Park 1/89

Planning my first park visit

Once I committed to buying the Texas State Parks pass, I just looked at the Parks map and figured out which parks were closest to me and started looking at pictures of each of the parks. Lucky for me (or unlucky, however you want to look at it), there are only about 4 parks total within 3 hours of my house so that narrowed the list down pretty quickly.

I looked at images, park maps, trail maps, and the cost to camp (+daily entrance fees) for each of the four parks near me and just picked one I felt drawn too.

As you can see in the image below, there are a lot of State parks in Texas, but being such a huge state, many of these parks are 5-8 hours away from me!

Once I decided on visiting Huntsville State Park, I reserved my campsite online and used my park pass to waive the daily entrance fees for my visit. I printed the Park Map and Trails Map to bring with me in case I didn’t have cell service out in the park once I arrived.

After reserving my campsite, I received an email asking me to print my pre-registration form to make my check in process easier so I did that too.

Packing

Camping/hiking is not a new hobby for me so I’ve accumulated quite a bit of gear over time but planning a camping trip still takes a lot of time to get everything you may need together. In preparation for each trip, I print off the REI Camping Checklist to set me on the right path and ALWAYS check the weather forecast.

There is a lot more on this list than I typically need, but it covers just about everything I do need. I typically add a tripod to every list so I can take pictures with me in them while on my trip!

I always pack the car the day or night before my trip so it is ready to go and I can do one last – “Do I have everything” check before hitting the road. I also like to make sure it all fits in a way that will allow me to sleep in my car if the weather takes a turn or I find myself in an area that doesn’t feel safe to camp (since I often camp alone). Luckily I’m only 5’2″, so car camping in my Subaru Crosstrek is pretty easy for me.

As a person who cares about consumerism and sustainability, I try to find a friend or coworker who has any gear that I’m missing before I go out and buy something. Although I love to camp, I only go a couple times a year so buying brand new items to store in my home all year isn’t really necessary if I can just borrow stuff a few times a year!

I always tend to pack all my camping equipment, cooking utensils, and hiking daypack before I pack any clothes/food. I think I pack my clothes/food last because it’s inevitable that I always need something to be washed right before I pack and some of the food comes from the refrigerator that has to wait until last minute.

Also, as a traveler, I tend to think in that order… if I forget something, I’d rather it be clothes than my tent or something important because clothes are easily replaced at any location and aren’t typically very expensive in comparison to a cook stove, sleeping bag or other gear.

Arriving at the Park

Getting to the park was SUPER easy. It was literally right off the highway! No winding turns, confusing routes, or hidden entrances. Access was easy as could be.

When I pulled up to the entrance, I provided my Texas State Park Pass and the my printed pre-registration form and the park staff provided me with a receipt to tape to my dash (tape provided) with the gate code to get in and out after closing.

My first surprise came immediately after entering the park and driving to my campsite. The grounds are really spread out and getting to my site actually took a few minutes. It is really spread out! I reserved site 108 which is a water only campsite (no RVs) from Nov. 6th-8th. The park did have electric sites, cabins, and RV sites in different areas throughout the park as shown in the Park Map below.

Immediately after I got to my campsite, I backed in and started unloading my tent. I knew it was supposed to rain that day so I wanted to get my tent up and rain cover on before it really started downpouring.

Setting up a tent in the rain is NO fun at all.

While I was setting up camp, an older gentleman (park staff) drove by and introduced himself and welcomed me to the park. I thought that was a really nice gesture and made me feel welcome and safe.

I chose a site right across from the Park Host, which is someone who has offered to provide visitor information, maintenance, general housekeeping, staffing for camp stores, etc. in exchange for a campsite for an extended period of time.

Camping across from a Park Host automatically makes me feel safer when camping alone because they know the grounds and are there to ensure everyone has a great experience. They’re more likely than typical visitors to spot something that seems odd/suspicious behavior.

Setting up did not take long and luckily, I did not get rained on!

Trail Hiking Experience

Although I really enjoy camping, I plan my visits more around the hiking opportunities. I love being out on the trails, being active, and looking for those views that just make you breathe lighter and feel happier.

Once I chose Huntsville State park, I immediately downloaded the Trail Map and Trail Descriptions and made a plan. I knew I had two full days to hike and about 1/2 a day the day I arrived.

As shown above, there are 6 main trails in Hunstville State Park. I wanted to hike as many as possible.

Prairie Branch Loop & Dogwood Trails

On Sunday, when I arrived, and after I set up camp, I decided to go take on two of the smaller hikes. I started with Prairie Branch Loop (1.5 miles) and then Dogwood Trail (1.8 miles) – which I had to drive to because the trail head was too far from my campsite.

Here are some of the photos I took on the trails during my hike:

Both hikes were easy, mostly flat ground, not a lot of elevation gain at all. Trails were well defined Apple watch stats on my hike say:

• 1 hour 10 minutes, starting around 3:45pm
• 3.09 Miles

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Day 2 – My plan was to hike the longest trail, Triple C Trail (8.4 miles) but I found out upon entering the park that they had a good chunk of it closed off so I couldn’t actually hike it through. After learning that, I chose to skip that hike and do the second longest – Chinquapin Trail (6.9 miles).

I absolutely loved this hike. I tend to prefer loop hikes because I do not like doubling back on trails unless I have to. I lose interest. I did take a wrong turn near the end though and ended up on a different trail that added about .7 miles to my hike so I was well over 7 miles upon completion.

My apple watch recorded:

• 2 hours 53 minutes, starting around 9:15am
• 7.56 miles

This trail was everything I needed that morning. It was relatively flat and well hiked so the trail wasn’t difficult at all. It was covered for the most part in the woods, but also had great rest stops that lead out to the lake and even a little internal pond. I only saw 2 other couples, 1 other hiker, and 2 cyclists on the trail that morning.

My plan for my last day was to get up, eat, hike the Coloneh trail and then head out, but I got a late start, took awhile to pack out and just didn’t end up doing any hiking that morning. I did, however have my morning coffee at one of the picnic tables by the lake with an awesome morning view.

I’d love to come back and hike the Triple C trail when they get it all opened back up. I think that one, out of sheer distance, will be a good challenge for me.

My Review

I would absolutely love to visit this park again in the future. It was easy to find, campsites were big, plenty of picnic tables, restrooms, bathhouses, benches on the trails, and staff around to assist as needed.

Since I arrived on a Sunday, a lot of the campers were packing up to leave and head out. I didn’t have anyone camp in either of the spots next to me either night I was there (which I really enjoyed). It made for a really quiet and relaxing trip. I may actually just try to do this in the future for all my camping trips.

The only things I’d caution about the park from my experience are:

• In the area that I camped in, you can definitely hear the highway traffic at night. The park was almost dead silent (minus the insect sounds) except for the traffic. It isn’t aggressive or even really loud, but it’s there. I didn’t notice it until the middle of the night. I woke up to use the restroom and when I tried to fall back asleep, it was all I could focus on.
• The park is pretty spread out so you have to drive around for hiking trail heads, swimming area, to visit the camp store, etc. I like to just park my car and leave it, but I wasn’t able to do that at this park.

Next time I visit, I’d like to rent a kayak or canoe and spend some time out on the water too! It’s calm and flat so it would be an nice, easy float around Lake Raven.

Texas Parks and Wildlife created a pretty great YouTube video to share how the park was made as well as what amentias they offer in the video below.

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Now I can officially write in my first entry into my Texas State Parks Passport!