Choke Canyon State Park — Attraction in George West

My dog & I went on a day trip for discovery in this state park. Lots of birds! And in a short time, we saw deer, with fawns, squirrels, javalina, rabbit poop (92° F, so they were off somewhere cool & we didn't see them), and many different birds. I went to the Calliham Unit and didn't have time to see the South Shore Unit, so I expect I'll return!

The park has the widest variety of facilities that I've seen in a TX state park, yet they do need some overhaul upkeep. Around the day use area, which still has water enough for boating and fishing, there is a baseball/softball field, tennis courts, basketball courts, and much more. The facilities need a little refreshing and upkeep, like new ball nets, swings on the swingset, etc, but the place is big, with plenty to do, regardless!

We walked a few of the many trails. The trails I saw were short. They are wide & cut back, easy to walk for the most part, and I chose shady ones through Mesquite thickets (my dog is not very heat-tolerant). There were benches along the "Bird Trails" about every quarter mile to rest or watch birds/wildlife.

There are nice shelters and setups for tent camping, with the parking lot nearby. There are some overgrown sidewalks and some other infrastructure issues in that area. I looked in the bathrooms just to see if they were okay, and they were clean. There is almost no water in that small reservoir section. When I asked about it, a ranger told me they were drying it out and hoping to cut back all the cattail overgrowth that was making it so people couldn't kayak or canoe or fish.

There is a loop of good- looking, hook-up water & electric camping, and there is a third loop with cabin camping. The cabins have air conditioning. The bathrooms for all are camping types are built & easy to access. I did not look inside a cabin or any of the other bathrooms to see their condition.

I visited on an unreasonably hot Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, and the park was fairly quiet. There were people out in boats fishing, & a ranger told me that people usually catch fish, even in thelower water levels. Most of Texas has been in a severe drought for many years, so the water levels are quite low. Regardless, the park remains nature-beautiful and is often full of campers, according to rangers. I spoke to several rangers about the park, my observations, and their thoughts. The rangers were friendly and engaging, with lots of good answers to my questions. FYI, intermittent AT&T coverage...

This state park is focused on fishing and boating, so if I were into those things, I would have rated the park higher. Other pros include wonderful, helpful staff, wide level trails, lots of wildlife (it's a game reserve, after all). They have tennis courts, a baseball diamond, and several group gathering areas (reservation required). They have an RV dump station.

Not so great: The bathrooms. Neglected and poorly maintained. Hot water works, though. No cleaning could make these bathrooms even marginally presentable. It's obvious funding has not been directed to those facilities.

The trails; In OK shape, wide, and easy to walk, but too few, too short. Sufficient benches along the way, though.

Cabins: Air-conditioned (window unit) that kept the temp quite cool but neglected otherwise. My plastic matress cover on my bed was ripped, but free of bed bugs. I checked. Only found spiders underneath, so make sure you do the same. Three un-stacked bunk beds that were quite beat up. But it had storage shelves, two towel hooks, a covered porch with a picnic table that needed to be replaced around the turn of the 21st Century. Fire pit, some on the ground, and some cabins had them elevated.

Fire ants. Everywhere. Huge mounds of them with well-worn highways they travel as they forage for food. Keep all food in sealed containers, or you'll have them carrying off your chips.

Camp store; Woefully small and inadequate. Caters to the anglers, so if all you need is bait, it is fine. But $7 for a bag of ice? I'm guessing they purchase retail at the Lowes in Three Rivers (11 mi. away) and double the price. No bundles of wood are available, which is a problem since gathering wood is prohibited (just as in every state park I've visited). The convenience items are very limited and grossly over-priced.

Walk on the roads and trails. If you walk on the grass, you'll be covered in goat's head stickers.

Some swingsets lack swings and have been taken over by fire ants (in the cabin area).

Not dog-friendly. They can't enter any building (same as all Texas state parks), but if they get into the grass, they'll be in a lot of pain from the goat's head stickers.

Summary: Good place for water sports and fishing, but bring everything you need, since you won't likely find it at the park store. Adequate if you just want to camp, get away, and don't care to hike more than a...

This was our first visit to Choke Canyon state park. We rented cabins #18 and #3 over the Christmas weekend for my family (I recommend you do NOT stay in cabin #3! We came home with bites and continued to be bit for several days after staying in this cabin. ) There are alligators at this park so be cautious. Overall the park was clean and had a new basketball court and tennis court. My son said there were tennis raquets and balls there for visitors to use so that is a plus.

The cabins are very general, no kitchen or bathroom, but there is an AC for the Texas heat. We suggest #18 as it had two tables and a large fire ring with a beautiful view and two trees perfect for a hammock. There are javelinas and deer on this side of the park so be sure to put everything away after dark. The javalinas opened our cooler and got into our food and were trying to get into all of our containers.

The women's restroom was not clean, but it wasn't dirty. I didn't see any bugs or spiders while in there, but it didn't feel or smell clean. I tool my own wipes to wipe down the toilet and TP and took sandles for showering. The restroom showers are on the left and toilets on the right, but the light did not work on the toilet side. So it was very dark so take your own 🔦. I did see a ranger go and stock one of the toilets with toilet paper and maybe wipedown the sinks but it needs a good detail.

DO NOT STAY in Cabin #3!!! We tent camped the first night but decided to sleep in the cabin the 2nd night since my sister was only staying one night. We had wiped down the mattresses and layed out our own sheets and blankets. In the morning my ankles were itching severely. By the time I got home there more more bites with intense itching. The bites would appear before my eyes but nothing was there. I believe the bites are from mites. It has been nearly a week since our trip and I have had to buy several types medicines and other products because they are not easy to kill. They burrow in your skin! We did call the park to notify them of this issue, but we didn't really hear concern in her voice, but it was followed by her asking if we enjoyed our stay.

The lake is huge and awesome if you...