Looking for a good spot to camp with the family come Springtime. Young kids so needs to be "easy camping" and not hike in. Looking at Enchanted Rock but not sure there's any water for swimming there. What about Pedernales? Anyone ever been to that one? Will be coming out of San Antonio.

Also looking at Basecamp out of Terlingua but that's more of a Glamping setup.

Perdaneles Falls SP is a good place to go.
One of our favorites is South Llano River SP in Junction. Short-ish drive from S.A. and should have plenty of chances to play in the water at the low water crossing.
Also, check out Garner SP.

Don't go to Enchanted Rock for a first time family camping experience. To crowded and camp sites are on top of and in site of everyone else. For the most part you are camping in an open field with a few trees. Love the park and enjoy going to the primitive hike in sites but not the front side camping.

Pedernales Falls is a great option. Camp sites are nice, bathrooms within walking distance for small children and wives. The river is always fun to explore and the pools around the falls are fun to play in if it's warm enough to get in the water.

Garner and Lost Maples are also good options but will be 100% full on the weekends so understand that when you are going in.

Ditto on comments about Garner. Great park but will be crowded certain times of the year.

South Llano River SP is an underrated park as is Kickapoo Cavern SP (Bracketville). Both are close-ish to San Antonio. Kickapoo has a bat cave that is an amazing natural site when the bats are in season.

Palmetto is nearby and easy if you have young kids and don't want strenuous hiking.

Inks Lake State Park is a good one too.

I'll repeat this every time I see a post about wanting to go camping with small children: only pack things that you are willing to throw in your vehicle at 2:00 in the morning and leave because the kids are being a-holes.

My parents managed to camp with us as kids. If we were being a-holes, an appropriate punishment set us straight without ruining it for everyone.

Out of SA, I would say Guadalupe River SP is perfect for what you're looking for.

HTownAg98 said:

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I'll repeat this every time I see a post about wanting to go camping with small children: only pack things that you are willing to throw in your vehicle at 2:00 in the morning and leave because the kids are being a-holes.

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Same advice but because the people camping around you are being *******s. Mouth is right, you can straighten your kids out, but it would be frowned upon to straighten out the neighbors.

I left Buescher SP in the middle of the night once and drove back to CS. I should've left Hill Country SNA at about 7:00 PM when the drunk college kids showed up at the camp site next door. But it was our first time taking my daughter camping and my wife was really set on the whole experience. I think the 3 of us got about an hour of sleep the whole night. I finally called it quits at 5:00 AM and headed home.

Strange, most parks after 10pm the park officers will come around and tell them to knock off the noise and turn off music.

Aggie Pharmer said:

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Perdaneles Falls SP is a good place to go.
One of our favorites is South Llano River SP in Junction. Short-ish drive from S.A. and should have plenty of chances to play in the water at the low water crossing.
Also, check out Garner SP.

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. Love south llano and highly recommend for a 1st trip - wildlife with wild turkeys as the headliner is great , swimming is good , and the fishing is very underrated. Take a canoe / kayak and fish both directions from bridge. You can hike up into the WMA next door and Junction is just a cool little town in Texas

Inks Lake was great this past summer, they just built brand new bathrooms and the footprint is rather small so you can keep up with the kids...

HTownAg98 said:

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I'll repeat this every time I see a post about wanting to go camping with small children: only pack things that you are willing to throw in your vehicle at 2:00 in the morning and leave because the kids are being a-holes.

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I really don't understand this, at all... I went on a dozen camping trips with my 2 boys and all their friends. Stop, means stop and be quiet means be quiet...

User name checks out!

oldschool87 said:

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HTownAg98 said:

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I'll repeat this every time I see a post about wanting to go camping with small children: only pack things that you are willing to throw in your vehicle at 2:00 in the morning and leave because the kids are being a-holes.

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I really don't understand this, at all... I went on a dozen camping trips with my 2 boys and all their friends. Stop, means stop and be quiet means be quiet...

User name checks out!

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. Agree with this 100% we camped with 4 kids 2 years apart and never packed up in the middle of the night - if you're kids are being a-holes to the point that you have to pack up - that is a Mom and Dad problem, not the kids

From San Antonio with young family Guadalupe SP absolutely. Easy access to water, friendly trails, good facilities that all got re-done this year. Or Blanco SP for deeper water swim, but less nature/hiking. They have rentable kayaks there.