South Llano River State Park Campground

An essential stop for Texas birders! South Llano River boasts amazing birding, including the endangered Golden Cheeked warbler. There are two very well maintained bird blinds and the birds are fed daily. The trailers offer glorious views of the Texas hill country and you can even float the river to relax between birding excursions. If you're a seasoned birder or a novice, this park is not to be missed.

Texas State Parks charge a camping fee plus a day use fee per person, here it was $4 pp for day use and $14 to camp. The sites were fairly short and we had to do some scouting to find one we could fit the truck and trailer in, they were also narrow, but paved. There are a lot of trees so some tall RV's might have issues. Lots of deer in the park were nice to watch and there are trails for hiking. It was very quiet with no road noise and dark. This park would be much more fun in the summer as there is tubing and swimming in the South Llano River, but it would also be much more crowded. Our biggest complaint was no internet or cell with Verizon, plus no TV as it is a long way to a major metro area and we don't have satellite. Would go back, just bring board games or cards.

We were looking for a nice place to relax amongst nature for a couple of days on our journey to Galveston. This place would have been perfect except for no connectivity; no cell service, no internet. Thus, we stayed only one night.

The sites are paved but narrow and some are longer than others. We didn't have a problem with our site but other sites would've been a problem plus tree limbs are an issue.

Knowing we would be staying at several Texas State Parks over the course of our travels, we purchased the seasonal pass for $70. Thus, we were charged no additional daily fee, just the camping fee of $14 for the night. Included in that pass fee were 4 coupons good for 4 free nights at different state parks....must be used separately.

The solitude and wildlife make this a nice place to stay.

This park is very peaceful and quiet and in the winter/spring have an area for the roosting Wild Turkeys. I loved both site #19 and #21. There are some hiking trails although I found most of them were basically old jeep trails so not really my thing. There are some shorter trails near the water which are easy and pleasant. I did however see my first armadillo in this park when I was unhitching which gave me quite a scare the first time. After that, he/she visited around the same time every day. This park also has several bird blinds which offer up close viewing of the birds.

As stated by other reviewers, there is absolutely no connectivity, however you can visit the library in Junction that has computers available.

We had a golden glow of a big old pecan tree behind our site as we made our way from Austin to WTX for Thanksgiving.

It was toasty outside, and we skipped the fire as even in late November and with the sun setting behind that pecan, deer prancing around like they owned the place and Boy Scouts hogging up the bathrooms, it was nice enough to just sit outside and look up at the stars.

With both our 31' Airstream + 16' van we didn't have to unhook.

A ranger said something about how the turkeys were really important and so we couldn't go to this one spot. I didn't want to go there anyway, but after I found out that some ugly bearded turkeys were getting special treatment so close to Thanksgiving, I couldn't help but feel bad for the Boy Scouts, whom I assume no doubt came to fight them in some sort of child vs. fowl battle royal.

Turns out they mostly just wanted to mate. And cook marshmallows over the fire. I'll leave it to you to decide which group was participating in which activity.

Just a few days later we stopped back through. The sun had left us, forsaken the turkeys, too I suppose. We saw no deer. It was just us and the campground host, and the rain set in, the cold. What a difference a few days can make in TX Hill Country.

I assumed it was some sort of a spirit god or maybe Texas' 7th flag that had wrought such misfortune on this park only a few days after it was such a bustling spot for turkey and tyke alike.

Note that if you don't need power because you're not operating a big electric Airstream polisher or want heat because it's freezing, there's a free city park in Junction and it was kind of just as beautiful as this state park.

The first time we were there, in the last spot in the loop before you go to leave again, we had absolutely no service.

The second time we stayed, in spot #15, I would occasionally get txt messages but nothing you could mash a potato with.

We love this park we travel down from the Austin area as often as we can. The trails are great the wildlife is ever present. Turkey, Deer, fox, mountain lions and bird watching. And if you are an amateur astronomer the stars have never been brighter. I hate to post this review and crowd this park but it really is a jewel in the long list of State parks here in Texas.

What a great find!
This park is well off the highway with low noise and light pollution. All the sites are back-in, paved, fairly level, and have H2O-Elec-table-fire ring. Some are designed to be ADA hospitable with smooth sidewalks which access the pad, table, fire ring, etc.
The hiking trails have several well maintained bird watching blinds.
Only "draw back" is the lack of cell/wifi.

Wonderful gem, clean restrooms/showers with plenty of hot water. The wild turkeys own this place, and are fun to see. Axis and whitetail deer roam freely too. Great Birding with very nice blinds. The river is spring fed and starting in March its a great tubing kayaking place to go. If you enjoy hiking you won't be disappointed!
They keep this place in top notch shape!

This quiet park is loaded with small wildlife and multiple bird species. Additionally, the South Llano River provides for some nice tubing and fishing. A turkey roost attracts 800 or so turkeys annually and visitors are limited in visiting hours during season.

RV/tent camping areas are clean and spacious and tree filled, while also affording opportunities to set up camp for maximum privacy, depending how your neighbor is set up. Fire rings and picnic table is at each RV site. Bathroom facilities are clean as are the showers, which have a nice supply of hot water.

No parking anything on grass but level spaces afford room for thoughtful placement of tow dollies, trailers, etc. Fredericksburg and Kerrville are within an hour's drive with plenty to keep you busy for a change of pace from outdoor activities.

Active and friendly park rangers and camp hosts, also knowledgeable and helpful. Was able to get Diect TV but terrible Internet with AT&T.

Was an overnight pause in travel. We so enjoyed that we stayed an extra night. Water and electric. Marginal cell coverage with Verizon and AT&T. Lovely wooded park, spaces private. Wildlife all around. Hiking, biking and tubing on the river. A lovely campground on our list of places to return to. Near I10.