Garner State Park Campground

My Family really enjoyed our stay in Garner last September. The river is nice, cool and relaxing. There is some great hiking with fantastic views and caves. Although we had picked up a lot of trash thrown on the trail and the caves are covered in graffiti. so sad such a beautiful area I wish my kids could have enjoyed the caves before they were ruined.

Best park in Texas. Come during the summer and enjoy the dance. Clear, cool water make you forget it is HOT outside.

We were there in January 2017. The week before there was a trout release and TROUT FRENZY which we were sad to have missed by such a short time. My husband was able to get in two days of fishing which he really enjoyed even though he didn't get to net his catch. LOL We hiked up Bridge Trail and came down Crystal Cave, both were pretty moderate trails and the view was great, as was the cave. There is a pavilion with a dance area by the river. It was not open while we were there but the volunteer told us that in the summer there is dancing under the stars.

We purchased a Texas Park card which is a good value if you plan to go to more than one state park and stay two or more nights. The second night is half off (first four parks) and you don't pay the daily entrance fees for a whole year. It cost $70 but we were to the positive after the second park.

First time to visit Garner SP, made reservations online only to find out once we arrived that there were no 50 amp spots except for the "vendor and camp host spots" with full hookups and they were $12 more per night than we had made reservations for. It was nice to have full hookups but it was not nice to have to pay so much to stay here when we weren't expecting it.

The park was nice overall except for the water, it was not drinkable in my opinion, sulphur smelling and tasting and a slight yellow color. So disgusting, we had to buy water the whole time we were there, which wasn't cheap especially since there isn't much around, closest real grocery store is a HEB about 30-45 minutes away in Uvalde.

We enjoyed the water and taking our dogs on trail walks. The park is HUGE but most of it is closed in the off season. Seems the most popular time to visit is after Easter and I believe them when they say it gets very crowded. I personally would avoid it during the peak season.

Hill Country is always beautiful. But the current reservation distribution method is bunk. We arrived at 6. It took about 2 hours of sitting in the parking lot to get our actual spot assigned. With that being said, our spot was spacious & beautiful. Live Oak #300 loop has plenty of space between sites, flat & shaded. It doesn’t easily access the Frio or prime areas in normal pre-flood time period. Bathrooms were clean & no charge showers. The whole park is a throw back to the CCC. The large public area was magnificent.

Having reservations for Texas SPs works better if you arrive AFTER the office is closed but before the gates are locked since then you get to choose your site rather than be lined up next to one another as you arrive. They say they're updating the system, which will allow pre-choosing of your site, but until then...

We chose a site in the Live Oak CG far away from anyone else. The website indicates this park gets so busy they sometimes have to close the gates to limit visitors, but that was far from the case during our stay. Our site was large and level, partially shaded, with water and 50 amp service, and very quiet. There is no cell or phone service, nor any OATV. Some cell service is available near the entrance where you can park and take care of some business if needed.

There are several trails in the park, from flat and easy to rocky and semi-steep. It was very humid during our stay, which made our hiking a bit miserable, though a dip in the Frio afterwards was heavenly. The visitor center has limited days/hours, and it was closed two of the three days we were there. The store, grille, and mini golf were open, but we did not visit them.

There is a pretty butterfly garden that was still attracting many beautiful butterflies even in late October. We also saw jackrabbits, one big black snake on Old Baldy trail (other hikers spotted two tarantulas on the Wilks Trail), and were delighted to spot a vermilion flycatcher at our campsite.

This park, however, was our second choice, but it was easy access to visit our first at Lost Maples SNA (which fills up a year in advance.) We enjoyed a day-hike there to take in some beautiful fall color.

Dates of our stay: Oct. 29-31
pictures on blog, link in profile

We came here in the end of February, which is off season for their park. Our site included a picnic table, a fire ring and a lantern holder. No shelter at these sites that we saw. Site is asphalt, surrounded by grassy areas with nice amount of trees for cover and privacy. Sites seem to be spaced a little further apart than normal in some areas. Sites vary in depth and width, ours was wide so we could put the trailer to one side and the truck on the other. Bathrooms were clean and serviceable except for the heaters. Of the three bath houses we had access to, only the ladies room in one bath house worked. The park was quiet for the most part, we did have out 1% loud partiers the first night, then they left.
Firewood is over $6 a bundle with tax here. It's about a dollar cheaper in the town of Leaky. Also, if you need groceries/beer/wine, save some money and head to Leaky to "The Mercantile". Also, the "Wash Barn" is pretty decent if you need to do laundry, right down the road from The Mercantile.
Trails- Trails are okay here but can be pretty rough. Good shoes and walking sticks or better still, tracking poles on the more challenging ones.
Form what we were told, this is pretty much a party park in the summer. Access to tubing in the river, and having "Juke Box Night" every night during the summer probably doesn't make for a quiet time as we've been told. Quiet hours are pretty late during the summer and may be difficult to enforce. If you're looking for peace and quiet, look at the other review from folks that have been here in the summer.

Our rate reflects the camping fee, plus the day use fee. We stayed here at the beginning of TX spring break. This is a giant park with hundreds of sites and we managed to get one for one night only. When we arrived at about 2:00 in the afternoon there was an extremely long line to check in. Both for day use and camping. To check in for camping, you have to take a number - they were on 64 when we arrived and we had number 3. It was absolute chaos at the check in station. So we threw away our number, got in our truck and drove past the gate keeper, who was checking in day use people, and went to our site. When we went back an hour or so later, they were only on number 86. So we went for a bike ride. At 4:30 there were even more people waiting outside so we did not even bother to ever check in. That said, our site was very nice, with shade trees and a picnic table. It was wide enough for us to disconnect and park the truck next to our trailer. And it was actually very, very quiet overnight. We were in the Rio Frio loop, which is nearest to the highway, so there was a little road noise. But the trade off was we had good ATT service. On the negative side, one of the bathhouses was missing from the loop...looked like a new one was under construction, but that left only one for quite a large area and a lot of people. I would definitely come here again, but never in March.

It is really hard to secure a reservation at this park, but the effort is worth it. It is better now that you can’t reserve more than 5 months ahead, unlike the 1 year ahead on the previous system. We love this park, it is big, beautiful and well maintained for the huge number of visitors it sees. We like the Live Oak loop, which does not have a sewer hookup, but a dump station is located right outside the loop entrance. Lots of huge trees and most sites are well spaced. The CCC buildings are magnificent, and there is plenty to do. Guys played golf at Concan Country Club and enjoyed it very much and rates were reasonable. Hiking is great, with lots of options. Boat rental, grill, and some activities are seasonal or weekends only. Drove to Lost Maples, pretty winding drive and nice park but RV sites are small. Interesting camp store at the pavilion, with unusual and high quality items for sale -it is privately run. The biggest draw is the gorgeous Frio River, so clean and clear you can see right to the bottom. All rangers nice and helpful. We camped here during the week, before all the kiddos got out of school but warm enough to enjoy the water - highly recommended! Loved it so much we tried to get a reservation for June or July and not a single RV spot available, but we have a return trip reserved during October during Leaf peep. Rate includes the $8 per day entrance fee per person but we are pass members so our rate was only $24/night.

We stayed one night at site 342 in the live oak loop campground of garner state park. Our experience was great once we finally got checked in after a 45 minute wait. Our camp site along with many other had a short trail that leads directly to the river. The our whole family enjoyed playing in the water for hours!