Best Glamping near Bend, TX

Natural springs w/tent & RV camping (NO PETS), fishing, kayaking, lake access, hammock areas and day use picnic w/grills. CASH ONLY FACILITIES!! Family owned. Beautiful Butterfly garden great for yoga, reading or enjoying the mind of a gardener. Several RV w/H20 & electric hookups (reservations required). Tent sites are not #, random locations (30 acres), plentiful and 1st come 1st serve. Toilets/showers near RV sites, portable toilets farther out. Pack it in/out, dumpster at office area. Love this place and grateful the owners share their haven with the public!

Pros:

• Very small park

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

• Clean campsite except for the trash in the fire pit

• Most sites had 2 sewer hookups.

• Most sites had a nice distance from neighbor sites.

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

• Lantern pole, BBQ grill, fire pit with grilling grate and wooden picnic table at each site.

• Extremely clean restrooms/shower facility.

• Heated restrooms/shower facility(we camped the week after Christmas).

• Restroom/shower facility sink had hot water and soap dispenser

• Mini golf course in the park.

• 2 bar signal AT&T

Cons:

• With reservations made 153 days prior to arriving for our 4-night stay, we encountered confusion by a rude check-in clerk who told us to come back at 3 pm (it was then 230pm and we could clearly see our campsite was vacant). Since the entry lane was down to one lane, we tied up traffic for nearly 20 minutes until the check-in clerk finally realized that we were camping and not checking in for their cabins. I’m not sure why she didn’t see our truck and 28 ft bumper pull trailer.

•$6 fee to reserve on-line.

• No mention on the park website there was a burn ban in effect, so no ground fires permitted, not even for cooking.

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

• Campsite BBQ grill and fire pit were next to each other, so it would have been difficult to gather around the fire pit.

• Good condition asphalt site parking pad was uneven side-to-side as we noticed nearly all sites in that condition with all requiring leveling.

• NOT A DARK SKY FRIENDLY CAMPGROUND! Numerous street lights throughout this camping loop and unfortunately we had one directly across from our site#11 which lit up our site like daylight! Who camps under a street light???

• Non-stop highway noise, even throughout the night, from Texas 261.

• Doors on toilet stalls were only 5 feet tall.

• Lots of large roadway speed bumps.

• No hiking trails.

• No park WIFI 

We used Black Rock as our “jumping off point” for various Hill Country Holiday Light displays, which worked out very well. Kingsland is closer to the park than Burnet where there is a HEB, Ace Hardware, Dairy Queen and local restaurants. Closest Walmart to Black Rock is in Marble Falls, along with a HEB.

I came here on a recommendation based in two fellow campers I met from the Austin area while camping near Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Unfortunately, the day I arrived for my one night reservation it had rained all day and I arrived a little bit late. But I got my tent set up just in time and was hoping for the next day to be relatively rain free. Unfortunately, when I woke up the next morning I noted it was to rain in a few hours so I broke camp and unfortunately did not hike to the waterfall.

Now, for the review of the actual campsite...

I arrived after hours and was able to just drive in and go straight to my reserved site, #46. Somehow, I had managed to get the only site without a pavilion over the picnic table in the row of campsites, but that wasn't the end of the world. The sites are large enough and I was able to get set up and cooking shortly after arrival. The trash dumpster was right across from my site but far enough away that it didn't present any smell issues. The restrooms however were less than desirable; the men's was always locked which meant everyone was using the women's side and it looked like it was in sore need of being emptied out.

Cell service was non-existent for Verizon at the site, however the free state park wifi worked in my campsite likely from the nearby park headquarters. Wish I had more time to explore the park and the campsite, as I feel.my time was cut super short. Sometimes that's just how it goes though!

We found this place by accident. It's a city park that has rodeos or something. So they have a lot of "agritourism" stuff around. There are two rings of RVs spots. They have full hookups and cost $30 a night. Free and amazing wifi. Laundry is 1.50 to wash and 1.50 to dry. Showers. They claim $5 for non-camper showers and $25 for non-camping dumping. It's all a pay box though so…. 

We stayed in the tent only section. We were very impressed. This section is in the far back of the park, closest to the nature trail. It's a large area to accommodate a lot of tents but there are only 3 electricity poles. All tent sites are only$10/night even if you use electricity. The bathrooms have 3 stalls and a couple showers. Very spacious considering. We camped during the winter and were the only tent campers. They have a baseball field and other things through the back end of the park so you do have some local kid traffic. But it was mostly quiet. Lots and lots of deer. 

The camp host is in the first ring across from the laundry so you are the furthest away in the tent sites. That being said, they came by a couple times to check on us while we were unpacking and hanging out outside the tent. Seemed very nice. 

There is a rundown playground in the main park and there is a newer playground in the middle of the baseball fields. We were here for a week with a 3 year old and we stayed mostly on the property. 

Security wise- there are streetlights on everywhere. I don't know if they are on all night(it's possible…we go to bed at 9pm) so you won't have a true"camping" experience of star gazing but you can peek out your tent if needed. Just make sure you have darkrest or something so the lights don't keep you up. 

Cleanliness- it was not busy at all so I can't attest to how it is when it is busy but I don't think I saw a single piece of trash anywhere. Each bathroom stall had clean trashcans with empty bags. And there are lots of trash cans throughout the park and people seemed to use them.

Sheriff Visit - I wasn't offended at all by this but it's worth noting that someone called the police because they were concerned about us. I'm guessing they saw my 3 year old and thought we might be homeless?? Anyway, a very nice Sheriff came by our tent and asked us if we needed help. It was I can only imagine a very typical welfare visit. He asked questions about heat so I pointed out the electricity poles. So if nothing else, you have some nosey people that might be worried enough to call the cops to check on you if you use the tent sites.

1. It is a long drive from the gate to the office/campground/riverfront area. So don't panic when it seems like you've been driving forever since the gate and start worrying about somehow getting onto the wrong road and being completely lost.
2. This is a a very popular park, especially on warm weekends, and the office is rather small. So get there as early in the day as you can to avoid crowds. I think the limit is 10 people at a time in the office, so you may have to wait outside a bit. But don't worry. There's plenty of shade around the office. Ice was $4.00 a bag there, too. I didn't spend much time in the office, and didn't really pay much attention. Just in and out.
3. No water or electrical hookups.
4. Compost toilets.
5. No sex-segregated wash/shower facilities. There were two community faucets and one community showerhead out in the open.
6. Multiple trail types, from completely shaded and mostly flat along the river to mostly out in the open in rugged terrain. Trails very well maintained with very little trash evident.
7. Some areas in the park are prone to flooding, so pay attention to weather reports. Don't get caught in the wrong place in a rainstorm.
8. Forget about cell service. Curiously enough, I had WiFi because my RV spot was closest to the office. But neither my son nor I had cell service for some miles before arriving at the office area.