On our way home from a Rocksprings trip this past June, we finally had enough time for the detour off I-37 to visit Choke Canyon State Park. The park comprises of two units on near opposite sides of the Choke Canyon Reservoir created by damming the Frio River and is best known for fishing. Unfortunately, due to the last couple years of drought conditions, the lake levels are severely low and much of the activity in the area has declined. So, we made the most of our visit with a look around at the current state of things.

We started with the larger Calliham Unit with its expansive day use and camping area. We only went to the day use area and could tell by the shut down boat ramp just how low the water levels were. Nathan, Sally and I found a trail that lead out to what should have been a jetty into the lake while the kids ran down to the banks of the boat ramp.

We then loaded back up and drove a couple more miles to the day use only South Shore Unit to pull up on another closed down boat ramp and got a view of the dam.

In it’s heyday (which I’m convinced will come back around) this park was quite popular for it’s water activities, wildlife (campers usually report lots of javelina, whitetail and alligator sightings) and fishing. With how close this park is to home, it’s an easy “last minute” camping trip option for the future.

-Lindsay