Best Tent 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 is a wonderful very well maintained Corp of Engineers campground on Lake Somerville. RV sites are level with plenty of spacing, lots of people tent camping. Sites have water and electric and there is a dump station. Clean bathrooms, well maintained trails and miles of accessible shoreline. Great AT&T and 2 bars T-Mobile reception. Some areas are closed because of previous flooding. Tons of deer wandering around every evening. Highly recommend for a relaxing place to stay.

I've camped at Stephen F. Austin a number of times and have always enjoyed it. I've been with my family and by myself. The primitive walk-in sites are great for tent camping. My kids had a great time building a campfire and roasting marshmallows. There are 4+ miles of trails and we had a wonderful hike on the ironwood trail. I definitely recommend this park. The only caution is to call ahead to confirm trail conditions. 2015 and 2016 have been very wet and flooding and rain have resulted in trails being closed.

We made a reservation for a tent site and found the rate very reasonable. Sites are well equipped with water, a fire pit with grill grate, picnic table, and pole to hang food if necessary. Bathrooms and dumpster area are clean and well lit. The park hosts were very friendly and helpful. We enjoyed the short trails that were accessible from the campsite. Saw deer in the camp area and enjoyed (mostly) watching the big yellow garden spiders building their webs next to the trail in the morning.

The best part of this park is the observatory, which has special events and regular weekend hours pretty much all year. It’s absolutely worth staying up late for this! Hikes and wildlife are good too, lots of easy trails along water for the kids, cool ponds, great little observation tour to climb. There are standard RV/tent sites, screened shelters (for sleeping), and rustic cabins, horse sites, and youth group sites. The sites are pretty spread out and maybe half of them are very shady. Awesome little park outside Houston.

The lake is fairly warm, large amount of bass, huge gar, croppy, And catfish. when the water is right you can take a flat bottom boat up to any of the creeks. Overall a great campground with decent facilities. They do have horse stalls at many of the campsites so definitely bring your horse and trot around the lake !! They do have rv and tent sites with a lot of trails that are mowed down and well taken care of. Lots of picnic areas and covered areas S well!

We have been to this park twice now, once at a tent site and once at a Yogi on the Lake cabin. Both during Halloween time a year apart. What a FUN place to be!! Our kids loved that we got to go Trick or treating at a campground! But probably my favorite thing about this place is the waterpark. Really refreshing on a hot day, and the best part? The staff are usually pretty lienient about slide rules, so small kids and parents alike are allowed to ride! I just can't say enough good about this place. Can't wait to go back again!

There is not enough room here for me to describe how much I love Brazos Bend State Park. The campgrounds are wonderful- a bit cozy with your neighbors in some spots- but overall comfortable and sufficient for tent camping.
The park staff here are exceedingly polite and helpful. I've never had a bad experience with the folks who work here, and I've been coming here my whole life.
The things to do and see at this park are seemingly endless. The hiking trails are phenomenal for all ages and fitness levels, primarily because they're mostly flat. The wildlife you can get up-close and personal with is incredible. Your kids will definitely learn about wildlife here.
Hike to the observation tower, or in the evening, head over to the observatory to look at stars and planets through a variety of different telescopes.
Be sure to check online for updates on flooding status- the Brazos crested its banks this spring and the park was extensively damaged. When they get back up and running, they're going to need our support!

I recently went on a camping trip solo (minus the hubby) with my old-man dog here. We tent camped at site #177. This is a beautiful park on a beautiful lake! Here are some of the pros: friendly couple at check-in/entrance shack, friendly rangers driving around checking on folks, deer everywhere(!), beautiful lake view, well-maintained grounds, good shade trees, trash dumpsters within walking distance, electricity/water hookups worked great, picnic table/fire ring/grill, gorgeous sunsets(!), very quiet at night, cute and clean little beach/swim area to hang out in. The cons for me were: getting to the water from my site was not as direct as it looked on the map, circular bricks with holes on the shore were not dog friendly (not human leg friendly either), bathrooms/showers were closed in our area/circle due to Covid-19. I would ABSOLUTELY return to this park!! 

I really appreciated the hospitality shown here! They recognized that I was a lone female (but a very confident/independent one) with an old man-dog and, respectfully, went out of their way to make sure that we were okay!

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.

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.

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 tented here late spring so it was hot and quiet. The sites are very open and not super shaded, but they are fairly big. There is. Nice trail system to walk or bike and lots of wildlife. Kept hearing a loud shriek at night and figured it out to be an owl! (Sound in video)

We camped at spot 1, right up from the lake. Very spacious spot to fit three tents. Dog friendly. Very quiet, everyone courteous. Two great fishing spots: down on the lake by the campsite and by the marina (both super close to the campsite).

The park was great. Very big and shaded with lots a trees. Only downside was there was absolutely no wind, it was excruciatingly humid and there were LOADS of huge spiders. We went close to the end of summer and it was still 80+ with 90% humidity. It would have been great if we could have been more prepared, but when you’re focused on getting there, you forget some things. Aside from that, it offered us a fire pit, water spout, picnic area and plenty space for our tent and supplies.

I called in for a camping spot late in the evening and the manager said No problem! This campground seems primarily set up for long term camper trailers. I was looking for a tent spot and arrived late in the evening. The host was very welcoming and let me park up near the bathroom. Since I was by myself it worked out great for me. The campground and the bathrooms were clean. Would Definently stop by again .

If alligators are what you want to see, you will find them here. We stayed in the primative campground in a tent and had no problems with alligators coming in the campsite. They are in the lake and swamp area and may be sunning on the hiking trails. They won't bother you if you walk around them. The picnic sites and pavilions are nice.

Our campground had trails right nearby which was convenient & fun. It was relatively flat which made the tent easy to set up, & it also had sufficient trees for hammocks. The picnic table was a little rickety but nothing I wouldn’t expect for an outdoor wooden table. The bathrooms were nice & clean! The park offers some pretty fun trails, but a lot of them were closed because of storm damage when we camped. There is a convenient place to launch kayaks & canoes just outside of the park which a nice ranger informed us about. All in all it was a great experience!

Starlink is pretty quick here and T-Mobile is smoking fast.

Management is kind, courteous, and quick to fix any issues. It’s a hidden gem of Texas to be sure.

I think this must be one of the smaller state parks of Texas, but there are plenty of trails to enjoy nature, learn about wildlife and plants, and have some good camping memories. Plenty of trees to perch a hammock, plenty of room to throw a frisbee, and some of the better bathrooms/showers I have seen among state parks.

Going to this camp in the middle of August is not recommended because, wow Texas heat. But it is one of our favorites. Close to Houston but still feels wild. I love that the RV camp is pretty separate from the ten camp section to make it a different experience depending on how you normally roll. The trails are well kept and we saw some deer and rabbits! Do watch out here because there are ticks a plenty, make sure to do a check after hikes/camping!

I visited the park early November and it was great. We reserved sites 75 and 52, and it was a great area for kids. Fall camping is very popular in Texas, so tons of people out especially boy scouts.  We hiked Barred Owl trail and it was very easy pushing my double jogging stroller. The one thing i loved about the park were the restroom, LOVED the FAMILY RESTROOM. Loved that it was one private room restroom and shower. Overall, I enjoyed the park.