Kickapoo Cavern State Park — Attraction in Brackettville

I cant say enough about this place. The 2.5 hour drive (from San Antonio) was well worth it. The camp grounds were well manicured, clean, and their was plenty of space to setup your tents, cook, and still have room to throw a frisbee around. While their are plenty of trees, I wouldn't say its ideal for a hammock, if your into hammock camping, but the kitchen area combined with the lantern/trash hooks would allow for one to be hung up. You will have to pack/take your trash out as they do not have dumpsters (at least none that I saw), but as a person who tries to practice the "leave no trace" philosophy, it's a small inconvenience. The facilities are much better than some larger (likely with a bigger budget) state parks, and the Rangers had them clean and fully stocked with TP. The Rangers were friendly and willing to share as much info about the park, bat cave, etc. and o feel they really take pride in making their post one of the best. The trails were well marked and while challenging, they were picturesque and worth the work/soreness you feel after a day of hiking. My only two areas of criticism was that the Bird Watching Blind could use some other enticements for the local species to gravitate towards. That being said, a walk around the trails and main road on a nice morning will likely result in some great memories/pictures for you bird enthusiasts. My second concern with the Park Staff having no way of controlling this is, if you bring a young child and they are not use to the outdoor elements or have never camped out, specifically slept in a tent. PLEASE tend to them and keep them safe, and please, if they are crying every 2 to 3 hours in the middle of the night, be courteous and try and sooth and comfort them, as oppose to letting them lie down in misery. Its likely this is not going to result in them having a memorable experience in which they want to campout again, and it's going to keep the other park guests up, which is annoying and inconsiderate. Thanks Again, Kickapoo Staff, your professionalism and attention made our Boy Scout Troop's weekend campout a memorable...

Awesome state park! I can never get a cave tour since you have to book well in advance. Clean, not trashy, friendly park staff. They have ice available for a donation…couple of bucks. If you’re staying more than one day and will need ice for the next day, let them know so they can prepare extra bags of ice. 10 lbs bags. If you can make it to the summit of some the trails do so, the views are beautiful. Poor cell service, poor tv/radio reception. Free Wi-Fi at park office that occasionally reaches to the camp sites, some cell service at Stuart Bat Cave and of course at the overlooks on the tops of the hills/mountains. We were the only campers at the park on one night, no staff. Total peace and quiet. If you’re not used to being alone in the middle of nowhere, it can be a little creepy/scary, especially with all the strange noises you hear at night. Never felt we were in danger. Frequent daytime/evening patrols (at least the days we have stayed at the park) by Sheriff’s Office, Park Rangers and DPS. Nighttime views are beautiful if you have a clear sky. Absolutely no light pollution obstructing anything. RV campsites have electric & water and tent camping also allowed at those sites. Tent campsites only have water. RV campsites have trees and vegetation that make for a natural wall to separate you from your neighbor as opposed to other state parks where sometimes you’re just a few feet away from your neighbor or feel packed in. My new favorite spot to get away from everything. Worth the drive. DON’T speed on FM 674 going/leaving the park. You will get pulled over by DPS. They were frequently parked on the roadside along the way…at least during my trips out there. Friendly/cool guys. The nearest town is Brackettville…about a 30 min drive to/from the park. Has a small grocery store where you can get most of what you need for a picnic or if you forgot to bring something with you for your campsite. There are no trash cans/dumpsters at the park. You must take everything out with you...

In 6/2017 we stayed here two nights. The campground is very small so you might want to make reservations. It is also very remote. The road that heads northeast from the Park entrance (road 674) is very narrow, windy, and there are troughs for streams to cross. I don’t recommend you bring a long trailer over that section of road, and watch out when it rains. 674 south of the park is fairly tame. There is NO trash pick up: any trash you bring into the park, you must leave with. There was no AT&T cell service but there was good Wi-Fi at the ranger station. There were picnic tables in the back of the ranger station where you could sit if you wanted to use the Wi-Fi after hours. For a donation you could get a 10 pound bag of ice for your cooler. The campground had shade structures and trees. Bathrooms were clean but the cleaner they used smelled funny. There was only one shower stall in the women’s bath house. In general, Kickapoo Cavern State Park was very handicapped friendly: there was a handicapped ramp to the bath houses/toilets, to the Stuart Bat Cave, and the shower was wheelchair accessible. The wild cave tour is not handicapped accessible. If you are not sure-footed you will have some difficulty; unlike commercial caves, there is no paved floor. You will also have to scramble up and down some rocks. The cave is not lit; a high powered flashlight would be nice to have. My cheap 2 dollar flashlights weren’t very useful there. I suggest a headlamp also. You can put it on the helmet they provide. The wild cave tour requires a reservation and charges a small fee and you have to take the tour bus to the cave. The tour bus is an old re-purposed school bus. The Stuart Bat Cave is a different cave from the cave where they have the wild cave tour. You drive to the parking lot and take the handicapped ramp up to the cave. At dusk you can watch the bats emerge. The number of bats leaving every night varies with the seasons. Check with the ranger station...