Busy! But worth it!
Written: Apr 10 '06
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Pros: Beautiful park with something for everyone.
Cons: Very busy, but you'll understand why.
The Bottom Line: Quintessential Texas State Park
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| jlundquist1's Full Review: Inks Lake State Park |
Finally it seemed as if the Texas weather would warm up a bit. My family, and a friend and his camped here in April. We stayed in a our pop-up and they in a tent. Inks Lake is obviously a very popular state park as it is very very busy, but it's well worth it if you can put up with the crowds. As with all Texas State Parks, but particularly this one a reservation is a necessity. I had called to make a reservation and was told there were no water/elec. Sites left for our weekend. I then tried the Reserve America website link from the park page and nabbed the last one. The park has over 300 sites. Mostly water/electric ( I don’t believe there are any full hookup sites and there appears to be only one dump station for the whole park) some water only sites, some primitive hike in sites, and about 20 cabins. The cabins are new with bunk beds and airconditioning! As far as I can tell all but 3 of the water/electric sites are back in. Most of the sites are smaller, with just enough room on our site for a pop up and a tent. They have a paved, fairly level pad and even though I was a bit nervous putting our 8ft pop up in I saw plenty of large fifth wheels and long bumper pulls put in with no trouble.
The park has all the normal amenities that one would expect with a Texas State Park. The bathrooms were clean and plentiful. With as busy as the park is you can expect a wait for a shower during peak times, but nothing ridiculous, although I can imagine during summer holiday weekends it might get worse. Fees are $8/night for primitive sights, $12 for water only, $18 for water/electric, and $45 for cabins plus the $5 per person/day usage fee waived if you have a state parks pass. On a side note, I’ve gotten used to paying a little bit more for Texas State Parks but with that I wish they would put soap dispensers in the bathrooms. Oh well, I can only dream. The park also has a store that sells all the necessities (including eggs, which was great since we forgot the 2dozen we had bought to bring with us) groceries, bait, and they rent canoes for about $10/hr $23/4hrs $40ish for a whole day as well as paddle boats and kayaks. There are 8 playgrounds and an ampitheater which frequently hosts concerts (bring your own chair and get there early).
The park is huge. It claims 1201 acres but encompasses almost everything along Park Road 4 from Hwy 29 to Long Horn Cavern State Park on Hwy 281. They also claim 7.5 miles of hiking trails but I gather that it’s more than that. As you drive along PR 4 there are several trail heads that emerge not marked on the park map. Although we didn’t hike at all this trip I’m sure it’s fabulous. Inks Lake is covered with pink granite outcroppings and prickly pear cactus. The pinnacle of any trip to Inks Lake is a trek either by hiking or boat/canoe to the Devils Waterhole where a stream feeds into the lake by way of beautiful granite cliffs some 30 ft high in places. I saw plenty of people much braver than I cliff diving there.
Wildlife abound at the park and are very used to their human visitors. We saw plenty of armadillo, squirrels, and there is a herd of deer inhabiting the park that seems to take as much interest in the campers as we did in them. Inks lake is moderately large at about 831 acres however there are plenty of coves and inlets that make it great place to paddle. The park has a boat ramp which is very used, but the portion of the lake that is surrounded by the park is marked as a no wake zone. I thought it was neat that from our campsite, you could look out on the lake and see the damn for it, and Lake Buchannan. The fishing was good, and apparently a lot of people think so based on the number of boat trailers I saw by the ramp. We had no problem catching blue gill and catfish from the shore and a canoe trip served up some freshwater drum.
Inks Lake is a great park if you can tolerate the crowds. Park staff are definitely used to it though and have a good system in place to get you in and out with as little trouble as possible. We checked in on Friday at about 5pm and were in and out of headquarters in about 15 minutes. Heck I’ve spent longer checking in at other parks on weekdays! If you’re looking for peace and quiet this might not be the park for you. It’s busy, the other side of the lake has private residences and campgrounds, Park Road 4 is a traveled highway, and there were plenty of small aircraft overhead but we enjoyed the campground atmosphere. If you go you should also make the 6mi trip down to Long Horn Cavern. Be prepared and don’t be shocked by the fees $10.95/adult, $5.95 child 2-12, $1 off max. 2 admissions with a parks pass. It’s well worth it for the 1.5hr tour
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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