Best Glamping near Somerville, TX

I actually would rate this campground 3.5 stars, because it is better than average and getting better every year.

In 2011 a forest fire swept through this park and devastated over 90% of the piney woods. The park is still recovering.

However, something that has never changed about this location is that Bastrop State Park offers multiple camping options and great opportunities for family fun.

The park has car camping, walk-in camping, RV camping and even cabin camping/glamping. One of my favorite activities when visiting this park is to drive the scenic and winding tree lined road between Bastrop State Park and nearby Buescher State Park.

There are recreational activities for kids such as a playground, swimming pool, fishing, geocaching and hiking trails. Many of the facilities underwent a remodel and now offer restrooms with modern sinks, showers and toilet stalls.

There are sections of the park where one can see the devastation cause by the forest fire. It is a humbling experience for both children and adults to see the burnt but recovering forrest. There are also sections of the park where one can still stand under some of the old growth majestic pine trees. The walk-in sites are surrounded by forrest. The RV site has some of the tallest trees still standing. One caveat about the RV site is that you can hear the auto traffic from the nearby highway.

The park office has a small store and sells camping necessities and souvenirs. The town of Bastrop is nearby where you can find supermarkets, stores and restaurants so you're never too far from supplies.

Based on my recent visit to this park, I think that it still offers a variety of camping options, family fun and possibly an eco lesson for all of us.

This was our first time here at lake Somerville birch creek. It was a great one. We stayed in old hickory loop. Lots of trees and plenty of shade. Short trip from Houston so we will definitely be going back!

We didn’t camp here since we live so close by, but stopped on our way to Lake Somerville State Park. Driving by the camp sites they appeared nice and tucked between some (remaining) tall pine trees; you could definitely see your neighbor though. This park endured a huge forest fire about 9-10 years ago and you can still tell. Lots of charred and dead trees, but some new growth coming up underneath. We drove to the highest point and took a picture. That was about all we needed. Sort of underwhelming, but quaint.

I’m reviewing the hike in site on the Lake Somerville trail way, entering at the Birch Creek Unit (northern side of the lake). It’s around a three mile hike to the campground area. The hike has a few nice views of the lake and a few nice fields here and there. Once you make it to the camping area, you’ll find an outhouse, some benches, a fire pit and even a little well. Footsteps and a few coyotes can be heard in the evening. The campsite is close to a little meandering river if you’re willing to do a little bit of bushwhacking , just be careful as it’s easy to get turned around. Plus there are probably some crocodiles around, who knows. Anyway, I’d recommend this trail/campground, I didn’t see anyone once I got a few miles in and really enjoyed being close to a little river, plus the wildlife.

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.

Well spaced spots.  Fairly level pads with table, fire ring, 30/50 amp electrical, water.  We didn't see any covered tables, but all usable spots had concrete pads for tables.  Like a lot of east-Texas camping areas, LSSP was also devastated by Hurricane Harvey and is still recovering, but don't let that stop you, but instead level-set your expectations.  Sites are well dispersed, but some appear to be no longer in use.  In July 2020, there were very few folks in the park, partly, I'm sure due to Covid-19 and well, its July in Texas!  Typically, and as expected, gnats were really bad at night, but mosquitos were tolerable.  Just be prepared and you'll be fine.  Great kayaking and very little motorized boat traffic, but likely due to current situation.  Trails are numerous, but not well marked.  We didn't see a lot of hog damage on the trails, so maybe the staff has been working on that.  Good amount of wildlife  Equestrian area looked like it was restored and  back-in-business.   Will be returning.  While the Birch Creek and Nails Creek sections are visible across the lake from each other, there is a long drive (15 minutes in a vehicle around the lake) to get between them, so plan your time accordingly.

It's a bit ridiculous that you have to pay both a daily entrance fee, plus your nightly site fee at Texas state parks.

The camping itself was ok. A bit confusing trying to find where you needed to go. Boat launch area looks like camping area.

RIght by the lake, good for recreation.

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.

There's a good size lake with access to it from the park itself. Nice clean park as most state parks in Texas are. Well, the only thing I think that they could improve would be the pads where you park your trailer on. Some of them need to be redone. I have T-Mobile cell service and it fluctuates between 4G and 5G. I'm able to use the internet send and receive text messages and call out and receive calls. Also I have an antenna for air tv channels. TV signal is good and clear. The closest gas station is 10 miles. There is a Dollar General store for basic stuff. If you need something, that's about 5 miles.

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.

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

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Regards

James

Bastrop State Park has excellent facilities including hot showers, indoor sinks and toilets in modern, clean, and well maintained facilities, managed trails, and a pool! It can be a little noisy around the campground, and there is road noise as well from the highway. It's not really a "Nature Experience" but it is easy, clean, and fun. If you are a hardened backpacker you might want to go to a county park, but if you want to introduce your kids or partner to camping, this is the spot.

You can reserve a campsite online, but plan ahead! They sell out. Also, if you are going during the summer months, beware! Texas heat in the summer can be dangerous. Best months are spring and fall.

We had no problem finding this interesting state park as our RV GPS took us right to the gate and we had been to this campground (CG) two years ago. This time, we knew better than to park at the office's stop sign to register, which is where most CGs have you stop when registering. There’s a sign that says not to park there but to pull forward. Last time we, didn't read the stop sign and got our butt chewed by a park ranger. As we are disabled veterans, we also got new Texas State Park passes, so we did not have to pay the additional$5 per person state park entry fee on top of the camping fee. You do not have to be a Texas resident but you need to be at least 60 percent service disabled. The same very nice and knowledgeable lady from last time checked us in and we proceeded to pull through site 17 with FHUs, but only 30 AMP. The utilities are placed centered on the site, which is nice. The water pressure here is on the low side at around 30-35 psi. The sites are nearby, but the spacious yard has a cement patio, picnic table, and fire pit. We had no problem getting our 40’ 5th wheel in the site but had to park our F450 at an angle in front of the rig. We got 2 bars on Verizon and were able to place our Starlink to get a shot of the northern sky. There are a lot of mature trees in this CG, so the satellite is going to depend on the site. As we checked in, we were told several trails had opened back up as the area was recovering from heavy rain and flooding. The golf course, now private, had opened back up as well, but there was still a lot of water on the course when we were there in February.

We stayed at Stephen F Austin State Park in Texas in early May 2018. We went as a family with 3 kids (3yrs, 5yrs & 7yrs old).

We had a screen shelter that was powered and had a light. It was a great spot with close access to the showers and toilets (we were shelter number 1).

The walking trails we nicely kept. Some were closed but still able to go for a decent walk around the ones that were open. We saw deer grazing in the long grass and early evening the fireflies came out which was so lovely and relaxing to watch.

Park hosts and volunteers was all very friendly and helpful too. One had a hummingbird feeder set up and we saw a hummingbird feeding.

The playground was very basic - 4 swings and a sandbox only.

We will definitely be going back again as if is only a 1 hour drive from Houston.

Got to the park around 2:00 PM and pulled up to the stop sign in the second lane to use the bathroom and check in. Found out from a not-so-kind park ranger that we could not park and loiter at the front of the office building. There was a sign to that effect that we missed as most state parks have you park in front of the check in office and there wasn't really anywhere else to park with our 39' fifth wheel in tow. Check in was alright, but there was confusion concerning our Texas State Park passes for Disabled Veterans, which we both received a few years ago at another Texas State Park. For our stay here, only one person's pass was accepted and that pass was good for 1.5 people. Another employee thought we should each be covered with our passes and tried to add the additional pass in the system, but since we were camping, versus day use in a car, we could only use one. So, we had to pay$7.50 park pass for our 3 nites stay. Then she had to show the young man checking us in the rule book that showed we were entitled to the pass even though we were non-residents. This is the first time our passes weren't accepted to cover us both. After that we headed to pull through site 21 with FHUs but only 30 AMP. The wood posts and trees in this site determine how/where you park your rig. We needed our 15’ sewer hose and used a donut as there’s no screw in for the sewer connection. Water pressure was okay at around 40 psi. We got quite a few OTA channels and 3 bars on Verizon having no problem with internet and making calls using our MiFi. Most of the sites here are very spacious and well laid out so your neighbors are not close to you. Site 21 is one of the most spacious and we had no problem fitting our 39’ 5th wheel and F-450 on the pad. The restrooms/shower house in the RV area was clean and there was ice for sale at that location. What we really enjoyed about this park was the abundant hiking trails that interweave with each other. We thought the golf course in the park would be open, but it had been sold to a private owner and would hopefully open to the public in a month or so. The camp hosts were very friendly and helpful. Overall, we enjoyed our 3 night’s stay.

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.

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.

This campground is located a short distance away from the city of Austin, Texas. The park is managed by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). At the entrance there is an office where you can pay your admission fee and it has a small store where you can pick up supplies. If you arrive late, there is an after hour station to pay your fee which accepts cash or a credit card.

This park has car and RV campsites. There are no primitive sites. There is a campground called the Lake Bastrop North Shore Park located 15 minutes away with primitive sites.

The campsites are all very similar. There is an area to park your car and it will fit a small or midsize RV. There are water and electrical hook-ups which make it very convenient. There are typically plenty of trees for shade. Each site has a picnic table for dining, a grill for outdoor cooking, a pole to hang food or trash and there is a fire ring for a campfire. Of course they also have pad sites where you can place a tent. The pad sites will fit anywhere from a two man tent up to an eight man tent. In addition to the campsites there are a number of small cabins which can hold up to four people. The cabins have some basic amenities and the restrooms are nearby. Most of the campsites and cabins are only a short walk to the lake shore where you can catch a sweet view of Lake Bastrop.

There is limited hiking with one trail that runs along the lakeshore for about 6 miles. The main attraction of this park is living the lake life. Near the campsites one can launch a canoe or kayak. But there is also a boat ramp and boat dock where you can launch larger sized watercraft. If you don’t have your own watercraft you can rent a canoe or kayak from the office and pick it up near the boat dock. It is possible to fish from a boat or the shore. There are a number of community spaces which are great for picnicking. There is a sand volleyball court. And there’s a special area of the lake that has been roped-off and is designated for swimming.

I think that the only possible downside about this park might be that there are always lots of families and energetic kids running around. If you’re seeking peace and quiet this might not be your place. If you are seeking some fun activities, this place is great.

I think that the Lake Bastrop South Shore Park is a 5 star campground for all of the facilities, amenities and considering that the staff are friendly.

I took a trip here with my husband, our son (3yo), my sister-in-law, her husband, their daughter(1yo), and a total of 4 dogs! We had an absolute blast! Since we live in Houston and my sister-in law lives in Corpus Christi, TX we all wanted to get out of the city and just enjoy nature. So glad we chose to camp here. We stayed for a total of 4 nights in tents! My husband and I got there first and the park ranger said we were the first to check in, so we could choose the site we wanted. We wanted a site fairly close to the bathrooms because of the kiddos, one big enough to fit us all, and also one with a lot of shade because it was hella hot! We chose site 72 and it worked really well. Just be aware if your going with a group, the big sites do not have much shade.

We decided to do a bit of hiking with the kids and this place was perfect for a family trip.The trails were beautiful and easy to get through (marked well) with all of us and the staff was helpful and kind enough to let us know which ones were closed (aftermath of Hurricane Harvey). Most of the trails were short (less than a mile), so if you are looking for a place for moderate or extreme hiking, it is not here, but for the kids, these were perfect! Obviously in Texas the land is pretty flat in most places, so there wasn't much incline at all. We were able to go on every trail with rest and snacks in between for little ones. There is also fishing, but because of Harvey everything was still in clean up mode. Being from Houston, we definitely understood that it would take some time to get everything going again. It seemed like Hurricane Harvey turned the outermost trails/ longest trails into a big creek bed. It literally just washed everything out.

The facilities were old, but very well taken care of and clean! Very few bathrooms and showers, so if you are going during peak season be aware you could be waiting in line (especially the girls restroom/showers). During our stay there were many Boy Scout groups camping and many others, but thankfully I am an early riser, and got to the showers by 6 AM with no wait! Also if you have kids or a small bladder get a site close to the bathrooms otherwise it could be little walk from one of the other sites because of the way they are spaced out.

The campsites were very clean and we watched a few times as people left that the rangers would come out and clean them immediately! Also firewood is for sale on site and it not expensive. We had to go back twice to get wood and the lady who was there was so sweet and gave us extra just in case for no extra cost.There is a fire-pit with a grill rack at ever site which is helpful. We brought some foil to just put over the rack to cook burgers and it worked well! They have RV campsite, Water-only campsites, walk-in sites, group sites, and I believe screened group shelters for youth camps and such.

This state park is a great little place! We have a state park pass so we try to visit as many as possible and obviously our entry fee is free, but we enjoy the history and education they provide as well. This park is only 30 miles from Houston and about 8 miles from a Bucee's (worlds best gas station) in case you need any supplies or gas. We will definitely come back to this one!