Bastrop State Park Campground

During this hectic time of year, we often find ourselves all too wrapped up in the foibles of gift givery and the fortunes we might have bestowed upon us once that old fat Santa Claus commits acts of home invasion across the corners of the world which enjoy Coca Cola Classic.

So it's nice to, in this time of greed and holly, find one's self in the throes of a burned down old-growth forest. To bask in the glow of an every night sunset, the buzz of busier-than-it-seems Bastrop's rushing traffic calming the sounds of nature to something more ephemeral while waiting for stars to shoot endlessly through the night sky. Hark! A bald eagle soars over. Two owls call to one another, presumably blind, all through the night, never able to quiet themselves and let the big white trucks of Texas hollar their unmuffled engines into the night.

Trails come in the long, the shorter sizes. A swimming pool seems to taunt you, "Should've been here in the summertime," with its closed sign, though the days in December still ribs the heat of most of the north's August temps.

I plead with the bathrooms to alleviate my agony, they are so clean, stocked with toilet seat liners and not a spec of spiderwebs or peeling paint to leave me certain I've stumbled drunk out of the park and into some maid service academy.

I am humbled by the simple nature of the golf course now left to grow thick with woodlands. The staff of exceptional, delivering the gifts I feel obligated to purchase for those I claim to love directly to our campsite. When our dog escapes, as she often does, three of them return her. They offer to take her home. I accept. But alas, the offer was in jest.

So here I am, happier than a clam that lives with the Joker, still a dog owner and loving every minute of this Texas State Park.

We needed to be somewhat near to Austin but it we arrived after all the snowbirds (and campers like us) had made winter reservations. No, this wasn't the cheapest monthly stay (private campgrounds were around 350-450), but it was available and it was far from a treeless gravel parking lot. The park has had a wildfire in the last decade but the beauty is still there. The campsites on the loop by the playground are pretty darn new and all pull-through. Concrete pads and full 30/50 amp hookup. They are up on a ridge so there is a little of a view. The bathhouse is gorgeous and new. Super clean. The playground equipment is new. There is a pool, fee charged. It wasn't open when we were there. My guess is that it opens the first of May along with most pools in TX. Some of the hikes are close to the camper loop. There are some with pine trees and some without.

There are plenty grocery and restaurant options in the nearby town. This park is practically in town but still felt pulled away from it. Will definitely stay in this park in the future. While some TX state parks look like they have had a lack of funding or updates, this is NOT one of them.

Copperas Campground. She's a doll baby. Tall loblollies sway overhead, a steep embankment makes for the perfect playground (since it's 1.5 miles on a lovely trail on way to the actual playground in the other camping area) and if you snag sites 62, 63 or the last two across from them in this corner, you'll have yourself a campsite larger than most people's yards. Very small spots though as far as RVs go.

We fell in love with the town of Bastrop too, from cutesy Main Street to the arcade/bowling alley/theater. I'm getting old and so maybe that has something to do with it (wisdom might be the word) but I think I prefer the hip pizza joint bars and art gallery cafes of Bastrop to the buzz of always homogenizing Austin (you shoulda seen it ten years ago! hahah) these days.

Did I mention 50¢ per log for firewood? A deal so good I busted my axe over it!

We spent one night here on our way south to Goose Island State Park and really enjoyed this park.
I can only imagine how beautiful this park was before the fire. The site we had was down in the creek bottom and did not suffer too much from the fire and provides a glimpse into the past grandeur of this wonderful park.
Our site was laid out in reverse and by that I mean the water and elect connections were on the door side of our trailer, kinda odd.
Overall the park was clean and very well kept with the exceptions of the road surface where the creek had flooded and washed away some of the pavement and that made for a very rough ride on my scooter.
I have posted videos of our visit on my YouTube channel and they can be seen here...
https://youtu.be/lOcMzCCoGpQ?list=PLV3OUUap8JeAqOISylnZlgWO-TajYlxU-

Solid location with full hook-ups at a very decent rate. Restrooms and showers are spacious and clean. Extensive trail network and playground for the little ones. Friendly staff.

The burn area is a bummer, but hey that's nature. Highway noise is minimum, but still present.

Bastrop is a great little town.

Getting to this state park coming from the east was not a problem at all. Check in was pretty simple and though our reservation was within a particular campsite, the spots were first come first served.

Not all the sites were that level which was too bad. We pulled into 1 and had to move on to another one, but then all was good. We enjoyed the full hookups!

One thing that caught us off guard was the park entry fee in addition to the campsite fee. $5 per adult per night more. Oh well!

The cleanliness was great! The camp hosts did a great job of actually cleaning up individual sites after people checked out.

There was some highway noise, but not too bad.

It took us about 30-40 minutes to get to Austin to the state capitol, so the location was great. We look forward to coming again!

We chose this campground as a stop near Austin on our way out West. We called the day of our arrival and couldn’t reach them at first. But once we did they were super accommodating for our after office hours check in. (If you have trouble reaching them, press “6” during the recording.) We stayed on a Thursday night and were told there would hardly be any other campers. They were right and only one other tent camping couple came to our loop (Deer Run) about an hour after us. We could see a motorhome in the next loop. And there were several cars parked for day activities when we drove up. There were people swimming and a lifeguard still at the pool. We camped in our SUV with an attached tent and didn’t need hookups. Deer Run has the cheapest sites (water only). Most sites in Deer Run are parking spaces with a few feet to walk to the tent site. There are two long pull in spaces in Deer Run. Site 28 is one of those and has a path to the bathroom. The bathrooms have a/c and are very nice. There’s a dishwashing station with outlets. Our only negative comment is there must be a construction site nearby so by 7am we were hearing the loud beeping of machinery and other sounds.

This is a beautiful park with interesting trails and a very helpful staff. We stayed in the Piney Hills section which includes FHU, and all of the sites are concrete pads, pull through, and staged so that you have the most privacy. We probably would have fit into any site in the section, but the rangers allowed us to choose and shared their expertise. The lay of the park shows of someone paying more attention to campers/RVers enjoying their spots then trying to squeeze in as many sites as possible. The sites are well spaced, and each has a fire pit and picnic table. The park was full while we were there, but you wouldn't know it- it was super quiet with little traffic.

Great sites. Super clean modern restrooms. Good trail system. And the town of Bastrop is small but very cute. Good spot if you are traveling through TX.

They have nicely renovated bathrooms and showers and the camp is well laid out with good trails for hiking and would be a good weekend spot. If you do not want road noise in your camps pot this is not the place to stay. It is really close to a busy road.