Best Cabin Camping near San Felipe, TX

We had a really nice relaxing stay at Stephen F Austin State Park near San Filepe, Texas. Great little state park easily accessed from I-10. The 38 RV sites are all asphalt pad pull throughs with 30/15 amp electric, water and sewer complete with concrete pad for table, fire pit, lantern and all well spaced for plenty of privacy...big rig friendly. They have an additional 39 tent only sites with water and 25 primitive. Screened shelters are reservable for tent camping with 20 amp electric and water plus one rustic cabin with amenities. There is a$5 daily entrance fee in addition to camping fees. The bathhouse facilities are brand new. It's a small park but they do have five miles of trails for hiking/biking with views of the Brazos River. We enjoyed the wildlife; deer strolling in the campground every morning and evening, birds, rabbits, frogs, turtles, a bobcat and numerous owls. They have a Nature Center; however it was not open during our visit. The park office has a small store with sundries and park souvenirs. The nearby San Felipe de Austin State His­toric Site tells the story of early settlers to Texas and is worth a visit. We made a run to the nearby town of Sealy to do a much needed laundry stop...small community with grocery, dining and fuel to meet most needs. GPS 29.811982-96.108059 l(979) 885-3613 l Park Road 38 San Felipe, TX 77473

This would be a 5 star if there was sewer hookup 

PROS 

No fee to make my own on-line reservations

Park security gate closed overnight hours 

Good space between sites 

Grass mowed in each site 

Extra wide campground roadway 

Quiet during our weeknight stay 

Wooden and metal picnic table on concrete slab 

Pedestal BBQ grill 

Metal firering (no cooking grate) 

Clean, climate controlled toilet/shower facility. 

Ample supply of TP, and hand soap but hand dryer didn’t work and no paper towels. Campfire wood for sale via honor system in the campground 

Regular ranger patrol through campground

Lots of dumpsters throughout the campground

.85 miles round trip from site 114 to closest toilet/shower facility 

2 bars T-MOBILE 

CONS 

No discount for a one night stay 

Aggressive raccoons 

Site 114 not level 

No lantern pole in campsite 

Site picnic table is anchored to concrete slab and not moveable 

No WiFi

A nice, quiet fall camping weekend on Lake Somerville. It was a solo trip and since the weather was warm, I brought my kayak on this trip.

Check In: 2p Check Out: 12p

⛺ Site#26- Back-In

💲20 per night+$4/person/day Parks Pass Discount saved$18.00

• Water
• 20/30 amp
• Fire Ring with grate
• Picnic Table: wood with metal legs, concrete base
• Site Pad: Asphalt, level, long enough for my camper and truck with room to spare
• Corrals for horses

👍🏻 Pros:

• Extra parking places across the street
• Can see the lake from this spot

👎🏻 Cons:

• There's not a direct trail to the lake shore other than animal trails through some of the tall grass
• The table and fire ring are on the non-camping side so it was a little strange. Very dark at night on that side.

📝 Park Notes:

• Dump Station
• Restrooms/ Showers- clean. The Bent Tree area has a portable trailer for the restrooms and showers. The main building is closed.
• There are Munzees and Geocaches here
• Lots of trails in the park and between this and the Birch Creek Unit
• Great trails for equestrians
• Enclosed Group shelter for events (no kitchen)
• Family Fishing Pond (small)
• The open style pavilion doesn't appear to be open. Looks like it's is structurally unsound

🐦 Wildlife:

• Birds: Great Blue Heron, Cardinals, Chickadees
• Deer
• Squirrels

💜 Highlights of this trip:

•🔥 Campfires and breakfast over the fire

•🐕 My brother came for a short visit to walk the dog

•🛶 Kayaking and there was only ONE other boat on the lake

•🍂 Nice fall colors

•🚫 Some of the trails and areas of the park were closed this weekend due to public hunts

•🌟 Warm temperatures and clear nights. Lots of stars.

•💚 Found a couple geocaches and put out a few Munzees

More info at https://www.denisevajdak.com/2021/12/fall-camping-at-lake-somerville.html

November 2020 ALERT! Due to Interstate 10 construction, the eastbound exit for San Felipe is closed so the navigation system took us further East and then backtracked on some horrible condition rural roads. Recommend going to Brookshire and using FM 359 and then FM 1458 to reach Park Road unless you want to really beat up your rig. West bound entrance onto Interstate 10 was a bit crazy also so you may want to do some recon before finding yourself down a horrible back road. No notice of this on the State Park website. 40 FHU sites here under Spanish moss-draped trees. Good spacing between most sites, but no privacy from neighbor sites. The site required leveling side-to-side. Quiet campsite. No highway noise. Train whistle in distant. Saw lots of deer that came fairly close to us. Nice trails but very busy on weekends as Houstonians escape the city for some country fun! A brand new toilet/shower facility opened in early November 2020 in this FHU campground that includes 2 family restrooms. Toilet stalls are very narrow with residential toilets which are water-saving that required 4-5 flushes to empty the bowl. Dyson hand dryer. In the FHU loop, there were 3 camp hosts and one campsite marked for the 4th camp host. Another site has a firewood wagon and an ice machine. Then another site is coned off. So 6 sites gone from the inventory! There is a camp host site also in the tent loop. Wow- 5 camp hosts?? That has to be a record for this size park! We did see Park Police drive thru the FHU loop very frequently. A new toilet/shower facility is under construction in the tent loop. Construction just began so probably another 6-9 months to finish. In the meantime, there are 4 job johnnies and campers from the tent loop utilizing the new toilet/shower facility, with 3 toilets for women and 2 for men. AT&T 1 bar signal.

Katy Texas is a 20 minute drive where you will find all types of stores and services.

Campground Review

It's incredible that I was born and raised in Houston and have lived here the past four years but haven't made it out to Brazos Bend State Park until now! A quick, 45 minute drive southwest will get you out of the concrete jungle that is the sprawling Space City metropolis and into one of the lushest, greenest parts of Texas. Brazos Bend is a "Nature Lover's Paradise" - there is abundant wildlife. There is great fishing, ample bird watching, and lots and lots of alligators (!). Lots of trails for walking, running, biking, and horseback riding. The George Observatory is a pretty amazing feature of this park (but only open Saturdays).

We arrived at Brazos Bend on a Friday afternoon and were able to walk-in no problem. Walk-in rate is $12/day + the daily park entrance fee ($5 for adults, free for kids). I have a Texas State Parks Pass so we didn't have to pay the entrance fees (saved us $40 for two nights of camping!). Additionally there were several other great options including: Full-Site RV hook-up ($25/night), Standard Camping ($20/night, incl. water & electricity), and 14 Cabins ($80-200/night but have everything you could ever need or want).

We did a lot of nature walks, game playing, and swimming during our two days at Brazos Bend State Park. Summer is probably not the best time to visit any park in Texas - its hot and muggy and the mosquitos are out in full force. Bring your DEET. Seriously. Despite that though, we were very pleasantly surprised by the amenities (swimming pool, screened in picnic tables, fire pits, and tent pads!)

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - this past weekend at Brazos Bend I tested out the Kameng Mid eVent Waterproof Hiking Boot by Mishmi Takin.

These boots have got it all.

First, these boots are hella comfortable! I was blown away how comfortable they were right out of the box. Over the years, I've owned many pairs of hiking boots and they all required a significant break-in period. Not these!

Second, they're waterproof AND breathable. Not water resistant, like actually water proof.

Third, the look great. All 3 color schemes are fantastic I had a tough time choosing between green, grey and orange.

Fourth, so lightweight. These only weigh 1.5lbs so even though they are boots, they won't weigh you down.

5/5 Would Recommend.

We got a spot here for one night with no reservations on a Thursday in late March, but all the spots were booked for the weekend. With taxes and fees the price came to $38 for a night at a FHU site.

All sites are pull through / bump out style. Our spot (#39) wasn't level. Spots come with a picnic table and fire pit.

Firewood and ice for sale here at campground.

Free showers are really nice and clean, look pretty new. Water never got hot for me though.

Friendly rangers at the office when we checked in, and they had lots of cute things to buy at the gift shop.

Dumpsters and aluminum can recycling.

Ok cell reception, not many bars but both the att and Verizon phone worked fine. We heard the rangers tell other campers that there is free wifi at the campground but we didn't see it pop up when we looked for it.

Lots of nice short hiking trails here throughout the park.

I stayed here for 3 months and the manager Robert was very biased and unhospitable towards me the entire time. So I complained to the district manager Marty and told him I would not be extending my stay and would leave at end of month. He agreed and said I would get back my $50 deposit which is required for 5 days notice to move out (I was giving 2 weeks notice which is much more than the required 5 days). Upon checking out at the end of my stay Robert of course did not refund my $50 forcing me to call Marty again (Will update if I ever get my $50 back). On the final email they sent me with my electricity usage I noticed they changed my name to BLACKLIST and when I asked Marty he said 'correct you will never stay at one of our resorts again since you seemed unhappy' so to sum it up if you complain aboout how they treat you; you will be Blacklisted and have to fight for your deposit back.

*not kid friendly *not pet friendly *not people friendly *very very noisy *pool failed inspection and water seems to be chemically inbalanced even after reopening (water smells rotten) *hot tub jets do not work *dog yard is not cleaned

OK, this was my second visit to a Texas State Park. Simply said, I was blown away with this park. Driving in, deer scattered the landscape. Like my trip to Huntsville State Park, I opted for a screened shelter. The protection from the elements were well worth the $122.50 I paid for four nights. With electric/water, I was very comfortable and was able to use my electric heater in my tent. The shelter came with a locking door, although I don't think anyone would bother you anyway. There are some nice trails, including one that will take you to the Brazos River. The park was nice and quiet and the weather was cold, I absolutely loved it. The Park entrance has a little Store and the town of Sealy is just a few miles away should you need supplies. The staff was remarkably helpful and courteous. I really enjoyed the peace of this park, the Solitude and good energy force you to take in it's grandeur. Since it was freezing cold, (which I loved) the extremely clean bathrooms, with showers would be a welcome site. I was surprised how clean the facility was, it was even heated. I definitely plan on returning to the park, maybe gonna try out the cabin.