Best Tent Camping near Belton, TX

I've camped at this campground a number of times while hiking around The Goodwater Trail.

There is a basic restroom with toilets. There is a water faucet near the Park Host's trailer. There is plenty of parking, a field with pad sites, a large open field and my favorite is the group campsite at the end of the large open field. The group campsite has a pad, but it also has plenty of trees and space to hang hammocks. It is also the more secluded of the campsites. There are fire rings at the campsites and it is possible to collect fallen wood for a fire if there is not a fire ban in effect.

Near the group campsite and through the tree line there is a small creek. Depending on the amount of recent rain or degree of draught the creek is deep enough to go for a wade or a swim. It is also fun to just explore the area around the creek.

The Goodwater trail is a loop trail that circles Lake Georgetown and runs about 28 miles. When backpacking the Goodwater Loop people typically start/park at either Tejas Park Trailhead, Jim Hogg Trailhead or Cedar Breaks Trailhead. If you are backpacking the loop parking and hiking are free. If you are using the park facilities just for the day, there is a day use fee.

Pros 

Not charged a fee to make my own on-line reservation 

Friendly gate attendant 

Level asphalt site surrounded by crushed granite 

Grass neatly mowed throughout campground 

Large aluminum picnic table that is moveable from site concrete pad

BBQ grill, metal fire pit and lantern pole 

Night sky friendly. No street lights 

Spacious-space between each site but no privacy due to lack of vegetation 

Very quiet Sunday thru Wednesday nights except for Waco airport aircraft approach and Space X rocket testing 

Entrance gate locked 10pm-6am. Exit only permitted 

Clean toilets and showers 

Plenty of TP in restrooms 

Trash can in toilet/shower facility 

Sufficient trash dumpsters throughout park 

Deer sightings at Park entrance only 

2 LTE Verizon bars signal 

Cons 

Exterior restroom doors desperately need repaired. Have to move rock away from door to gain access. 

Sewer connection at rear of parking pad. Bring the looooong stinky slinky! 

Waco airport aircraft departing/arriving as early as 6am and as late as 11pm. One night we counted aircraft performing touch and go manuvers 42 times. Approach was directly over our campsite. 

No patrolling host or ranger 

No soap or hand towels in toilet facility 

No playground, basketball or tennis or volleyball courts 

No lake swimming area 

No park WIFI 

No hiking trails

This park is a short drive to all of Waco attractions including the famous Silos. We stayed Friday and Saturday nights. 

Pros:

• Very friendly gate attendant

• Extremely quiet park except for arriving/departing aircraft at Waco Regional Airport

• Great view of the lake as trees/shrubs are minimal

• Clean campsite

• Very clean campfire pit

• Most sites had a nice distance from neighbor sites

• Crushed granite surrounds the site’s asphalt parking pad so no muddy mess after rain

• Pedestal BBQ grill, fire pit with grilling grate and aluminum picnic table at each site

• Some sites had aluminum roof pavilion over picnic table

• Some sites had lantern pole

• Park roadways in good condition

• Entrance gate locked at 10pm

• Plenty of TP in women’s restroom

• 4 bar signal AT&T 

Cons:

• Filthy women’s restroom. Human feces on floor. Two of the three stalls locked for days. One remaining stall the door would not close and latch. Sign posted on door that restrooms were cleaned Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, but the human feces were on the floor Friday night, Saturday all day and Sunday morning. Exterior door would not close completely.

• No water to sinks in women’s restroom

• No soap dispenser and no hand dryer in women’s restroom

• Men’s restroom door locked Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning

• Exterior door to one shower room was unable to be closed

• Extremely low water pressure to campsite

• No site privacy due to minimal trees/brush throughout the park

• Low hanging tree branches over roadway and campsite pad

• Our campsite pedestal BBQ grill was extremely corroded

• No wildlife sightings- not even a squirrel

• NOT A DARK SKY FRIENDLY CAMPGROUND! Boat launch lights across the cove lit up most of the campground. Large lights on the toilet/shower building that made it nearly as bright as daylight!

PROS 

Saved $24.50 with Texas State Park Pass 

No fee charged for making on-line reservations 

Got a call the morning of arrival from park headquarters confirming my arrival 

Site 3 was immaculate upon arrival, even the crushed gravel raked. 

Site 3 level 

Site 3 has aluminum picnic table, metal firepit with cooking grate and 2 hook lantern pole all in good condition 

Site 3 afternoon shade 

Campground loop toilet/shower facility immaculate 

30 minute drive to Waco attractions

2 bar T MOBILE 

CONS 

20 total campsites but 2 are used for camp hosts 

Picnic table chained to ground so not moveable and it was 30 ft from camper 

Lots of road noise from TX236 

One toilet/shower facility for the entire park for both day users and 20 campsites 

Men’s toilet had urinal and toilets out of service during our 3 night stay 

Toilet/shower facility not climate controlled 

Lots of feral cats throughout campground 

No fire wood for sale in park 

No WIFI

Nice park and campground very near Georgetown, Texas. Berry Springs is a local county park and preserve. The Park is located just north of Georgetown Texas about 1 mile off Interstate 35 the main highway between Dallas and Austin. It’s a Great location with loads of open space. They have basic sites with covered picnic tables, fire rings, and hooks for hanging items. The former ranch has a lot of history dating back to the Texas Pioneer days. The park is located next to clear spring fed river for swimming and fishing. This may be a great option for those looking for a location close to Austin or a local family weekend. The camp was nearly empty in October this year which is the peak season for camping in Texas. The sites are best suited for tent camper, vans, and smaller trailers.

Texas Parks & Wildlife (TPW) goes BIG with this sweet little park! In 2015, a new Visitors Center and 20-site campground were built among the remnants of the old CCC structures. Little reminders of CCC construction were visible just feet from my campsite (#17)… a portion of an old wall and BBQ pits. The campsite itself was wonderful! Plenty of spacing between neighboring sites. Freshly raked gravel, four large benches/chunks of quarried limestone, a picnic table, fire pit, pole with two hooks for hanging trash or gear, water, and electric. No specific tent site— since the whole area was level. Just a short walk along a path from my campsite to the restroom/shower facilities, which were very clean. Womens’ side had two sinks, three bathroom stalls- with one being ADA accessible, and two shower stalls, one of which was ADA accessible. The restroom had a large outdoor sink area, a little library, bike rack, and informational bulletin board. Only a few miles of hiking trails within the park, but beautifully maintained, with walking access to trail system from the campground. If you’re driving a taller/bigger vehicle, you’ll want to consider using those trail access points, rather than driving back to the small trailhead parking lots. The road leading back to the TH parking areas has an 8 ft height limit. Hiking highlights are an old CCC viewing tower, a CCC picnic table, a cave, and old washing pond. Camp hosts were cordial, and Park/Visitors Center staff were helpful and efficient with check in process. I received a call from the Park staff earlier in the morning on the day of my arrival, to let me know the entrance road from the south into the park was closed, so I’d have to access from the north, and also to let me know a county-wide burn ban was in effect, so no campfires during my stay in March 2022.

Park Review

Tejas Park sits on the south side of Georgetown Lake in the Hill Country of Texas. The park offers good opportunities for hiking, camping and backpacking, fishing, wading or floating and features plenty of large, grassy open areas for enjoying the scenic countryside. 

There is a basic restroom with toilets. There is a water faucet near the Park Host's trailer. There are fire rings at the campsites and it is possible to collect fallen wood for a fire if there is not a fire ban in effect. There is a large parking lot, a large open field with campsites and my favorite is the group campsite at the end of the large open field. These sites can be reserved on recreation.gov

The Goodwater Trail is a trail that circles Lake Georgetown and runs about 28 miles. When backpacking the Goodwater Loop people typically start/park at either Tejas Park Trailhead, Jim Hogg Trailhead or Cedar Breaks Trailhead. If you are backpacking the loop parking and hiking are free. If you are using the park facilities just for the day, there is a day use fee.

The Hosts at this campground are typically very friendly. If you camp during the winter look up in the trees and you might just see some mistletoe.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, from time to time I get products to test. For this trip I was provided one package of Mountain House Beef Stew. The challenge was to create a dish using the beef stew as an ingredient. I decided to use Bread, Idahoan Mashed Potatoes and Mountain House Beef Stew to create a dish I called Brotato Stew. Unfortunately I was only provide one package of beef stew so we divided up the meal amongst six people and ate the meal as an appetizer.

Here are the instructions:

Boil 4 cups of water in a pot.

Pour 2 cups of boiled water into the Mountain House Beef Stew package and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Mix 2 cups of boiled water with the Idahoan Mashed Potatoes in a bowl or cup and mix thoroughly.

Using Onion rolls or Ciabata bread, cut the top of the bread and form a little bowl.

Spread the prepared Idahoan Mashed Potato into the bread bowl.

Spread the prepared Mountain House Beef Stew on top of the Mashed Potatoes.

Enjoy!

For more info about Mountain House visit their website at https://www.mountainhouse.com