Dates of Stay: Last two weeks of November 2016

After the lack of maintenance at the city-operated park for the first two weeks of my stay in Austin, it was a pleasure to stay at McKinney Falls State Park. The rangers and camp hosts keep everything nice and tidy there. Every day a camp host in a golf cart policed the area and deep cleaned the bathrooms. As my site across from the bathrooms did not have a sewer hook up, I used the showers, and they were quite clean.

You can make a reservation for the park, but not for a specific site. The line can get long to enter the park, but you are supposed to stop there, pay, go pick out your site, and come back and tell them which one you chose. Be aware that not every site has 50-amp service, and none of them have sewer hook ups. There is a dump station in between the two camping loops. Still, a good value at $24 a night for Austin. (You will also need a Texas State Parks Pass, which is good for year and costs $70.)

After being remote from downtown Austin for two weeks at the other park, it was wonderful to be only a 10-minute drive to the South Congress area. The park is 13 miles southwest of Austin.

I am embarrassed to say I did not take advantage of all the beauty the park has to offer. I was busy exploring Austin, and I hosted friends at the campsite for Thanksgiving dinner, courtesy of Threadgills.

But, here’s a photo from Tripadvisor of beautiful Onion Creek, which I will visit the next time I stay at the park.