Best Cabin Camping near Willow City, TX

Pace Bend is one of my most favorite places to camp in Texas.

Not far from the old (and new!) Backyard (a great place to see live music in the live oak capital of Texas), Pace Bend is a quick drive away. A perfect spot to pitch a bunch of tents, jump off cliffs, swim and barbeque. Maybe 45 minutes from downtown Austin (without traffic).

I won't lie the cliff diving kinda freaks me out. Be careful is all I'm saying!

There are several primitive campsites throughout the park with picnic tables, grills and toilets. Additionally there are 20 RV hook-up type sites that offer running water, electricity, restrooms and showers.

Pros:

• Very small park

• Great view of the lake as trees/shrubs are minimal

• Clean campsite except for the trash in the fire pit

• Most sites had 2 sewer hookups.

• Most sites had a nice distance from neighbor sites.

• Crushed granite surrounds the site parking pad so no muddy mess after rain

• Lantern pole, BBQ grill, fire pit with grilling grate and wooden picnic table at each site.

• Extremely clean restrooms/shower facility.

• Heated restrooms/shower facility(we camped the week after Christmas).

• Restroom/shower facility sink had hot water and soap dispenser

• Mini golf course in the park.

• 2 bar signal AT&T

Cons:

• With reservations made 153 days prior to arriving for our 4-night stay, we encountered confusion by a rude check-in clerk who told us to come back at 3 pm (it was then 230pm and we could clearly see our campsite was vacant). Since the entry lane was down to one lane, we tied up traffic for nearly 20 minutes until the check-in clerk finally realized that we were camping and not checking in for their cabins. I’m not sure why she didn’t see our truck and 28 ft bumper pull trailer.

•$6 fee to reserve on-line.

• No mention on the park website there was a burn ban in effect, so no ground fires permitted, not even for cooking.

• No site privacy due to minimal trees/brush throughout the park.

• Campsite BBQ grill and fire pit were next to each other, so it would have been difficult to gather around the fire pit.

• Good condition asphalt site parking pad was uneven side-to-side as we noticed nearly all sites in that condition with all requiring leveling.

• NOT A DARK SKY FRIENDLY CAMPGROUND! Numerous street lights throughout this camping loop and unfortunately we had one directly across from our site#11 which lit up our site like daylight! Who camps under a street light???

• Non-stop highway noise, even throughout the night, from Texas 261.

• Doors on toilet stalls were only 5 feet tall.

• Lots of large roadway speed bumps.

• No hiking trails.

• No park WIFI 

We used Black Rock as our “jumping off point” for various Hill Country Holiday Light displays, which worked out very well. Kingsland is closer to the park than Burnet where there is a HEB, Ace Hardware, Dairy Queen and local restaurants. Closest Walmart to Black Rock is in Marble Falls, along with a HEB.

Inks Lake SP

Visited with many friends here. BIG campground! I like how you have easy access to the lake from many of the camp sites. There’s also a boat ramp near the camp store with rentals available. The showerhouses were VERY nice! Modern, well maintained and HEATED! Yeah! There were a few showers that needed some adjustments, cold water only. Nice group picnic area near the cabins and the playground with food truck (wasn’t open when we visited). The Rangers had an interesting Cowboy Coffee demonstration there. The sites were separated into several loops, most convenient to the several different showerhouses. Some of the sites were more secluded then others but all were good size with picnic table and room for tents and possibly hammocks. Near the front gate/Ranger office there is an amphitheater for demonstrations/presentations and near the camp store there was a nice, covered picnic pavilion by reservation. Burnet, TX and Longhorn Cavern State Park are nearby.

I'm always on the lookout for new campgrounds nearby my town. It's nice to have a few places to escape to for a quick day or weekend trip. I searched on thedyrt.com for campgrounds nearby and noticed a group of listings near Lake Travis in an area called Hudson Bend. I decided to check them out.

If you are looking for a short, mid or long-term place to RV camp or cabin camp near Lake Travis on the Hudson Bend penisula this might be your best option.

The facilities are modern, clean and offer many amenities. And the people that I talked to that were staying at the park seemed to be friendly and happy with their choice of facilities.

At the entrance there is an office that is open during typical business hours 9-5. Next to the office there was a small pool and courtyard. And next to the pool was a group meeting room.

The park offered a variety of options from short, mid and long-term stays. One gentleman that I met and talked to said that he was a snowbird and had stayed at the park for the past four years every summer. This appeared to be the norm.

There are RV sites that offer back-in parking and drive-through parking. There are also little multi-color cabins that can be rented. The grounds looked like they were well taken care of. There was some open green space and what appeared to be a fenced dog walking area. Each of the RV sites offered a picnic table and electric and water hookups.

The only downside to this RV park was that it was not located directly on the shore of the lake. To access the lake one must drive down the road and visit the marina. Also, the park is rather large, so some might feel there is a lack of privacy. I wouldn't say that this park has great access to nature, it is more of a modern RV park.

Overall, if you're a mid to long term vacationer you might really enjoy this site. If you're looking for access to nature, you might look elsewhere.

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.