Houston Area Camping Advice

Brazos Bend State park--Inks Lake State Park near Burnet--Stephen F Austin State Park near Sealy--Huntsville State Park--Daingerfield State Park--Tyler State Park.

I wouldn't consider myself an expert on Texas yet, but from our travels visiting family, we've camped quite a bit in Texas.

Hill country places we've camped are Pedernales Falls SP, Inks Lake SP, and Guadalupe River SP. Of those 3, I'd rank Guadalupe River the best one. Another awesome SP NE of Houston, probably a 4 hour drive, is Caddo Lake. You have to check that one out when you can- not a ton of hiking but you can canoe, simply enjoy the scenery.

We have also enjoyed Arkansas and Oklahoma SPs.

Texas has lots of lakes, and many of these have COE campgrounds, as well as national forest, state parks, etc. The question is what sort of driving radius are you open to, Texas is a big place. If you are talking about weekend trips within 2-3 hours of Katy that will be a bit limited, if you are open to a 4-5 hour driving radius then options really start opening up.

Try some of these,Lake Livingston SP,Lake Texana,Sea Rim SP,Coleto Creek,Huntsville SP,Galveston SP,San Luis Pass campground,Goliad SP, all are within 100-150 miles of Katy

Your biggest problem is that on Friday it is going to take an hour to go back he first 25 miles from Katy. Texas is BIG and it takes time to get anywhere in an RV.

The “Hill Country” starts at US-90 near Uvalde west of San Antonio and is about 50-100 miles deep (east to west) and runs northeast to a bit north of I-20. Always west of I-35.

Quite a few Texas state parks in that area, all worth visiting. Definitely get the state parks guide.

The national forests have some nice campgrounds. Double Lake between I-45 and US-59 near Cols Spring, TX north of Houston is one we like quite a bit.

Some Texas rivers are good for canoe trips. In the Hills many are too shallow for good travel. Be very weather aware when you go out. Flash floods can occur anywhere in Texas, but of course the hill country sees more occurrences.

The closest state park to Katy is probably Stephen F Austin on the Brazos River just north of I-10 near San Felipe west of Katy about 20 miles. We have camped at the COE Rocky Creek Park on Lake Somerville about 70 miles from Katy.

Lots of amazing places to camp in Texas.

Thanks for everyone’s thoughts here I appreciate it.

Weekend drive could be 5 hrs but more likely 2 or 3.

Is there a book or an internet resource recommended for Texas camping?

Thanks,
CC

Texas State Parks

We buy a yearly pass. This allows us to camp without a daily fee per person only the daily camping fee. It pays for itself if you camp very much with a large family or friends.

From the Katy area you need to check out the Somerville Lake area there are 3 COE parks there and also two State parks located on the lake.

Nails Creek State Park North and South. Rocky Creek COE. Yegua Creek Coe. Overlook Park Coe.

When we lived in Katy this was where we would go most weekends.

As others have stated there are many great state parks in Texas.

Double Lakes Recreation area just north of Houston in Coldspring. Wolf Creek Park on lake Livingston, Cagle Recreation area.

Most areas close to Houston for Friday, Saturday are booked well in advance. The further you go from Houston it opens up.

Besides getting the annual State Park Pass, you might want to load the Texas State Parks app on your phone. With it you can find state parks via a list or by map, get reasonably detailed info on each park - including any advisories (Some state parks have closures for hunts and others get crowded on popular weekends and temporarily close for capacity reasons), get PDF maps of facilities and trails, and make reservations.

Thanks again.

One more question; which months of the year are the busy months where getting a campground around Houston will take some early planning?

Thanks,
CC