Best Glamping near Lago Vista, TX

My family and I all visited Son’s Guadalupe in August for a quick getaway. I grew up camping, tubing and swimming in the Guadalupe growing up so I wanted to share that experience with my three sons but being from the area I also know how river rd can be rowdy at times in the summer. I was happy to find out Son’s recently opened up a place out there as we had visited a couple of their other locations and they had been very family friendly. We rented a cabana for the day as well as an air-conditioned glamping tent to stay overnight. We had such a great time! The cabanas sit right on the bank of the river and have everything you need including: seating, picnic table, BBQ pit electricity and water. The river is a bit shallow at their location for swimming (much of the Guadalupe is) but it the perfect depth to get in relax and cool off. This section of the Guadalupe River is very clear and flows great for tubing. We rented some tubes and they took us up river a couple of miles to float back down to our cabana which was very convenient. The scenery on the tubing trip is absolutely gorgeous, huge cliffs and cypress trees! After a fun day it was nice to relax in a comfortable tent with AC! The mattresses were foam and very comfortable. You do have to bring your own pillows, sheets and blankets though. For bathrooms, they have 5 individual bathrooms up top with showers. Overall we had a great time and I’d recommend the place. It can get a bit crowded on weekends so go during the week if you’re not wanting to be around crowds. Also, they rent everything a-la-carte, so if you plan to stay the night you need to tent a cabana or covered picnic table during the day. There website does a good job explaining everything but it’s a bit different if you haven’t been before so be sure to read through your reservation before heading out.

Pace Bend is one of my most favorite places to camp in Texas.

Not far from the old (and new!) Backyard (a great place to see live music in the live oak capital of Texas), Pace Bend is a quick drive away. A perfect spot to pitch a bunch of tents, jump off cliffs, swim and barbeque. Maybe 45 minutes from downtown Austin (without traffic).

I won't lie the cliff diving kinda freaks me out. Be careful is all I'm saying!

There are several primitive campsites throughout the park with picnic tables, grills and toilets. Additionally there are 20 RV hook-up type sites that offer running water, electricity, restrooms and showers.

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!

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:

• 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.