Went to South Llano River SP on a recommendation from a friend. Couldn't find a lot of information prior to the trip on hiking with the big focus of the park on the river. Hiked the back country trails and was pleasantly surprised to find challenging trails and great views with hardly anyone else out there. The trails are wide, well defined, and clear of debris. Could hike or bike most of them. Would definitely recommend for the river, trails, or birding.
This is probably one of my top favorite state parks so far. It’s not crowded & it’s a dark sky park so you can see stars everywhere. We also enjoyed floating the river. The camper parking had plenty of shade & a nice covered picnic table. There were fun trails to hike. The kids were never bored.
This is a really nice small state park with nice hiking trails and access points to the clear waters of the South Llano River. Lots of wildlife and a great place for dogs to explore with their humans. The bathrooms are well kept and sites are clean with good amounts of space between your neighbors. AT&T service is good, but Verizon does not work here.
Really nice little state park. We camped here in early January. Arrived after the office closed, but the camp host had a list of available spaces and recommended based on our desire to be near the bath house but as private and quiet as possible. Good bike/hike paths. Sites each had a covered picnic area so even in rain or a different season in strong sun you are able to eat outside.
South Llano River State Park is definitely a hidden gem. The landscape is just gorgeous: like the hill country meets the desert. The river is fabulous: Clear, cool, nice flow, with a few deep spots…a true oasis. It’s the perfect place for a day of swimming and a picnic. There’s not much shade on/around the water, however, the picnic area provides plenty of shade. One thing to note: the stairs leading down to the river are a bit steep. I highly recommend this beautiful park.
Our first ever camping experience in a state park. The camp site we booked was a electric hookup type and the facilities are nothing short of world class. The park is very well maintained and the staff was very friendly and accommodating. In terms of connectivity, the park is just 10 mins drive off the town. Apparently this place is a bird lovers paradise and we didn't know that until we were here . Spotted a lot of birds in the park and learnt about a new hobby.
I have been to this park for camping and hiking for the first time. It was a great experience and I have summarized It below: ** Location and Food: The park is 5 hour drive from Houston and the drive gets pretty scenic along interstate 10 with greenery and wild flowers. There are decent number of gas stations and restaurants just 10 mins away from the park which is very convenient to get necessary items. ** Booking and Staff: I was able to book the RV campground included with qty-1 220V and qty-2 110V standard power outlets and water one week before the trip through the website. It costs 20$ per day and 5$ per person for entry fee this will be waived if one person in the group possess Texas annual state park permit costs around 70$. For campers, Check in time is at 2PM and check out time is at 12PM next day. For daily use, we can stay back until 10PM. Staff were extremely friendly and helped us guide through various hiking options. ** Facilities: Restrooms had shower areas and they are very well maintained. ** Bird watching: I didn’t know that this park is pretty famous for bird watching. There are a lot of bird blinds setup throughout the park. we thoroughly enjoyed viewing the birds and learning about them from fellow visitors. We saw humming birds, cardinals, Doves , sparrows and a lot of other birds whose names I am not sure of : ** Hiking: There are a lot of hiking trails to choose from. We did mid-canyon trail which is 2.4 miles one way and scenic overlook of llano river. These Hikes are pretty scenic and are of moderate difficulty level. Many people were doing mountain biking. We didn’t try tubing but it is something that can be done as well. ** Star gazing: This park’s Bortle scale rating is 3 which means it has pretty good dark skies. Although we timed to camp there on a new moon day, we could not see the Milky Way due to cloudy weather. We plan to go there another time to try our luck. We saw deers, a lot of armadillos and rabbits. ** Overall this is a great park to spend a weekend or more and offers a lot of activities and views.
We camped at a walk in camping space for two nights in March. Overnight low was 22. Yikes! Check the weather before you come… The walk in camping sites are great. W01 is set of by itself and is, I think, the largest. The rest are grouped together with some, but not tons of privacy. Great place to camp and hike.
Our first time here and we were amazed and how nice, shady and well-kept the park is. We stopped to have a picnic and use bathrooms while traveling. We loved walking down to the river and eating outside on picnic tables on concrete complete with their own grill. Stop by and be happy!
Tent camped over Christmas break. The park is beautiful. My favorite part of the park are the multiple bird blinds. Looking forward to visiting in all four seasons.
