Garner State Park, Texas

October 25, 2022

Garner State Park.

We awoke on travel day to the coldest morning we have had so far since embarking on our little adventure (34F according to our thermometer). It must have been even colder than that because we had ice on the truck and trailer. On travel days, Rick is in charge of doing all the outside stuff, while Julie "cleans house" and gets everything prepared for travel inside. This day, Rick definitely had the short end of the stick. Fortunately, the day warmed up and we were back to summer.

Our drive through some unpopulated areas of western Texas was quite pleasant

Approaching Garner State Park just before sunset

After a long drive, including stops for lunch and groceries, we arrived with a few minutes of daylight to spare at Garner State Park, a great park in the Texas Hill Country.

Thursday was a gorgeous sunny day and we spent it walking along the river behind our campsite and then riding around the park on our bikes. 

The Rio Frio River right behind our campsite

There were lots of butterflies/moths everywhere. (They don't like to sit still for photos.)

Someone had made a tube run out of rocks in this part of the river.

The water was very clear.

That afternoon, we rode around the park, checking out the other camp loops, visitor center, day use areas, and various trails.  We put in just under 8 miles. There was a lot of variety within the park--relatively flat arid-looking areas as well as hilly, more lush areas. The river was one of the main attractions--it flowed through the entire length of the park and changed character along the way.  

The drier-looking, flatter side of the park

Heading toward the hillier side

A scenic overlook with a glimpse of the river

Way more lush at this end of the park.

This was the CCC-built pavilion where summertime outdoor dances have been held since the 1930s.

An interesting circular passageway (see photosphere for full effect)

The river was deeper here. On the weekend there were lots of swimmers and people in kayaks, canoes, etc.

This is the original entrance road to the park. It's now a hiking/biking trail.

In some places, the river was very rocky, with mini rapids running amidst the rock and boulders. The entire river looked like it would be fun for kids to play in, and we saw quite a few of them on the weekend.

The next day we took a drive to Lost Maples State Park (a 45 minute drive).  This park is known for having maple trees that display great fall color. (Maple trees are not very common in Texas.)  We were too early for the show (kind of a theme with us), but that didn't stop Julie from finding some color to photograph!  We decided on a combination of trails (adding up to a 5.3 mile loop) which had 850 feet of climbing in the middle.  This park didn't appear to do switchbacks, so going up and going down was just straight up and straight down! A bit hard on the knees, but we managed.

These few pictures are all the maple color we could find.

There were all sorts of migrating butterflies. Volunteers were tagging them the day we were at the park.

The beginning of our long ascent straight up. No sissy switchbacks for us!

We took a breather at this overlook.

More up

Getting higher

Almost to the top!

We're going to have to go all the way back down there!

The ride to and from Lost Maples went through some nice Hill Country scenery.

Excuse the windshield reflections and bug splats.

The rest of our stay was very relaxing, as we lounged around camp, hung out at the river, took some walks, and rode our bikes. We made a few trips to the visitor center to use their WiFi for catching up on internet stuff.  This should be one of the last places this year where we lack cell coverage!

This was a good campsite to play our Molkky game.

Getting all zen down by the river.

Just like a real life Pocket Pond 😊

Garner State Park was a really nice park, and it was quite festive on the weekend with lots of families enjoying the lingering summer weather and playing in the river. It's definitely one of our favorites!

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