After about 6 months of planning and anticipation we had arrived at park one of five we would be visiting during a four day trip on the weekend of our wedding anniversary. Blanco State Park is located in the town of Blanco, on the Blanco River…right in the thick of it. Surrounded by residential homes and highways, it held little appeal for camping to us personally and I had heard the swimming quality was questionable.

We arrived before 10 am and explored the river front day use areas and both CCC built dams. The engineering concept of creating multiple layers of pools in a naturally shallow river was remarkable! We all agreed the water looked more appealing for fishing than swimming, though. We’re prissy, I know haha.

Then we went to the opposite side of the highway that divides the park and walked a short nature trail that took us to a rather high-end bird blind.

After that, we loaded back up for the 30 minute drive to Pedernales Falls State Park. It was bewildering to be walking trails in a State Park all while people’s homes watched over us across the street. This park definitely seemed more like a city park that just happened to be run by the state government.

As we would come to find out during a pit stop on way home Sunday, the town of Blanco is really cute and full of entertainment. I could see how this park would be ideal for folks looking to set up their camper right in the heart of it all.

-Lindsay

I had been putting this park off hoping to visit it as part of a “Texas History Trail Trip,” but time is getting away from me and we jumped on an opportunity in July on our way home from a visit with family in Houston. The nearly 500 acre park along the Brazos River is part of the land granted to Stephen F. Austin in 1821. The site of his actual settlement, San Felipe de Austin, is across the highway from the park and we managed a visit to the now historical site as well.

The state park offers a number of camping options and trails. We picked a 3/4 mile loop trail that would take us by the Brazos River. We enjoyed the shady stroll through the woods and were able to get a glimpse of the river at a higher than usual level. There was a damaged river viewing deck along the trail, but it was still roped off and in need of repair.

The kids noticed a bike washing station back at the bathhouse we parked by and thought that was neat and practical concept. After that, we left the actual state park and headed over to the historical aspect of the area.

The museum and historical site has done an incredible job preserving artifacts and recreating structures to convey what San Felipe de Austin’s main business district was like in the 1820’s and 30’s. Especially since the original was deserted and burned to the ground in 1836 during the Runaway Scrape.

We spent about 40 minutes in the museum with the interactive displays and exhibits before taking a literal walk through history outside in the recreated town.

I’m bummed we didn’t have the time to drive the extra 2 hours out of the way to visit Washington-on-the-Brazos to continue our history lesson. The kids really liked the state park though and thought some time spent camping amongst the trees would be nice sometime. So maybe we will make it back and can day trip up to it. The historical site we did visit was phenomenal though and would highly recommend to anyone.

-Lindsay