Best Cabin Camping near Gonzales, TX

Lake Bastrop North Shore Park Park is managed by the Lower Colorado River Authority. There’s a office at the entrance were one can pay your admission fee. Or if you arrive late, there is a self paying station that’s available 24 hours 7 days a week. At the small office one may buy ice, drinks and souveniers.

This campground has a number of sites for RVs with full hook ups. There is a sewage dump station in the center of the park. Also, there are traditional car camping spots with drive up parking spaces, picnic tables, fire rings, grills and water and electrical hook-ups. There are restroom facilities are scattered throughout the park. At the far end of the park there are campgrounds for primitive camping. These have more basic amenities - there is an open space, community fire pit, community grill and some picnic tables.

Not too far from the primitive campground there is a trail that leads to a nice view of Lake Bastrop. There’s also a community space in the center of the park which has, picnic tables, a fishing pier, open water access and an area that is roped off for swimming.

This park is distinguished from the Lake Bastrop South Shore Park because it tends to attract campers with more basic needs. I would say that there are fewer families, less crowds and more peace and quiet.

I found the staff to be nice and friendly.

Pros:

• Quick check-in

• 176-acre park with 40 campsites on the south shore of Lake Bastrop.

• Level site concrete pad surrounded by crushed granite.

• Aluminum picnic table, lantern pole, BBQ grill and fire pit with cooking grill.

• Cleaned BBQ grill and fire pit upon arrival.

• Very private as the site was surrounded by heavy brush.

• Even though Spring Break and the campground was packed, it was quiet.

• Firewood is available for purchase from Park.

Cons:

• LCRA $6 on-line reservation fee.

• Long waits for toilet/shower. All are family type facilities with the toilet, sink and shower as one unit behind a lock door, so one showering person ties up a toilet. There are 8“units” for 40 campsites PLUS cabins.

• Toilets/showers could of used more frequent cleaning as they are heavily used.

This campground is located a short distance away from the city of Austin, Texas. The park is managed by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). At the entrance there is an office where you can pay your admission fee and it has a small store where you can pick up supplies. If you arrive late, there is an after hour station to pay your fee which accepts cash or a credit card.

This park has car and RV campsites. There are no primitive sites. There is a campground called the Lake Bastrop North Shore Park located 15 minutes away with primitive sites.

The campsites are all very similar. There is an area to park your car and it will fit a small or midsize RV. There are water and electrical hook-ups which make it very convenient. There are typically plenty of trees for shade. Each site has a picnic table for dining, a grill for outdoor cooking, a pole to hang food or trash and there is a fire ring for a campfire. Of course they also have pad sites where you can place a tent. The pad sites will fit anywhere from a two man tent up to an eight man tent. In addition to the campsites there are a number of small cabins which can hold up to four people. The cabins have some basic amenities and the restrooms are nearby. Most of the campsites and cabins are only a short walk to the lake shore where you can catch a sweet view of Lake Bastrop.

There is limited hiking with one trail that runs along the lakeshore for about 6 miles. The main attraction of this park is living the lake life. Near the campsites one can launch a canoe or kayak. But there is also a boat ramp and boat dock where you can launch larger sized watercraft. If you don’t have your own watercraft you can rent a canoe or kayak from the office and pick it up near the boat dock. It is possible to fish from a boat or the shore. There are a number of community spaces which are great for picnicking. There is a sand volleyball court. And there’s a special area of the lake that has been roped-off and is designated for swimming.

I think that the only possible downside about this park might be that there are always lots of families and energetic kids running around. If you’re seeking peace and quiet this might not be your place. If you are seeking some fun activities, this place is great.

I think that the Lake Bastrop South Shore Park is a 5 star campground for all of the facilities, amenities and considering that the staff are friendly.

Reserved 157 days prior to arrival. 

PRO 

Site 65 area on trailer door side extra large. 

Wide open view of Lake Bastrop. 

Small park with 10 campsites and one is for the camp host. 

Campsite had a picnic table that could be moved! 

Campsite had smoker grill, charcoal grill and grilling grate on fire ring. 

Campsite lantern post. 

Asphalt pad surrounded by crushed granite. I

ndividual room toilet, sink and shower. 

Trash barrels at every other campsite. 

Lots of birds. 

CON

$6 reservation fee for self-reserved via website. 

Campsites are being reutilized for GLAT units. 

Site 65 campsite asphalt pad slopes towards lake causing difficulties to level front to back. 

Absolutely NO shade site 65. 

No privacy from site-to-site. 

Site 65 sewer connection was inches from next site's picnic table! 

Not dark sky friendly. Nice view of power plant especially at night. Large strings of lights at 5 permanent Airstream sites burning overnight, even when unoccupied. Illuminated the entire campground! 

4 private toilet/shower rooms for 15 campsites and 10 GLAT units. There were lines of people waiting...

No camp host.

No wildlife sightings.

Some highway noise and approach pattern to Austin IAP.

No firewood for sale.

2 bar AT&T.

The weather and the calendar aligned and there happened to be an open spot, so I took it, loaded up and headed out. 

Length of Stay: 2 Nights

Type of Park: State 

Check In: 2p Check Out: 12p

💲 Cost per night$25+$5 entry fee per person per day 
Discounts: Texas Parks Pass Total Cost$25

📝 Site#24 Notes:

Pull Thru
Water
Max amp: 50 
Sewer
Grill
Fire Ring w/Grate
Hook for hanging lantern or other items
Picnic Table: concrete Site Pad: level, asphalt, long enough for truck and trailer and extra space

👍🏻 Pros:
• Full hookups
• Overlooking hillside
• No one was camping on one side of me
• A little shade in the afternoon
• A couple tall Loblolly Pines still stand at this site

👎🏻 Cons:
• Because so many of the trees are missing, you hear more of the road noise from Highway 21 and 95
• No privacy between spots
• Spot is barely off main road

📝 Park Notes:
• Restrooms
• Showers
• Dump Station
• Munzees and Geocaches in the Park
• Trails- some are pretty challenging, steep
• Pool
• Pavilion
• Cabins
• Structures built by CCC(Civilian Conservation Corps)
• When you enter Bastrop or Buescher, You can drive or bike between the parks(11 miles@ 30 mph max), but I would not tow/drive an RV.

🐦 Wildlife:
• Birds: Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Bluejays, Mockingbirds, Misc small birds

💜 Highlights of this trip:
• Drove around this park and to Buescher State Park
• Made a run through Buc-ee's
•🍕 Neighbors Kitchen& Yard- I definitely recommend the Pepperoni Rolls and the Prickly Pear Margarita! Great view overlooking the Colorado River. Live music sometimes.
• Camping alone
• Glad I went when I did. The very next day, a "controlled" burn got out of control and burned over 800 acres!

More info at my blog: https://www.denisevajdak.com/2022/01/mlk-weekend-camping.html

The tent camping spots in this somewhat small state were spacious. They had both a grill and a fire pit, picnic table, water spigot, and a "lantern hook" (a giant pipe thing like for a basketball hoop, but with a little hook sticking out of it. Each site is supposed to accommodate 2 cars, but about half of them only had parking for 1. Fortunately we got there early and were able to switch. Try to be nice to the camp hosts, they're volunteers and when I got grumpy at the one who told us we couldn't park with our wheels hanging off the pad, I thought she might cry.

The website doesn't get updated easily, so ignore any reports of tubing. There are no tube rentals there and no convenient, nearby tubing put-ins/take-outs. Don't try to tube the Zedler Mill Paddling Trail. The water is super slow and full of logs and if you suck at tubing it could take you 10 hours.