Stephen F. Austin State Park — Attraction in San Felipe

Just a short drive from Houston makes this place a true gem. Lots of great hikes and great wooded sites with plenty of shade. The restrooms are a little far away if you are staying in the screened shelters. My only complaint came from some carelessness on my own part. Around the campground they leave many "natural areas" or islands of grass that have grown to 3 feet tall or so. (Great places to lose balls and stuff) I took off on my mountain bike chasing my 4 year old boy that got too far from our site on his bike. I made a split second decision to cut through one of the grassy areas as a short cut to rescuing my wandering son and there it was. Too late to put on the breaks I had to do tricks with my bike only YouTube professionals are used to. I executed the first maneuver flawlessly and managed to pull the front tire up and over the fallen tree that was hidden from view. For a brief moment I celebrated what I thought was a victorious moment seen by all the campers and my family that were now at this point watching in wonder. But then I realized I had forgotten that I needed to perform stage two of the bike log jump. The speed at which I was going was troubling, as the momentum was so great that as the back tire collided with the tree I was instantly ejected and propelled from my seat much like a fighter pilot would experience in combat after taking enemy fire and making the decision to eject from the plane. They said I did at least one aerial flip before landing. I violently landed and hit squarely on my right upper chest and came to a full stop on my back peering upwards. I didn't move for a while, making tactical and medical observations. Meanwhile family and friends making their own observations realize I am not springing back up to declare my well being and become troubled in spirit. My 6 month pregnant wife ran faster than most thought she could but the first person I actually saw that ran to my rescue was a old man from the campsite a few doors down. They were reclined at the picnic table having. a leisurely lunch right in front of my landing zone. They had front row seats and witnessed the entire spectacle. The man was especially troubled and valued my wellbeing, the caring stranger that he was. I wanted to stay as I was, but to deflect the horror of the unknown I rose up to confirm I was still among the living. After determining I was OK this allowed my wife to breathe a sigh of relief only to be followed by a long period of uncontrollable laughter as she attempted to recount the event in detail from her vantage point. Long story short, my ribs really started aching and still bring excruciating pain with any movement. Not planning to go to the doctor to verify the extent of damages as they can't do much for rib pain. I will suck it up and start planning our next family outing. Moral of the story? Just let your kid keep wandering and exploring. It will be good for them and even better for...

First time here. It's just a few minutes off the I-10 so it's easy access for a quick overnight. The park is small. When you come in there isn't a place to stop at the entry station with your RV to go in and check-in. Normally you stop at the stop sign and go in, but they have signs saying not to park there. We just pulled in past the stop sign and pulled over to the edge partially in the dirt. Office is small and they have a small gift shop, not much beyond souvenirs. Staff was friendly and helpful, and unlike other TX state parks they actually could find my complete reservation info with my license plates. The CG is about a mile in from the gate. One nice feature is there are signs not only directing you to the sites, but telling you to go one way for odd vs the other way for even so that your hookups are on the correct side and you don't have to drive around in circles. There is one split in the road with no signage and you have to be careful because one way goes to the CG and the other goes to the group area. Right now only a couple of trails are open, one is only partially open. They just parallel the road. The other trails down by the river are closed because of rain and fallen trees. They sell ice and firewood in the CG but it is on the honor system. The bathrooms are dated yet functional, and heated. But dirty. Soap scum, globs of hair in the drain, dirt and black mold. Windows are dirty and covered in spider webs. No one 'cleans' above the 6ft level. They clearly just hose them out, don't do any actual cleaning. Hand soap dispensers were empty during our entire stay. Park is unsafe, no armed park police or enforcement rangers. There is a nature center but it is small and very basic. Mostly set up for kids. They were doing valentines for veterans when we were there. We camped at Stephen F. Austin State Park in a...

What a fantastic State Park! Last weekend we camped in campsite #81 – it was the largest campsite that I’ve seen at any State Park – it had 2 picnic tables & 1 fire ring and could easily be used for large groups, (though the official limit is 8 people per campsite). We were able to pitch our tent far away from the road and around a bend, so it offered a great deal of privacy. The parking lot is adjacent to the site, so being a “walk-in primitive” site was not an issue and the restroom is across the street, so water and restroom facilities were close by!

On Saturday morning, we went to Howell’s Riverfront in Columbus, who shuttled our car which allowed us to kayak the Colorado River, (class 1 rapids, aka easy) – great fun! As we were returning to the State Park, stopped by to visit the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any Prairie Chickens…but was told the best time to go is in the early morning, so perhaps we just missed them. Then in the afternoon went on a guided tour at San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site, which is across the street from the State Park. The guide was extremely informative and gave-us the “back-story” behind all of the exhibits – I had no idea that this area was so influential in the formation of the great State of Texas!

The following morning, we went hiking on the Barred Owl Trail, which is an easy, short 0.65 mile hike but offered several overlooks of the Brazos River. We saw several deer, so have your camera ready!

The only problem that we ran into were the mosquitos, though the guide at the Museum said it had rained the week before, so be sure to bring your bug repellent and/or wear long sleeved shirts and pants.

The campsite and restroom were very clean and we hope to return someday in order to explore the rest of...