Campground Review: Palo Duro Canyon State Park is approximately 20 miles east of Canyon, TX, which is a moderately populated city that gives you access to fuel and other necessities, if you happen to forget something. We stayed at the Sagebrush Camp Area, which ended up being perfect for our group. As we had the maximum number of people on our campsite, we needed more space for vehicles (which you can see from the photos had two of our roof top tents on them). The reason for our visit was predominately for mountain biking and hiking, and while the hiking was good (not great like Big Bend or multiple place in Colorado), the mountain biking was top shelf. The trails were mostly well maintained single track, offering options for both the new and experienced rider. Tip: At the entrance to the Hackberry Camp Area, there is an entrance/exit to one of the best MB trails in the park. It doesn't appear on the map and runs all the way back to Mack Dick pavilion.

We visited during Memorial Day, and the temperatures were just about perfect. A little warmer than we would have liked during the day, but the temperatures fell rapidly after sunset, which allowed us to sleep comfortably. Tip: If you're not used to West Texas weather, you need to be prepared for the occasional night time wind storm.

Overall, this is a must-do in Texas. I would hands-down recommend Big Bend before Palo Duro, but Palo Duro is 100% worth the trip.

Gear Review: I received the HellaGood Belmont Blanket through TheDyrt.com gear review program, and put it good use during our trip to Palo Duro. After "ordering" the blanket, it was promptly shipped and arrived at my doorstep in just a few days. After opening, you could tell immediately that Belmont was trying to do things a little different. The blanket rolls down to a nice size, comes with a leather retaining strap that can be used to keep the blanket in a storable form, and also has a small riveted hanging strap (perfect!). Once you open the blanket up, you can get a feel for the quality, and type, of fabric that was used. The outer layer is a full shell-type 100% waterproof material, which feels soft to the touch and sturdy, while the liner is a soft fleece. The construction is straight forward and appears to be bombproof.

We ended up using the blanket quite a bit at night around the fire, in our ENO hammock, and in our roof top tent. Around the fire, and in the cool mornings, the blanket was perfect, light and comfortable. In the roof top tent, we used the blanket as an extra layer; starting off with the Belmont Blanket, then adding layers as the night cooled. Where the blanket really shined was in the hammock. Once you got settled in the hammock, you could throw the Belmont Blanket on top of your sleeping bag as a waterproof layer, either for the morning due, or any unannounced showers. My only critique of the blanket is that, due to the materials used to make it waterproof, it feels like you're wearing a giant technical shell. That's not necessarily a bad thing, just a bit different that I'm used to.

Overall, after using, we'll definitely be keeping the Belmont Blanket in the truck. Either as a light blanket, an emergency rain shell, or as an addition to our camping supplies, it makes sense to keep this thing around. If you're interested in the blanket, you can check it out over at the Belmont Blanket website.

Camping here is much like the rest of the park (pretty nice!), but the appeal here is the eastern mountain views and the trail down to the valley floor. Highly recommended.

This was a great site with fantastic access down to the trails along the Rio Grande. You can also walk pretty quickly down to the confluence, which offers some nice views of both gorges. Great facilities!

My wife and I stayed at Mustang Island back in March. The camp area is off the beach behind a dune, and is just a long strip of sites with a bath house towards the entrance. It was surprisingly windy to be behind a dune, but since it's still the beach, that's somewhat expected.

Overall, I was underwhelmed by the park, but since it's only a short ride from downtown Austin, this is a perfect spot to go chill or hike around for a few hours. Most of the trails we were on ran beside the river, in one form or another. Everything was mostly well maintained, sans a few areas. There quite a few people out when we went, as well as a few dogs in the park and in the water. So, if you're looking for peace and quite, this probably isn't the park for you.

My wife and I made the trip out to Pedernales and was pleasantly surprised. Directions were easy to follow, hiking was nice, and river was an awesome place to hang out during the day.

My wife and I visited this campground in May of 2016. Each campsite had a concrete pad and awning. No electricity and only a single bathroom and water spigot in the campground, but since the sites in Wild Rivers aren't very large, access wasn't a big issue. Everything was well maintained and the views were awesome! We were originally trying to stay in the Orilla Verde Area Campsites, but as of early on a Friday morning, those were all full, so we headed up to the Wild Rivers Area, which didn't start to fill up until later in the day. All in all, I think we lucked out!

Back in May, my wife and I made the trip out to West Texas to check out the Guadalupe Mountains. However, when we arrived at 11pm, the park was completely deserted. There didn't appear to be any information available outside the front office or around the campsite. Anyway, we started to set up camp and realized that we could smell smoke. After some deliberation, we decided to pack up and head towards a different park in NM. Upon further investigation, it appeared to be a fire that caused the park closure. No ones fault, but it still sucked getting out there and having to immediately pack up to head out.

My wife and I, along with 3 other couples, reserved one of the group campsites over labor day weekend. It was our first visit out to Big Bend, so we were more than pleasantly surprised when we arrived at the site. Directions to get there were a little confusing, or lacking all together, but once we got there (site P), I think we had one of the best sites in the park. It was located directly across from the bathroom (no showers) and in a perfect position to watch the sunset through the window (where the two sets of peaks come together). The site itself had a water spigot, no electricity, a raised pole grill, three metal picnic tables, a shaded awning over a huge concrete pad, and three steel bear boxes. Our site was directly beside the window trail access point. Also, I'm not sure if this is frowned upon, but at night, if you can position yourself on top of the awning, it is by far the best stargazing you'll ever see. Overall, 10 out of 10. Can't wait to go back.