McKinney Falls State Park — Attraction in Austin

Great state park, Cypress trees, big swimming hole, well maintained, & friendly. The upper falls area was magical, with large mature cypress trees providing shade to much of the watering hole below the falls. Don’t expect cold water like Barton springs but still refreshing, very deep in spots over 9ft if I was guessing, @ the end of June! A few hidden rocks under the surface but many people myself included jumping off the cliffs and having fun. Life jackets are loaned out at the visitor center up above the falls for kids. The hike between the upper and lower falls we discovered a gargantuan overhang beside onion creek, and an ancient Cypress crowned Tree of the year “Old Baldy” along a built up board walk bridge over a small tributary stream. Saw a herd of deer cross the road with their new born fawns, in the tree filtered light of the setting sun. Plugged in our box fan to the electric box provided to every site in the campground, to stay cool. Brought a bag of charcoal, cast iron skillet to cook our thyme, garlic steak tips and asparagus on the fire grate, and later had a fire in the same fire ring. Provided picnic table and level tent pad site were appreciated, most of the parking places looked level for rvs, pull thrus, and large back in sites. Grass was cut down around sites, bugs were minimal, wood for purchase self pay CC at bathroom. There were showers provided in the restroom, to rinse off. Noticed a large group site and cabins worth checking out on a later trip. Lots of good shady trails to hike. The crickets at night lulled us to sleep. A few cars/ motorcycles could be heard in the distance but not obtrusive. Sites were all well spread out and didn’t feel piled on top of your neighbor’s. The bathroom at the back of Big Cedar loop without showers was overflowing and unusable at the time. $32/nt for a tent camp for 2 people seemed high but there was electricity and water which was nice to plug in our fan and air up a mattress. Book early we reserved the last site available for Saturday night three weeks out. Later decided to add Friday night one week out and again found we got the last site available. Was slightly irritated that the sites were different and we had to tear down and move, but more irritated that there were over a dozen sites which had reservations but no one ever stayed in the sites. This seems to be a common problem at all state and national parks and sad when you think how it deprives someone who wants to stay at this beautiful park the opportunity to enjoy it. If you don’t intend on using your reservation or plans change please cancel your reservation so someone else can use it. Overall we had a great experience and will be back for sure. Bonus the fiber optic bat cave in the parks visitor center was...

I am submitting a formal complaint regarding the conduct of Officer Tedder (Badge #995) at McKinney Falls State Park on Saturday, September 27, during a Little Blue Montessori school field trip attended by dozens of parents and young children.

Our group was following directions from another ranger who instructed us to park in an area that unfortunately had no direct return route back into the park. When several of us attempted to loop back to rejoin the main group, Officer Tedder stopped me and issued a citation for “disregarding a one-way sign.”

The situation could have been easily and safely resolved with a polite verbal instruction to use the main exit. Instead, Officer Tedder was rude, dismissive, and unhelpful—both to me and to the teacher organizer, who immediately approached him to explain that we were following another ranger’s directions.

When I stopped my vehicle, I briefly blocked the road and asked if I should pull to the side; Officer Tedder told me “no,” then criticized me for not having pulled over sooner, even though I was within roughly twenty feet of where he had pulled up behind me. His handling of the situation caused confusion and delayed multiple parents who were trying to reach the field trip location with toddlers in their cars.

This unnecessary escalation created an uncomfortable and stressful scene in front of young children and staff. The officer’s tone and attitude were entirely disproportionate to the circumstances, especially considering that we were a cooperative, family-oriented group on a school event.

As an annual Texas State Parks Pass holder, I have always valued the professionalism of park staff and the family-friendly atmosphere they provide. However, this experience fell far short of that standard. I believe Officer Tedder’s conduct was inconsistent with TPWD’s values of courtesy and public service.

I respectfully request that this complaint be formally reviewed and addressed by...

Took my family here last week and had a pretty good time.

Falls we're beautiful and the surrounding area was as well. We saw some very pretty birds, some fish (sun fish, bass, gar), lots of bugs (my kids like to check them out), frogs and even some snakes (one was a little too close for comfort as we were walking around the lower falls).

We were in campsite 82. One of the reasons for a 4 star review vs 5 was the campsite. They're wasn't a pole for lantern/trash bag. So we had to use a tree and of course squirrels got to it while we were away. Campsites also are smaller compared to other state parks I've been to. They are fairly private though. Site 82 didn't have a lot of shade.

Another downside of this park (but kind of also an upside) is it's proximity to Austin. It's darn near in the city. Good because you have great cell service if you want it and if you've forgotten something you can probably get to a store in like 10 minutes. The bad side of this is you can tell you're in the city. Construction noises, trucks backing up, helicopters literally all day and even into the night. If you're trying to "get away" this park probably isn't the one.

We tried our hand at fishing, but wasn't able to hook up to anything. Doing it with a 6 and 8 year old didn't help though. Very little patience from the littles.

Overall, we had a pretty good time at the park and would go again, but it won't be at the top of our list of we're trying to "get...