Best Tent Camping near Bulverde, TX

Tent camped 14JUL20, 1 night.

First, it was 108 the day I camped, in a tent, with no AC! (I did have a fan though.)

I 👏🏽 love 👏🏽 this 👏🏽 park👏🏽!! Hiked about 12 miles of trails and every one had a payoff. I could have spent a week hiking that park if I had time.

The sites are HUGE and have cool features like retaining walls. Not a lot of trees though but I barely noticed until I remembered I suffer from cedar fever, (went to school at UT.) Thought I had the COVID as I left until I remembered I camped under a cedar tree, haha.

BE WARNED, there is zero cell coverage once you get into the park. Might not be an issue for some but I had to drive up to the ranger station a couple times to let my wife know i was okay.

The water was low when I was there but it was clear and cool and absolutely beautiful.

This park exemplifies the Texas Hill Country!

I’ll be back soon.

Arrived on a Thursday plenty of tent sites available. Some are small others are nice and spacious. The tent pads are caliche. Having a hammer is a must. Pet friendly. River to swim in. Restrooms were clean. Staff friendly. Lots of hiking

Spots are great! Walking for tent camping is close about 50 ft but get here early as it’s very crowded. Lots of people fishing too so be careful of hooks in the water. We did a little hiking but not a ton of that to do here.

I was planning on staying there, but it is basically an equestrian state park. You can camp there, but there's not electrical and water hook ups. It's mostly tent camping. The staff was very friendly. I went to visit there just to see what it was about. If you're a hiker, there's hiking trails, so you'll enjoy that.

I was pleasantly surprised to find tent sites available within 3 days of my visit (October 23-25, 2020). We stayed at one of their tent sites (#66) and pitched 2 tents for two families. Site had a hose bib, fire ring, and a new wooden picnic bench. Plenty of trees and other cover located at the site. Our site was across the street from the restroom/showers. The restroom and showers were older but kept clean. The trails at this park offer easy paths for families to enjoy along with mountain bikers. The camp host Lita was very nice and was available to purchase bundles of fire wood for $5 if needed. Overall, I was very pleased with this city park. The reasons for not giving it a full five stars is the outdated restrooms, an occasional Cessna flying over about 2-3 times a day, and the (what seemed frequent) emergency vehicles blaring their sirens. Note: although we only saw one armadillo, there was evidence of other wildlife in the park.

One of the first camping trips I had with my son was Guadalupe River State Park.  We tent camped and had one of the primitive sites.  We had so much fun swimming in the river and hiking.  We worked with the park Ranger program and my son was awarded a Ranger Badge.  The bluffs above the river are gorgeous.  Mid November and swimming was still fun.  The next morning was 10 degrees so a whole different experience.  One of my favorite places to visit.

We tent camped here circa spring break 2012. We arrived around midnight and I think the host welcomed us. Regardless we got a good site on the east side of the highway and easily set up the tent with the car lights. We enjoyed the park hiking the forest on the west side. I braved the cold water of the river, swimming across and back with onlookers and my wife admiring my courage (or foolishness) from the bank. I laid on the rocks in the sun to dry off and warm up. We tested a Methodist church in our dirty camping clothes and received a warm welcome.

We have family in the fredicksburg Texas area and the hotels in town are VERY expensive. We had seen this park before as it is next to the airport and golf course, so we decided to try to get a reservation for thanksgiving weekend. I booked through reservation.gov indicating I wanted a tent spot. I thought the cost was high, but chalked it up to being Fredicksburg. Once we got to the park, the park agent told me we had gotten a RV spot and there was no place to stake a tent, but they had a field used for tent camping which was only $10.00 per night! She was so nice in changing our site. The field for “primitive” camping is one you drive into and pitch a tent which worked great for us. There is a beautiful nature trail by the park. The bathrooms are fine, heated which was nice as it was chilly for Texas. Wifi is included I your stay. We will definitely use this park again.

This is a park that we have been to multiple times. It is beautiful. The RV sites are Water and Electric only. There are primitive sites as well as water only for tent camping. The sites are large and there is wildlife everywhere. In my pictures you will see we had a deer walk right into our site several times. There are tons of trails and geocaches around the park. Make sure you hike down to the falls and wander up and down the river. There are tons of small alcoves that are private and make for beautiful pictures.

You have the choice of camping at a tent site, park your RV, to glamp in a yurt or cabin, or even walk out to a more secluded “TentRR” site. Regardless of what choice you make, there’s a community kitchen with small appliances/dishes and the bathhouse with showers, toilets, and vanities. It really is the best of both, especially if you’re trying to camp for several days and would like to stay relatively clean and well fed. We’ve stayed there three years in a row now!

Campsites can get kinda tight in the primitive camping area during peak seasons. The pull in tent sites range from close neighbors to very private. The tent pad and parking spot orientations are nice for both camper trailers/rigs and for people that car camp or truck bed camp.

This park also has some of the best campsite-to-trails access. The main campsite loop is in the center of the park at the nexus of multiple major trail loops that lead out to major trails of the park. It's a convenience for most, but it's an important feature when you camp in the bed of your truck, so you can't move your vehicle during the day.

We could not have found a better place. From the moment we arrived we were treated like we knew them forever. We had a welcome bucket at the site. It had first aid kit, water, citronella candle, bug spray etc. The RV sites and tent sites are exceptionally clean. The view is breath taking, the stars at night are romance and enticing. We saw deer, wild turkey, longhorns, humming birds. We got a tour of the property and it was so perfect. You are positioned perfectly to visit San Marcos, New Braunfles, Drippings Springs, Wimberly, Blanco, Canyon Lake and Krause. Gruene. It was perfect

Brought the 5th wheel down in July. Front desk was very friendly. Most sites were closed due to either construction of table pavilions or bathroom renovations. The new bathroom was not open yet so there was a small line for the shower but only on our last night in thr old bathrooms. The new bathroom looked like it will be nice whenever it opens. Bathrooms had no AC but were clean. There is NO cell service throughout the camping area. Lots of deer, armadillos, and foxes. Depending on the site, the picnic tables and fire rings are quite a ways back from the parking spot, which would be nice if you are planning to tent camp. Trails are well kept, but it’s at least a quarter mile hike anytime you want to get in the water.