Campground Review

This Texas State Park is just a short 15 minute drive from downtown Austin. It is only a 5 minute drive from the Austin airport. The close vicinity to the city does mean that this park has a constant flow of visitors. In the summer it is extremely busy with day visitors, weekend campers and long-term campers. In the winter it is moderately busy. The park has lots of forest trails to hike as well as some interesting rock formations around the creek and water holes. The most noted feature of the park is definitely the Upper and Lower Falls.

This park has a variety of facilities including cabins, RV sites, tent sites and group sites.

There are water, electricity and restrooms with flush toilets and sinks near all the campsites. At the premium campsites there are all of these amenities plus showers. This park is great for swimming, fishing, hiking and bicycling.

You might see deer, raccoons, armadillos and occasionally snakes. All of the wildlife should be left undisturbed. Except for the fish. Fishing is allowed in the park and one will not need a state fishing license when fishing within the park.

This is a very family friendly and well-managed park with the only downside being that the park is often very busy with visitors.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - today I am testing the RoM Outdoors Backpack.

The RoM Pack (pronounced "Roam") is a backpack, blanket and poncho all in one piece of gear. It is made of heavy duty 600D fabric which is water-resistant and appears to be very durable. The total volume of the pack is about 3000 cu. in. Their slogan is, "Let Adventure Unfold". The unique feature of this pack is that the backpack unfolds into a blanket. In addition, it can be unfolded into a poncho.

While I tend to use ultralight gear when I'm hiking or backpacking, I found this pack useful for fly fishing. I was able to carry my boots, waders, hammock, rod, reel, net and fishing tackle nicely. Once I reached my destination, I unfolded it to use as blanket. See the demonstration video. While I had good sunny weather, I could foresee using this piece of gear as a poncho if a thunderstorm were to roll in and I wanted to wait out the storm.

The Pros:

Unique multiuse design

Heavy duty water-resistant material

The blanket material is soft

When used as a poncho, it is also insulating.

Multiple pockets (2 removable pockets) with Molly straps

Designed and Made in the USA

The Cons:

Heavy in comparison to other backpacks

Straps and pockets somewhat obstruct use while using it as a poncho

Water bottle pockets could be larger to accommodate various sizes

For more info:

https://romoutdoors.com/product/rom-pack/