come in.

[flosmith]

Balmorhea State Park is closed. This has been true for several months. The closure is construction related not Covid related. The entire park is closed.

[Tundra 2014]

Thanks for correction on Balmorhea, I forgot closure. Thanks.

[cspeer1]

Palo Duro Canyon State Park in the Panhandle of TX near Amarillo. Amazing trails and views.
Big Bend State Park and next to it National Park South of Alpine and Marfa.

[friverc]

We are hardly Texas experts, but we have found the Port Aransas area to be nice. Variety of RV options; fishing; some sights; beaches; restaurants; away from cities (though near Corpus Christi). On Mustang Island, which is connected to N. Padre Island.

[LynnATX]

The Boquillas crossing is closed because of COVID right now. I've also heard the Big Bend hot spring in the Rio is closed as well.

[Johnnydog]

We took your advice and went to Balli Park. We spent a week there and had a wonderful time. The whole park did not have more than a dozen trailers at one time the whole time we were there and we walked to the beach every day. ( like you said, just across the dunes.) We liked it so much we are planning another trip in Jan.-Feb. also considering Andy Bowie Park in South Padre but we will do some research on it first.

[DavidBo]

Originally Posted by Johnnydog

We took your advice and went to Balli Park. We spent a week there and had a wonderful time. The whole park did not have more than a dozen trailers at one time the whole time we were there and we walked to the beach every day. ( like you said, just across the dunes.) We liked it so much we are planning another trip in Jan.-Feb. also considering Andy Bowie Park in South Padre but we will do some research on it first.

Glad you enjoyed yourself at the PINS. Fall is prime time for that location with the cooler evenings. It will be even better when normalcy finally returns and they can start doing all the great programs and fun excursions again, I can't wait for the next hatchling turtle release.