TX State Parks Fan? You Have To Go!!
Written: Mar 02 '07
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Pros: Recently paved, Large spread out. LOTS TO DO!
Cons: Wouldn't go in mid-summer
The Bottom Line: bring your camera, hiking boots, and bicycle. Make a reservation. This park is awesome!
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| jlundquist1's Full Review: Brazos Bend State Park |
I thought about not reviewing this park. I don’t know why. I thought with a park this big, this beautiful, this unique, people would know about it. I saw it already had 5 reviews. Why would anyone want to hear what I need to say? We’ve been to a bunch of Texas state parks, and there were already five reviews on this one. That was until we went to Brazos bend and our visit made me ponder questions like: why do Cardinals seem more red, does cheap beer taste great, does a 4 inch foam mattress feel like a royal bed, and why do mornings just smell so great when you’re camping. Brazos Bend didn’t answer these questions, but they sure made me ponder them more! All this and alligators, heck I had to review.
Brazos Bend is located about 30 minutes north east of Lake Jackson around the town of Damon. My wife and I have decided to name this area the “Lake Jackson Triangle” since anytime we venture that way we get lost, usually in Houston traffic. As we did this time. Brazos Bend is a very large, very popular Texas state park with over 5000 acres, 7 lakes, and 77 camping sites. We visited a weekend in Feb. As usual a reservation is essential. When we visited the park was full, but un-like other popular parks we’ve visited Brazos Bend didn’t feel full. Minus a handful of campers the park was occupied by many Boy Scout & church groups. By the plaques on most of the benches and fishing piers it appears that this park is highly used by the Boy Scouts. If you go on a weekend be prepared that there will be a lot of younger (noisy) kids there!
Brazos Bend is awesome though. It claims 7 lakes. These seem to be mostly swamp land that was impounded into separate lakes (although there’s plenty of swamp left). I was amazed after getting home and checking the web-site again that this park wasn’t created by the CCC. The park has existed since 1977, although many of the trees have been here for a while. One old oak by the nature center was so wide that with both my 38’’ arms stretched they couldn’t reach the edge.
Ok, on to the review! The best thing about Brazos Bend is that it has been recently re-paved. The roads and camping sites are very nice. The pads are level featuring 30 amp service and water. As usual for Tx state parks the bathrooms are plentiful and clean. I was amazed that there were hand soap dispensers in the bathrooms. If you’ve read my other reviews you’ll understand. In our bathroom (for sites 200+) however the showeres were lacking privacy doors/curtains. Not really a big deal, but with all the boy scout groups at the park the bathrooms were busy and I would’ve like a little privacy. My wife said there were doors in the women’s stalls, but little hot water. No big deal though when you think about the number of people there.
There is tons to due at Brazos Bend except swimming and boating! Hey have I said that there’s alligators here? On our trip we saw 32 ranging from 1 to what we figure is about 12 ft. Don’t think this is a zoo, the alligators are loose and can be anywhere. Be careful with small children or dogs (both of which we had and neither got eaten!) There are miles of trails and this park is awesome for hiking. If you want to see alligators, the best spots seem to be anywhere around Elm, 40acre Lake, and the trail between. We also saw alligators at Hale Lake, and I guess they are all over the park. We didn’t see any around the camping areas. The park has a nature center that has several programs/guided hikes during the weekend. The Houston Museum of Science also has an observatory on the park which is open to the public on Sat.’s from 3-11 $5/per.
We visited during a warm Feb. weekend. I’d love to go back to this park, and we’ll definitely bring our bikes the next time. The park has tons of trails, some pedestrian only, some multi use, and plenty for equestrian use. Most of the popular trails are gravel and perfect for bikes, plus the park is so big you could spend a day just on the paved roads. I’m guessing this isn’t the best park in the summer for two reasons: 1. with all the swamp land I imagine the mosquitoes are unbearable! 2. you can’t swim, for good reason. We didn’t fish here because we forgot our poles. I didn’t see anyone fishing although there are plenty of piers. Remember, there are 12 ft alligators in this park. I didn’t really want to fish anyway!!!
Recommended:
Yes
Best time to go: Anytime
Recommended for: Anybody
Review Topic: Campgrounds & Lodging
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Epinions.com ID:
jlundquist1
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Member: J Lundquist
Location: Central Texas
Reviews written: 23
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
We camp ALOT!, we're frugal and we love bargains.
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