Best Glamping near Uvalde, TX

This park is a great escape to disconnect, view the DARK SKY and witness Mexican free-tailed bat emergence! Park campground is 25 miles after the turn off of US90. We stayed Friday and Saturday nights in mid-March. Few bats emerged during our stay; much better emergence in April as experienced in previous visits to Stuart Cave. 

Pros:

• Excellent DARK SKY campground

• Stuart Cave bat emergence nightly from a very nice viewing deck

• Small park

• Extremely quiet park during March Spring Break

• Good campsite privacy due to good brush coverage

• Most sites had a nice distance from neighbor sites

• Clean campsite

• Picnic table in good condition, especially eating surface

• Our site had aluminum picnic table on a concrete slab under a metal shelter; not all sites had metal shelter

• Clean restroom/shower facility

•  Campsite hook-ups in good condition.

• Level gravel campsite.  

• Pedestal BBQ grill, fire pit with grilling grate, double hook lantern pole and aluminum picnic table at each site.   

• Park roadways in good condition. 

• Park Ranger patrolled campground numerous times throughout day/evening 

Cons:

• No AT&T signal; no park WIFI, so completely without phone service and no public phone available for emergerncies. Had to drive outside of Park about 3 miles for AT&T signal.

• County burn ban prohibited wood campfires and ban posted on Park’s website. Park Ranger stopped by our campsite to tell us to put out our campfire, but we showed him it was a propane firebowl.

• Limited shade in campsites

• Must pack out all personally generated trash. Absolutely NO dumpsters; no garbage cans in park

• No campground host

•.  No entrance gate locked at night

• One and only restroom used by entire Park, so campers and day users. Women’s restroom had 2 toilets, 2 sinks and one shower stall

• Women’s restroom lacked consistent supply of TP and wall dispenser soap• Wildlife sightings limited to squirrels and armadillos

• No park store, so come prepared with all necessary supplies as Brackettville is closest small town which is 25 miles away with only a grocery store and couple fuel stations. Ulvade and Del Rio have the typical box stores.

A very nice & well kept camp ground. This place has wonderful amenities for campers of all types. They have tent sites close to the water with electric, water, picnic tables and grills at what looks like every tent site. There are multiple gate ways leading into the beautiful Nueces river bed where you can explore, fish and swim in the crystal clear cool water. The cabins are beautiful, clean and thoughtfully placed. There are well placed and easy to pull through RV sites that look like they'll fit even the biggest rigs.They also have a driving range for golfers, a very nice pool area with splash pad, separate mens and womens bath houses/bathrooms, pavilions and even a laundry mat! There are also multiple play areas, volley ball court, basketball courts, and thoughtfully placed hanging porch swing type swings to sit and enjoy the views in. All very clean and well kept. I thoroughly enjoyed my tent stay and plan on coming back on a regular basis. Love this place.

Everyone loves Lost Maples State Natural Area, whether you are a RV camper, car camper, backcountry camper or just visiting for the day and day hiking. There's a little something for everyone. 

Perhaps the best time of the year to visit Lost Maples is in the Autumn when the fall foliage is occurring - it is often during the first three weeks of November. However, during fall foliage it can be very difficult to reserve a campsite, so I recommend booking a campsite 6 months in advance. Or do what I did and show up on a really cold weekday when no one else is interested in being outside in 25 degree weather and there will be plenty of space to car camp or backcountry camp.

If you camp at the established drive-up campground there are assigned campsites with space for cars, vans and RVs. At each campsite there is a sunshade shelter, picnic table, lantern pole, water, electricity and campfire pit with a grill. There is also a restroom nearby with sinks, toilets, showers and a water fountain. There is even a little free library where you can take a book to read or leave a book to share. 

If you camp in the backcountry there are designated and marked zones where you just set up your tent. There are no facilities in the backcountry campsites so leave no trace practices should be applied. Near some of the backcountry campsites there are latrines.

The park has well maintained hiking trails that will lead you by pastures, through forest, alongside creeks and up some hills. It is possible to hike the 8 to 10 miles of trails in one day, but it is more fun to go slow and enjoy the sights. There is an East Trail Loop and a West Trail Loop and some spur trails. Pick up a map at the Ranger Station and enjoy the trails. Some of the trails have steep rock ascents which are indicated on the park map.

If you need supplies there is a small store with basics in the nearby town of Vanderpool.

While you are in the area, you may as well stop by Bandera, Texas known as the cowboy capital of the world. It is a small Texas town and every weekend they celebrate cowboy culture with some performances and events.

My wife and I had never been camping together. Why not roll the dice and go on an adventure for our 5 year anniversary? We really wanted to be far from everything we knew, we wanted it to be beautiful, we wanted to get away from the city and close to the stars, we found “the camping spot”.

Ms. Donna is as honest and good hearted as they make here in Texas, she was super helpful from the start! We never had a problem! She has a truly unique piece of property for primitive camping chocked so full of wildlife we could hear the deer breathing next to our tent as the sun was coming up!

There are a couple short nature walks through her acreage that let you cut through the thicket. There is ample shade underneath some of the biggest oak trees in the area!

It’s a short distance to the Nueces River which will completely blow you away. I thought the Frio River had the bluest water and whitest limestone until Donna showed us the small private river access point where it’s deep enough to swim. Spring can’t get here fast enough.

I wouldn’t recommend driving a car out there, you’re going to need some clearance getting through rugged dirt roads, for the most part it’s very groomed.

We spent 4 days/4 nights there, if you can get there during the week, it’s as quiet and tranquil as you can dream up. Weekends naturally have a bit more “traffic” as it’s a semi popular area for the weekend warrior getting away with the family. Met the neighbors as our dogs roamed freely and stumbled upon their dogs, all were very friendly.

Not for the unprepared, town is not close!

I can’t recommend this place enough if you’re looking for that real private camping experience where it feels like you can see the far side of the moon at night. (Was awesome listening to the mountain lions screech and the coyotes howl)

This place has gone unnoticed for too long. It’s one of those places you’d like to be selfish with and keep quiet but more need to experience ALL this place has to offer!

This was our second trip to this park. The river is beautiful, and the hill country backdrop is gorgeous. We stayed in a cabin this time, #16. It was comfortable and we liked our space. We were in walking distance of the park store and the river.

The hiking here is fantastic. Must of the hikes include elevation changes and rocky ground, so I would call them moderately difficult. There is one easy hike for those who prefer that. Trails are well marked and intersect, so you can choose your adventure.

There are some stores and restaurants in Leakey, Concan, and Uvalde if you need to get out, but the area is very rural. Many of the places in Concan and Leakey close early.

If you like a party atmosphere, go during the summer months. Keep in mind lines get long to get in, and the park may close to new entrants. We prefer to go right before memorial day or after labor day. It's still warm enough to enjoy the river, and we've had no problem finding a spot to relax.

One caveat (and the reason for knocking off a star), the water is the park is terrible. Do not expect to use water for cooking or drinking. We went thinking we'd use the water in the cabin but could hardly take a shower in it much less drink it. Otherwise, this park is amazing.

Garner State park is a fantastic State park located just west of San Antonio. When we went it was a bit chilly but perfect weather for camping. We were able to get a great campfire going and enjoy being out under the stars. We did quite a bit of hiking and Geocaching. I believe there was also water activities like fishing and swimming available, but we did not do that this trip.

Pros:

Loads of amenities. Showers, Restrooms, MiniGolf, Dances, Cabins, Open Areas!

Loads of amazing Trails. Some of my favorites so far with hugely varied terrain levels.

Shockingly good food truck

Loads of sovereign shops (Could be a con for some)

Lots of awesome and unique geocaches.

No Cell service so we were forced to unplug

Cons:

Checking in Sucked. It took almost 3 hours and was pitch black by the time we finally were given our reserved campsite.

No Cell Service making Geocaching tough but do-able.