Camping at Bastrop State Park

Family friendly. Close to Austin. Lots of activities for varying interests. And located in a growing city with lots of restaurants, stores and other amenities.

That’s how I would describe Bastrop State Park.

We spent the weekend camping there, hiking on several of the trails, watching our son play on the playground and enjoying the views of the rolling hills in the Texas hill country.

The park has full hook up and water-only sites, as well as primitive camping sites and cabins with your own private bathroom. So, however you prefer to camp, Bastrop SP has an option for you.

Anyone should be able to find something they enjoy doing within the park, and for those interested in boating, you can bring your kayak or canoe and paddle the roughly six-mile official paddling trail nearby.

Buescher State Park is right next door (well, roughly 10 miles north via the park road, to be more precise), so you could grab a day pass if you wanted to visit Buescher while camping at Bastrop (or stay at Buescher and get a day pass for Bastrop, depending on site availability). General information about Bastrop SP is available here, with a park map here and a trails map here.

We stayed at the Piney Hill Camping Area, which has pull through, full hook-up RV sites. It was a short walk to the restrooms from our site (no. 23) — always something we keep in mind when selecting sites with our son being younger.

Next to the restrooms (which were very nice and had been updated / renovated relatively recently) is a nice-sized playground that our son really enjoyed between our hikes.

The park doesn’t have a lot of trails, and several are relatively short. But this means it is great for younger kids whose hiking stamina is likely going be around three miles or less round trip. That said, for anyone who likes to do longer hikes, if you combine the various trails, you can put together a hike of around five miles. There are also 2.6 miles of trails that wind through the fairways of a now-defunct golf course, which would be great for those who want exercise with less elevation change and more sure footing.

Below are brief summaries of the hikes that we (my wife, myself, our son and our dog) did recently that others might consider replicating with their family:

Hiking around 2.8 miles one morning, we went from our camp site up to one of two scenic overlooks and back. We took the Black Trail (a.k.a. Pine Warbler Trail), which starts between the restrooms and the Piney Hill Camping Area. This roughly 0.25-mile trail connects to the Red Trail, which you can take left to the overlook or right to a parking area and the start of the Purple Trail (more on this trail below).

We took a left on the Red Trail, hiking up to one of two official scenic overlooks at which there are Civilian Conservation Corps shelters built in the 1930s (pictured above as seen from the trail). All of the creek crossings had bridges over them, which was a nice bonus to avoid our son and dog potentially getting their feet wet.

From the overlook, you have nearly a panoramic view of the surrounding area. It was a nice location for us to take a break, enjoy the view, have a snack and drink some water before returning the way we came to our campsite. According to our GPS, the entire trip was 2.8 miles – just about the maximum distance I think our son and dog were up for that day.

The trails are mostly open to the sky, with a few brief sections where the trees are thick enough to form a canopy. The highs were in the upper 60’s or low 70’s, so the weather was ideal. I’m not sure I’d want to hike the more open stretches on the Purple Trail during the summer months, but it could be done in a few hours by bringing extra water.

Among the unique trail features were the beach-like sand on which you would hike for significant portions of the trails, as well as the CCC-era water fountains (pictured below).

Much of the landscape was significantly changed by the 2011 fires that devastated much of the park and the pine trees unique to this area. You can read about why the pines in the Bastrop area are called “Lost Pines” here, and you can read about the wildfire here.

On our final morning, we drove over to the parking lot near the Copperas Creek Camping Area (the second campground with full hookups) and the start of the Purple Trail. It is a short (roughly 0.6 mile) hike up to the second official scenic overlook, so the total length (1.2 miles) is very manageable even for young kids. Our son really enjoyed this overlook. We were the only people there, which meant he could explore the area and climb on the rocks that were used to build the shelter.

Finally, for those looking for a longer hike, while my wife, son and dog spent time enjoying the views from the campsite and visiting the camp store to buy some ice cream, I put together a 4.7-mile hike (according to my GPS). Starting on the Black Trail that begins near the Piney Hill Camping Area, I went right on the Red Trail, taking it to the Purple Trailhead (described above). On the way, I took a picture of a few burned pine stumps (see below), as well as a more scenic shot (also below) just as the trail starts down toward the parking area where the Purple Trail begins.

Reaching the Purple Trail, I stopped briefly at the scenic overlook described above, then continued on the trail. A prescribed burn had taken place the week before our visit, which meant that part of the Purple Trail was closed. So, I continued on the wide, often sandy roadbed that connected back with the Purple Trail after about 0.5 miles. The Purple Trail takes you back to the scenic overlook we visited our first morning. From there, I continued on the Red Trail back to the Black Trail to our campground. If the full Purple Trail had been open, I think it would have added around two-thirds of a mile to the trip.

The first night was somewhat cloudy, though the stars were still visible. We enjoyed clearer skies on night two, offering a beautiful view of the stars (as seen above). Waking up around 5:30 a.m., we benefited from getting up prior to sunrise and being able to watch the sun slowly peak over the distant hills (see below).

In short, we really enjoyed our first camping trip to Bastrop SP, and I imagine we’ll return regularly both for day trips and overnight stays. I’d recommend it to anyone, particularly those with younger children.