Guadalupe River State Park Campground

So I have a beef with Texas (pun intended) - $7 per person per night on top of the $24/night campsite fee?? We paid almost as much per night for water, electric and almost no cell phone signal as we did in San Antonio for full hookups, a hot tub, pool, wi-fi, cable, and we were much closer to everything. We aren't RV resort people usually, preferring state/national parks and boondocking, but we are value conscious and this was a very bare bones park for the price and its location. We don't spend enough time in Texas annually to make the park pass worthwhile, and on a rainy, cold winter weekend when we couldn't get out and do any hiking or biking, it was a bit painful to pay for access to all the park grounds when when we weren't using it other than for the campsite.

Anyway...this is a nice little state park and pretty well maintained, though it's a long, bumpy ride off the highway on some poorly paved roads. We didn't use the restrooms, and the dump station was close to all the campsites. It's too far from San Antonio to use as a home base for exploring - about an hour - but there's lots of stores and restaurants a half hour south of the state park, right off route 281 on the far north end of the city.

We were only able to get a usable data cellular signal with a booster, and even then only 3 bars on AT&T and Verizon. We drove the loop at the Turkey Sink area and sites 59 and 61 in the back of the loop had the best signal that we noticed. We didn't try the other loop.

I'm sure in better weather this would have been a great park to explore and play, and in the summer the river activities would make the price of camping + park admission worthwhile, but for just a campsite it wasn't anything special and for the price we'd rather go to a resort next time and at least have some additional amenities and a more central location. We'd come back in nicer weather if we were passing through the area.

I love the Snowmads, but I am going to have to disagree with them. Simply because I was at the park longer then they were (they stopped by to see me) so I was able to experience what it had to offer.

First off, I was able to get 2 bars LTE (unboosted) with both AT&T and Verizon, but I was using my AT&T SIM card in my iPhone as Verizon was definitely spotty at best. There is an AT&T about 5 miles away, near the beginning of the road leading to the park.

Very new water and electric hookups and new tent pads. Rest of the park is a bit worn, but still nice. The river is beautiful, and during the week it was empty. Well, that was until Spring Break, but crowds at that time are to be expected.

There is a decent trail network, and I got in 20 or so miles of hiking while I was here. There is a 6 mile network of trials on the other side of the river. However, I didn't visit as it is about a 30 minute drive to the trailhead and the weather wasn't cooperative when I had the time to make the trip. There is excellent trail markings throughout the park.

For the birders, there is a bird viewing blind that gives you a great view of a feeding area (stocked feeders).

Decent access to San Antonio (45 minutes to an hour away) and there is an excellent HEB (grocery store) and Starbucks 15 minutes away in Bulverde (intersection of 281 and 46).

...and we were asked to leave. But I didn't want to go. So we procrastinated. And then the ranger came around and said we could stay.

We swapped stories about how much better TX state parks are than other states (like CA and WA), and I wholeheartedly agreed.

Like most Texas State Parks, the spots were huge. Decent price for water and electric. Cell service wasn't great but good enough for me to work and us to stream video with few hiccups. Probably helped that aside from two or three campground hosts, we were the only one in the park after the flooding caused the closing of the place for the duration of our stay.

Nearby Boerne was an awfully cute town and we trick or treated there with much success. Talk about candy bars. Go ahead, talk about 'em.

Unfortunately we never got to check out the actual river as it was gated off due to weather. If we had, and it was even remotely cool, I'd have gone 5 stars. And you can put that in your piggy bank and save it.

There are 2 camping loops, Cedar Sage has smaller sites so it's primarily for tent campers. We stayed in Turkey Sink where the sites are nicely spaced with trees that provide some privacy.

We happened to be here during spring break, so there were kids playing in the road making noise until 10p every night. It didn't bother us, since we had the air conditioning on during most of our stay (in March).

Our site is across from an enormous bee hive, and one afternoon, we had 4 bees get in the trailer.

We both used the campground showers during our stay since there wasn't a sewer hookup at our site (though there is water and 30/50 amp electric). The nozzle for the middle shower in the women's bathroom is extremely low, and I found the shower farthest from the entrance to be the most private and had a shower head at a reasonable height, though the water pressure was a little weak. The water was hot and you could control the temperature, 2 wins in my book.

We got 2 free nights because we stayed 14 days, so our price paid reflects that and the fact that we used our Texas State Parks Pass.

The major networks came in on over-the-air HTDV including our favorite CBS (This Morning).

Verizon: DOWNLOAD - 4.26Mb/s UPLOAD - 0.92Mb/s
AT&T: DOWNLOAD - 8.78Mb/s UPLOAD - 2.57Mb/s

Stayed here for 5 days during July 4th weekend. The staff was pleasant. The rangers patrolled constantly, which was good because it was crowded especially on the weekend. Our campground was spacious and shaded. some sites appear to be pretty tight. The hiking trails are pathetic. If you've hiked anywhere else in the Hill Country you would know what I'm talking about. The trails consist of roads for the park staff to access. The restrooms were adequate. not necessarily clean. Now we get to the reason everyone comes here, "the Guadalupe River". It is beautiful, clear, clean, and cool.

I would stay here again if passing through.

We have to travel to San Antonio at least once a year for the wifes business, rather than staying in an over priced hotel and sleeping in a bed that has been used by others for what ever we much prefer to take our travel trailer and set up camp at Guadalupe River State Park.
During the summer is is always crowded with folks taking a cool dip in the river and finding a good site can often be challenging due to the crowds but for us it is well worth it!
The facilities are always clean and well maintained. Most of the Turkey Sink sites are very spacious and well shaded. The shade is important as there is only 30 amp service.
I have a number of videos of this park posted on my YouTube channel and they can be seen here...
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV3OUUap8JeBqwzA65TwkNHxVjEv31Kmi

We were here in the off season, so it wasn't so crowded. Very nice place, some great hiking trails and the river is cool to swim and float in. Shower house was very clean. Lots of stargazing at night. Beautiful place.

The park itself is nice enough. $24/night for hookups sounded fine. We got in around 5pm, about 30 mins after the office closed. We didn’t have change but the ranger told us we could pay what we did have ($20) and then pay the rest in the morning. Apparently, EVERYONE entering the park has to pay $7pp regardless of camping or day use. So, our $24/night turned into $38. If we had known, we wouldn’t have stayed there.

We stayed here in late February in the Turkey Sink loop. Our site was just long enough for our 28 foot trailer and truck. Many sites on the loop looked very short. This park was just ok for us. The river is nice, but it had been raining (not torrential downpours) and the trails to the river were closed. The SP office said the trails get really muddy so they have to close them often. Seems they need to improve their trails since most people must go there for the river. The loop road was narrow and the sites were generally muddy. Picnic table was wooden and old. If we are in the area again we will try a different state park.

We stayed here and visited friends in the area. It is a good state park and good option for visiting the San Antonio area. It definitely feels like an older state park but it suited our needs. There is a ton of nighttime wildlife, which will surprise you if you walk after dark. We ran into raccoons, armadillos, and other large rodents. You will also see deer roaming through the area.