Best Equestrian Camping near Fredericksburg, TX

Shaffer Bend Rec. Area has a beautiful setting in the Texas Hill Country right off of Lake Travis. At the gate entrance you have wonderful landscape views. All of the camp sites are situated next to or a short walk to the water.

The camps are clean. Most are equipped with a picnic table and fire ring. In the large camp area, some have BBQ pits with a couple big communal grill/smoker. The same area has a horse pen as well if you're an equestrian enthusiast on top of a camper. It is a primitive campground. The large camp area has a couple port-a-poties. At the gate entrance there are men's and women's rooms with running water. That's about 3 miles from the camp sites. So, be prepared to dig holes, bring your own portable toilets, or hold it.

Considering you're on the lake, the water access is surprisingly limited. There are a few areas along the water you can walk in, but there's not a dock or boat access. I recommend sandals or water shoes since there's a fair amount of plant life along the shore. The same areas you can walk in would be good for kayaks though. The camp sites are situated along a narrow section of the lake. So, there would be plenty to explore.

Absolutely love the trails here! The views are breathtaking and the trails vary from easy to challenging. The only issue we’ve encountered is that the new maps don’t always give an accurate description of how challenging the trails are. The staff work really hard to keep the trails maintained, but heavy rains will cause the trails to erode, so they will close the trails depending on the weather. Hiking, biking and horseback riding are all allowed and hikers and bikers are required to yield the right of way to horseback riders. I’ve ridden horseback here for many years and have always found the hikers and bikers to be very considerate. Shoes or boots are recommended since most trails are rocky. The Trailhead Equestrian Camp has 6 sites with two pens at each site and water should be available in April 2019 at each site. There’s a vault toilet and water for horses centrally located in the camping area. There’s also a round pen for supervised use. Camping with electric hookups is available at Chapa campground on a first come basis unless reserving the entire campground. The Group Lodge is also available for groups. Check out the TPWD website for more information.

Don't be fooled, this city park originated as a State park and has all the amenities!

We stayed in the Fox Run Loop towards the back of the park away from the highway and it was nice and quiet. The showers and restrooms were decent, again reflecting other Texas SP facilities.

The trails varied in terrain and were well maintained as were the rest of the grounds. We didn't check out the river side of the park, however this June we are returning to and will be on the river side and will provide an update afterwards.

UPDATE:

Just got back from a weekend trip on the river side. Like the other reviews stated, it was a bit louder being so close to the highway. Additionally, there are street lamps by the ranger station that illuminate the tent sites which were annoying. It was nice however to be within short walking distance of the river, but if I were to go again, I'd stay on the other side of the park like my first time.

We stayed here for a week in March 2019. We were on #230 on the Mountain View Loop which is water/electric only. Keep in mind, all the sites on the even numbered side in that loop had hookups on the opposite side. Your options are either cross your hoses below your RV or have your door face the road. I think this is the only loop like that. Because there was no separator, you did feel like you were out in the road a bit while camping. The full-hookup sites had an area between the RV and the road to prevent this issue. I wouldn’t stay on that side of the loop again. The leveling was crazy too on that site (and sites nearby). Our tongue jack was out about as far as she can go, but we managed. The park itself is nice and quiet. We didn’t spend a ton of time exploring because we mainly used it as a stopping ground to explore Fredericksburg and the surrounding state parks. It’s about 45 mins to Fredericksburg and the RV parks there are much more expensive. The check-in office is on the opposite side of the street as Mountain View Loop and Deer Field Loop. You go over there to check-in and then come back. Not a big deal though. We did not have good cell phone service, but with the booster it was usable for the hotspot. The sites were a good distance apart from each other and you didn’t feel like you were on top of your neighbor. They also have a dump station. Overall, we would stay here again, but I would choose a spot on the other side of Mountain View Loop or pick a full hook-up site.

This is an X-State Park that the City of Kerrville assumed operation in 2004. Very popular, nice park, but it’s really beginning to show its heavy use. Bandera Highway splits this park with check-in on the Guadalupe riverside of Bandera Highway. FHU sites in Deer Field Loop, which require a gate access code for access, are a good distance from the next site, with the site across the road are closer. Asphalt parking pad fairly level. Wooden picnic table, metal fire pit with cooking grate. Utility hook-ups in good condition at our campsite. The picnic table is at least 50 feet from the camper parking pad, which is chained to the concrete pad it sits on. Noise from Highway 173 and the approach pattern for the Kerrville Municipal Airport, so lots of low flying aircraft. Otherwise, campers were quiet and respectful. Deer came very close to us while sitting at the fire pit. Toilet/shower facility clean; women had 2 sinks, 2 toilets and 3 showers. There are two washers and two dryers on the backside of the Deer Field Loop toilet/shower facility, but the washer lids were ripped off, but lying there. Easy day trips to Hill Country towns from this park to include Fredericksburg, Austin, New Braunfels and San Antonio. In Kerrville, don’t miss Grape Juice Restaurant, brand new HEB open November 2020, Belks and Gibson’s Store.  Camp Verde General Store and Restaurant is only a 20-minute drive.