Best Dog-Friendly Camping near San Antonio, TX

Government Canyon State Natural Area is conveniently located near San Antonio, TX. Many visitors visit from San Antonio for the day or for the weekend. The staff sometimes limit the amount of visitors during busy times, so it is best to arrive early - before 10am. The Info Center is nicely designed and they often host educational events. The main attraction of this campground is hiking through the forest, exploring above or below the canyon, seeing the old 1880’s period Zizelman House and locating a few of the notable dinosaur tracks. There are a number of walk-in campsites with well defined pad sites, campfire rings and a table. There are often burn bans in effect at this campground so come prepared with a gas stove.

We started with day passes, then graduated to renting out the loft cabins, then tried tent camping, and eventually and recently parked our travel trailer in the reservable RV spaces. All in the same vicinity. Made great memories at each stay.

Pro’s: Best rate in town for military (active, retired, $ disabled). Water is beautiful. Fishing can be fantastic. Lots of water activities available for rent or bring your own. Pet friendly, Great for families, most people are very respectful and wonderful to talk to. Good food and stores nearby. Lots of wildlife. Quiet. Close to town and short drive from San Antonio.

Cons: Hard to get ahold of staff to make reservations. Market is extremely expensive and staff isn’t very friendly. Lost and lots of fire ants.

We recommend it to all of our friends and family and bring them often. We love staying in the loft cabins. Some are pet friendly. We have stayed in the mobile homes on the other side of the lake once but that was not a great experience as our things were stolen off our table and covered patio (on Veterans Day) and they were only left unattended for 15 min or less. The mobile home wasn’t very nice but functional at least.

Super easy to get to off i35 between New Braunfels and San Antonio. The park is nice but could use some updating. The daily sites are up front and those are kept up, but if you walk around the park the ones near the back that are mostly monthly rentals could use some TLC. The playground was okay but the dog parks were nicer. It was cold so we skipped the pools but they have two.

We stayed three weeks here after being caught in the Texas Arctic vortex. They were very accommodating considering we extended our stay twice. The location is super convenient and about 30-45 minutes from the River walk.

located right next to the San Antonio river, you are just a few miles from the famed San Antonio Riverwalk and many of the historic Missions in the area. The easy access to the river affords you miles and miles of bike and walking paths. The sites are spacious, and well maintained. The pool is refreshing, the laundry facilities are top notch and the bath houses we perfect. We stayed a few days in July, then again in August and lastly September. And do yourself a favor, look up Rays Drive Inn, it’s worth the drive to get San Antonio’s best puffy tacos.

Located on the Eastern side of San Antonio, the park is located only a short 10 minute drive away from the famous Riverwalk or popular restaurants and breweries at the historic pearl.

The park is gated and beautifully maintained. There is a heated pool, spacious pet area with benches and toys for your furry friends. The bathrooms were very clean and well kept. The showers almost made us feel at home!

There is a convenient store with anything you may have forgotten and the owners were very kind. We needed to stay after check out when our car was being worked on and they were accommodating and did not charge us for a late check out.