Best Glamping near Llano, TX

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!

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.

This location is a great find especially in the Texas heat! This use to be a KOA but now an adult resort I really like the changes they are making including some spots will have grill with patio seating. Most spots they have are fully shaded with trees and the area is kept immaculate for the next person arriving. Several RV parks in the area did not offer any shade I cannot imagine the heat especially the day I left it was 100 degrees. There are two wineries in walking distance which are not only convenient for safety but allow no hassle trying to park. There is also a gas station right across the street making filling up east. Another amenity they added is an actual park spot next you site making parking convenient. Lastly, I love animals and the ones within and surrounding were so cute.

Pros Just 3 miles from the popular downtown shopping district 

Level gravel site with mini picnic table and fire ring 

Very nice rally hall, group fire pit and group pavilion 

Very nice and very clean shower and toilet facilities 

Combo code required to access toilets and showers 

Majority of sites are pull thru

$1.50 on-site laundry 

Residential size hot tub 

Small pool 

Volleyball net 

Small Playground 

100% occupancy during our 2 night stay 

Park WiFi 

4 bars Verizon signal 

Cons 

Just an open field. No shade. This is not even a vineyard! 

Very tight check in parking 

Lots and lots of tall speed bumps throughout park 

Small tree between site prevent our awning deployment 

Sites tightly packed together; Our sewer connection was inches from next site’s picnic table! 

Most of the time during our stay in site 80, there was a horrific odor from the sewer lift station 100 ft away 

Not dark sky friendly. 

Street lights and utility pedestal lights. 

Initially assigned site was changed without any notice so our request to be sited away from a street light not honored 

Significant traffic noise from Hwy 87 (even at night) and we were half way down the park Unable to access all 24 cable TV channels; could only connect to 6 channels.