South Llano River State Park Campground

Another Beautiful State Park with the South LLano River rolling through.   
The camp is well kept with clean bathrooms and showers, as expected with a state park. 

Lots of trees for shade, and even pre cut firewood available for donation (which is awesome). There is even a Turkey roost, whatever that is! 

The River is accessible via some stairs, or just hiking down.

State Park with a River? Yes Please!

Rent a tube at the headquarters and float the river. Get out and hike back to the start. Never gets old on a hot day to sit in the spring fed waters. You can kayak to town. Coordinate your own shuttle. Lots of backcountry hiking. Not the most exciting terrain, but it gets the heart going to do the hills. Bring plenty of water with you back there.

Tubing

**Camp Site Review:**

The camp sites at South Llano River State Park are pretty good. Each has a cover over the picnic table and the cover has shelves! There is also water and power at each camp site. The driveways are long and able to fit a large car/truck/van and a trailer. The campsites range from grassy to rocky.

The bathrooms are kept clean and have showers and hand soap.

For things to do, there are a bunch of hiking trails you can do, which range from fairly easy to moderate. There is a small lake to fish in, a river to fish or float in, blinds to watch birds, and it is in a prime spot for butterfly migration.

At the Park HQ, you are able to rent tubes to float the river, buy souvenirs, and learn about birding in the area. There is also a small grave yard from settlers near by. The Rangers also put on activities like showing skulls and animal skins, nature walks, and bird talks.

Over all, it is a nice place to spend the weekend.

**Gear Review:**

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I sometimes get items to review. For this review, I received the [MH10 headlamp from Ledlenser](http://www.ledlenserusa.com/mh10-880385.html).

When I got it out of the box, my initial thoughts were that it looked pretty cool. I also loved that it was rechargeable via USB. It also came with a travel pouch, a red lens, a green lens, and an adapter to put the lenses on. A downside I found was that I wasn't really able to fit the headlamp, lenses, and adapter into the travel case. I also didn't like that there wasn't a spot to store the lenses when not in use. I feel they could get lost easily.

When dark came to South Llano River, I turned on the MH10 and wow was it bright! It lit up the who camp and when I pointed it into the sky, it was just missing a bat and I could have been in Gotham.

The MH10 has three levels of brightness and I typically used it on the lowest setting when around other people. When by myself, I had it on the highest setting so I could see more clearly.

You can also twist the lens of the MH10 to focus the light more. It gets a little hot when you leave it on for awhile, but there is a warning label and hasn't gotten hot enough to really hurt.

The coloured lenses worked well enough on the MH10, but I found it difficult to get them on without feeling like I was going to break them. It could be my inexperience with them though.

I was unable to get any clear photos of the MH10 working in the dark.

All in all, I enjoyed the [MH10 headlamp from Ledlenser](http://www.ledlenserusa.com/mh10-880385.html) and I think it is a great headlamp for going camping.

Ranger Review: MH10 headlamp from Ledlenser at South Llano River State Park

Several options on campsites here. Sites with water and electricity, walk in sites and primitive hike in sites.

Even though we were tent camping we grabbed a site with water and electricity. All sites that we saw had covered areas that had picnic tables. Level site to set up our tent. A bit rocky but nothing horrible.

The options for hiking were pretty nice and wildlife was heard and see all over during our night stay. Everything from armadillos to wild hogs that we heard off in the distance. Hares and tons of different birds to check out. They even offer bird blind areas for the enthusiastic birdwatchers.

A few trails were closed off during our visit for the wild turkeys.

Folks in the park office were extremely knowledgeable and eager to offer suggestions and ideas as we were road tripping through TX.

Covered picnic tables at each site!

South Llano is a little out of the way for most but well worth the trip. It hosts birding, turkey habitats and an abundance of deer- and that’s just the tip of the iceberg in regards to wildlife. It has extensive hiking trails and lots of ranger led programs. It’s located on the South Llano so swimming is a must and a joy. Hiiiiighly recommend!

Gets better every time we go! 

Resting stop

We camped here in October. It was during turkey roosting time so parts of the park were off limits at certain hours. It was easy to plan around that and have a great time. I would say this park is a hidden gem. shhhhhh!!!  The river is fantastic and my son had a great time fly fishing. The lake was great for fishIng too.  We rode the bike trails. Great trails for all levels of riders. Deer visited during the early and late hours and a cool stick bug liked our  tent. We saw a few turkeys too.  Great place! 

Llazy Llano

The camp ground was very clean! There’s plenty of wildlife (wake up with deer near your tent or find the turkeys roosting or even a roadrunner running past) this park has some great bike trails or hiking trails for plenty of great trails and amazing views I can’t wait to go back! There’s even some water you can find to swim in!

Awesome spot! 

I Really liked this little river, if you have your own tubes you could go down the river, it’s not too long but people say it takes 45 minutes to an hour, obviously depending on if the water level.

Nice little river.

Have stayed at this campground twice on cross country drives. Really lovely since it's close enough to the 10 not add to much time to your drive, but far enough that it's quiet and in nature.

  

23 degrees overnight in December was not my favorite as a CA/FL person, but beautiful sunsets and lots of armadillos around.

Nice stopover if you're driving on the 10

We arrived after close of business and dark.   The camp sites are clearly marked.  In the morning try e park staff were super friendly.   Would definitely stay here again. 

Very quiet and pretty place

This might have been our favorite state park in the Hill Country of Texas, offering the perfect combination of good campsites, great hiking and biking trails, and opportunities to enjoy wildlife. It did not have good Verizon phone service, which is not necessarily a bad thing. 

  

The campground uses its space very efficiently while still giving each campsite some modicum of privacy. In addition, there were walk-in sites for more primitive seekers and a few backpacking sites off the trail system. The shelter over each picnic table is a nice touch, unexpected for a campground only costing $20/ night. The bathrooms were clean, and both the water pressure and temperature were excellent. The camp hosts do an excellent job keeping a very nice campground. The water and dump station are easily accessed on the way into or out of the campground. 

  

Hiking opportunities begin right from the campground, and offer a wide range of effort and ability levels. Most of the trails are two-tracks so the uphill portions can be short and steep. The wildlife in this park range from wild turkeys to a host of seasonal migrant bird species. The park maintains several of the most luxurious bird blinds with stocked feeders so that you can enjoy many different species all in one place. We added a few new birds to our list. During the winter months, a large section of the park is closed after 3pm to accommodate the turkey roosting habits. We also saw dozens of feral pigs wandering the backcountry along with both Axis and White-Tail deer, and plenty of Armadillos. Fishing along the banks of the Llano River is also a popular activity, as is tubing during the warmer months. 

  

The nearby town of Junction has a medium sized grocery store, lots of gas stations and a few restaurants, most of which are bundled by the interstate 10 exit. It’s a pretty part of the Texas Hill Country with a very laid-back vibe.

Great Trails, Nice Sites, Cool Wildlife, and VERY Friendly People

We stayed for a quick overnight here, didn't get the opportunity to really explore the park. Nice quiet park to enjoy. The spots are a bit close together, maybe 10 or 15 feet spaced, but the guests surrounding us were respectful and friendly. The restrooms were decent, not your standard pit toilets we've come to expect from state parks further west. They did offer free showers for guests, although nothing to write home about though. Campground hosts were super friendly. They have armadillos all over the campground that are comfortable with humans and not aggressive, which was fun for the family not from Texas. 

Recommend this park to anyone in the area. Looks like a great park if you can spend a full day here or longer. 

Pleasant stay

The river is beautiful and a great spot to camp at. The hiking trails are not covered by much shade at all so do bring extra water! Pretty little park and the near by town has a nice BBQ spot I tried out. The campsites themselves that I stayed at were back-in style with shaded cover area with tables. There is shade coverage walking to the river and around the campsites themselves though. Would definitely recommend a trip here even if to just relax on the river.

Solid Park

I chose to spend a few days at S Llano because of its reputation as a dark sky park. Unfortunately the night sky was clear only one night, but the sky was amazing. I haven’t seen so many stars in 30 years or so. 
The park is large, with all types of camping. Something for everyone. Water and electric sites are most common, but they also have primitive camping that is either drive in or walk in. We stayed in a water/electric site that was near the only bathroom in this section of the park. 
The sites are mostly level, and we were fortunate enough to get a perfectly level concrete parking pad.  All sites in our section had nice picnic tables under patio covers. 
There are some amazing trails to hike, from easy short ones to some steep and difficult ones. This is a birders paradise, with more species of birds here than I ever imagined. There is also a huge wild turkey area, but we did not see any.   You can swim and tube in the Llano River, and they rent tubes in the office.   You can also fish here without a license   
This is my favorite Texas State park so far, and I want to make a return visit and stay a week or more. 

Awesome Dark Sky Park

This is a wonderful campground the plenty of trails for hiking and biking. The Llano river offers opportunities for kayaking &amp; tube floating. The campsites are shaded and not on top of each other.  Restroom and shower facilities where clean and well kept.

All of the park personnel were friendly and knowledgeable and easy to find if needed. People were very respectful of the quiet hours.  There are bird blinds that are great for viewing the large variety of Texas birds.

One Of My Favorite Texas Campgrounds- South Llano River State Park


Primative site... reserved 003 but there weren’t any numbers on the site so we just picked one that had trees to hang two hammocks. 

Pros: 
Lots of shade at primative sites
Vault bathroom (maybe that’s a pro? I did not go in there 😬)
You can tube or hang out in the river but there is not very much shade (river is not near primitive sites)
Lots of trails
It’s an International Dark Sky park! 

Cons:
No access to water and it’s 1.5 miles to the parking lot. 
Lots of trees were knocked down blocking the path to some of the primative sites 

Lots of downed trees 

This state park has such a pretty river. You fish, kayak, and swim. The camp sites were clean and spaced out. Good hiking trails. 

River Fun

The standard campsites are spacious, each with a covered picnic table, lantern hook, and fire ring. Lots of armadillos rustle around nearby. We saw plenty of deer and wild hogs as well. There is really nice hiking and good mountain biking. The trails seem to be old ranch roads. The trails away from the river tend to have really steep sections of gravel and rocks that could be challenging on a bike. The park offers multiple bird blinds. Overall a great place to camp with plenty to do!

Spacious sites and great hiking

Nice long back in rv sites. Lot of nice hiking and biking trails.  Enjoyed looking at stars at night. Bathhouse is clean.

Great state park

We've been to this park a few times and it's alway been a nice time. as of this review in March 2022 there is some construction to the entrance road that wasnt a problem for us as the park wasnt very busy. On one of our trips we saw armadillos which was cool

Easy to camp dark sky park.

We stopped here for three nights. Spacious sites, plenty of nearby hiking. 

Park rangers drive by constantly in loud buggies. Makes you feel safe and attended to, but can get annoying.

Great dark sky camping

On a motorcycle road trip with my dad and we decided to spend a night here.  It was a weeknight so there were available sites upon arrival. I’d recommend reserving in advance just in case. I honestly had never even considered staying at this park until we realized it was near. This park has some of the bluest water I’ve ever seen in Texas. The fishing was good and the park is packed full of all sorts of animals. We saw deer, boar, raccoon, and armadillo. Just a heads up, the armadillo are all over at night but they’re not aggressive in case you’re wondering. 