Choke Canyon State Park Campground

Just took a chance on this state park hoping we'd like it as it is a bit isolated. The park exceeded our expectations. Bring plenty of supplies as it is a fair distance to the nearest store. Quite a selection of birds here during migration, we were there in early December. Decent cycling and walking trails. We would definitely camp here again if we are in the area.

Bought the Texas State parks annual pass for $70. for the year otherwise the daily cost is $5. per person more.

This was just a one night stop over but we could have stayed longer.

Sites are water and electric and there is a dump at the entrance.

Backed into our 50' site and enjoyed the view of the lake. In the middle of the campground were deer and javelina.

Plenty of space between sites. Very peaceful and relaxing (mid week in November).

Per night reflects 12 Month Texas Park Pass.

Calliham Unit offers a variety of site types – water/electric sites, tent sites and screened shelters. Sites have a covered picnic table, fire ring and are level and paved. All the sites were very spacious, many with trees although not much vegetation between sites for privacy. Bathroom/shower facilities were ok, although the showers could use some attention and an update.

The day use area is large with sports courts, a gymnasium, boat dock and picnic shelters. The system of nature trails can be accessed from the campground. We loved the birds – saw several varieties that were new to us. A fenced “bird sanctuary” allows for discreet viewing and photography.

We stayed just one night at Calliham Unit, but there was plenty here to keep us busy for a few more days.

We had 2 bars of Verizon 4G unboosted, 4 bars boosted.

Site 133 was on a corner over looking the lake. Pavillion was on the left (pretty far away) and there was not a site the right. Great place to walk the dogs and saw a lot of deer.

We stopped for the night and had a nice walk along the mowed and blacktopped paths. We saw deer, eagles, vaulters, cranes, a warbler, and lots of LGBs.
The spots were easy to get into, and the facilities fine for a stop over or longer stay.

The best campground, by many measures, I have used, or at least top 5. Many sites on water. Sites are huge with shelter houses, water and electricity. There are also tent sites. Our price paid was higher as non-residents of Texas. Nice breeze, sunset over lake, exotic birds like the Green Jay, peaceful, quiet and empty during our visit, although upcoming weekend was reported a full. Birding trails abound, and a bird feeding enclosure with view ports was great as that's where we saw our first Green Jays. Deer around in mornings, There i also a major boat ramp onto the adjacent large reservoir. Fishing, boating. My only criticism is of the lack of care in operation and maintenance of the bird feeding "sanctuary." There was no seed in the feeders and the water features were not operating. Kind of run down looking. We would have donated to help them buy food. Still a beautiful park with pleasant park staff. Way out in the south Texas countryside.

Choke Canyon State Park is a large park with tent camping, RV camping, and group camping. The RV sites with water and electric were $22, tent sites were $12, and group sites range from $35 to $125. This campground has a gymnasium that can be rented for $300 per day.

The reason we didn't give this park 5 stars is the park is home to alligators. We saw a head of one that had been found in the park. The gator had gone through a lot of decay, but rangers estimated its length to be between 13' and 15'.

The facilities were extremely clean when we were there in late March, 2019. It is a quiet park with spacious sites.

Here is a video of our time at this park: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84MDln0Y3UQ

First experience for us in a Texas state park. Thought it was spacious with large sites that are easy to back into.

Each site had a picnic table with shelter and shade wall facing west. Most sites were not shaded so summer time stays will require an air conditioner or some other means to stay cool.

We saw regular ranger and park police patrols. There are warning signs about alligators in the park but we did not see any. We did see a number of deer and, oddly enough, wild pigs. So definitely keep the puppies on a leash!

This was just a couple of days between 2 places, didn't expect much when driving down, but was pleased when we got settled. Spaces are well laid out with plenty of room, easy to get into and relatively level. There is easy access to the water from most spots and fishing was good, so we heard. And then there is the wildlife....we saw at least 6 bucks, 4 spikes and too many does to count. Birds galore, several different species with lots of color and personality. There are 2 loops for RV's with w/e (50amp), covered picnic tables and room for slides and awnings. There is also a tent only area, shelter area and lots of opportunity for day use picnic and fishing. There are several nature trails to walk and explore.
There are a number of restroom buildings throughout the park, the one i know of is the rv loop and it has showers. The facilities are a little older but are clean and functional with plenty of hot water for showers.
We had a great time and will add this to our list of winter camping.