Kickapoo Cavern State Park Campground

Very nice small campground in a fairly remote state park. The park opens Friday morning and closes Monday morning. The campground is very clean, quiet and appeared well maintained. The park staff were really nice. There are some campsites with electric and water and can accommodate an RV or camper. The rest are for tents only and just have water. Shade is sparse and it is VERY hot in the summer months. It was also very windy while we were there. There is no cell service, however the park headquarters building has wifi you can access for free and the range was pretty good. Caves in the park are home to large numbers of bats, and watching them exit in the evenings and fly back at dawn is quite a sight. There is also a really nice bird blind where staff set up a little recirculating creek to attract lots of birds. I saw several species of birds I had never seen before. The main reason we traveled here was for the very dark skies at night for star gazing and astrophotography. Unfortunately it was cloudy at night except for two hours one evening. I would like to come back but would only do it during the colder months as we were tent camping and the daytime temperatures were high 90’s F.

Preface - I am reviewing from the perspective of a tent camper.  Photos really don't really capture what three days and two nights are like at a relatively large but isolated State Park. With only 15 tent sites it is sort of special. Almost like a neighborhood with everyone sharing experiences and suggestions for a good time. My grandson should be applauded for spending a weekend with an old and slow guy. After climbing to the peak of Armadillo Lookout Grandpa needed a nap. he then went on with a group to explore an undeveloped cavern. When he returned three hours later He convinced me to climb the Seargeant Memorial Trailhead and experience the"vista." Not sure what we ate for dinner but then left to watch the bats emerge from the Stuart Bat Cave for a second time. Kickapoo is a great park with all of the amenities including very clean showers and restroom facilities. It is really for hikers and those that want to see the bats emerge and explore an old cavern. Camp tent sites are well spaced and have everything except electricity. Nobody seemed to mind. Met some really nice families enjoying the outdoor

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.