We have a small group from church that is wanting to take a short camping trip together. We were wanting to find a place that was less than 2 hours from BCS and had some kind of screen shelters or cabins as we will have lots of young kids with us and not everyone owns a tent. Our family has been to Huntsville SP and enjoyed that, and was just curious if anyone had any other suggestions. Thanks!

Buescher and Bastrop State Parks are nice. Rustic/historic cabins and great trails.

Fort Parker SP has a group camp area with cabins and meeting hall.

Buescher is in good shape but Bastrop is still struggling.

LRCA Lake Bastrop not the state park. South side has the facilities you need.

Lake Sommerville has camping sites and I believe some sort of cabins. Closer to College Station than Bastrop.

Lake Somerville SP is still recovering from flooding. I went to Birch Creek side today, and it is only about 30% open, with most of the camp sites still closed. Nails Creek side is still closed.

http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/huntsville

MrsGDub04 said:

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We have a small group from church that is wanting to take a short camping trip together. We were wanting to find a place that was less than 2 hours from BCS and had some kind of screen shelters or cabins as we will have lots of young kids with us and not everyone owns a tent. Our family has been to Huntsville SP and enjoyed that, and was just curious if anyone had any other suggestions. Thanks!

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Off the top of my head here is a quick rundown of the parks near us that I've camped at with my family. The "local" state parks on this list are our throwdown parks that we use for short 3-day weekend camps, there is much better to be found, but most of that is a longer drive. However, with the better parks in the list we return as easy to hit after work with the family spots between our bigger trips. With that said the Texas State Park system is incredible. It seems like we straight up abuse our annual pass with how many nights we spend in state parks each year.

Huntsville SP:

Decent park, often busy due to location. Hiking is OK but not great. Gators in the lake that are smart enough to hang out by the fishing spots to catch throwbacks.

SFA SP:

Neat park, limited hiking, historic site nearby, river access, no lake. Great for lazy afternoons around camp with friends or family.

Lake Somerville SP:

OK park, limited hiking, great if you're into boating or fishing.

Ft. Parker SP:

Good park, smaller and OK hiking. On the river for fishing or canoe.

Bastrop SP:

I don't understand why people love this park, even before it burned the park was crappy unless you wanted to golf. The hiking is meh and the road noise is significant in the tent camping areas.

Fairfield Lake SP:

Decent little park, the hiking is meh, but the lake is warmer than you would expect due to being used as powerplant cooling. We somehow rolled our canoe on that lake MLK weekend 2015 and weren't too cold. We've been back a few times for nice weekends in the woods.

Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area

In the Davey Crockett National Forest between Crockett and Ratcliff. This is a wonderful park, the hiking is OK, but the trees and small lake are neat. There are the foundations of the old saw mill in the park, but access is currently closed (as of a few weeks ago when we camped there last).

A little further out:

Lake Whitney SP:

Nice park, campsites on the lake are wonderful (be careful of high winds at night). The disused airfield in the park is now used by RC plane enthusiasts. The hiking is meh, but the park is neat.

Meridian SP:

This park is worth the slightly extra drive. The big loop is good hiking and the Bee Cave is neat. Gorgeous park.

Thanks for the suggestions!

My Girl Scouts have done screen shelters at Huntsville SP, Brazos Bend SP, and Ft. Parker SP. Huntsville is one of their favorites because of how close it is. Brazos Bend has alligators, an observatory with a cool NASA simulation, and great climbing trees. Ft. Parker has a great historical site nearby, a nature center, a beautiful view when waking up in the morning, and a cool cemetery in the park just be careful of the ants.

Cedar Ridge Park at Lake Belton has screened in shelters. About 1hrs 45 min from BCS.