Brazos Bend State Park

Incredible state park with huge sites and expansive trails

Brazos Bend has got to be one of our favorite state parks ever! We absolutely loved all of the nature to explore and the extensive trail system. We saw all sorts of wildlife and were so impressed with how well the park was kept. Not to mention, the sites were huge and very well spaced out. Although it was a bit far from Houston, you could still easily drive in for the day for a visit. We loved this place and will be back again!

The one thing I didn’t like was the gate system after hours. After 10pm, the gates close and you have to use a code to get in/out. This normally wouldn’t bother me because most gates are automatic- however, this gate is a combo pad lock. Getting out of the car at 2am in the middle of the wilderness in pitch dark was a little creepy. I’m sure they will upgrade it when they have the resources! 😊

This Texas state park has Texas-sized campsites and a wide variety of amenities, making it a winner. Sites are generally very long and spaced out very nicely. Although the oak trees don't provide any meaningful visual screening between sites, the spacing alone was enough to provide a reasonable sense of privacy. Some sites are under an oak tree canopy while others are out in the open surrounded by grass; consult with a satellite view of the campground to select a site you prefer.

Our site was truly enormous, a double-wide site that was 60 feet long, and while not perfectly level it was large enough that we could work with it to find the most level spot to park. Our site was water and electric only, and unfortunately the water bib was very drippy (like many others we noticed) but otherwise worked fine. The closest bathhouse was in good condition and kept reasonably clean, even during a holiday week when it was obvious that the cleaning staff had days off.

The other amenities of the park include a nature center with frequent programs and hands-on activities for kids, an observatory open on Saturday afternoons and evenings, and (our favorite) 37 miles of trails suitable for hiking and biking. The nature center, observatory, and trails are easily accessible from the campground. The trails offer options to hike along lake shores, to observation towers, along the river, and through upland forest areas. During our visit in December the birdwatching was excellent (mostly water birds but also a good variety of forest birds) and the trails were busy, but because the park is so large it never felt crowded. We also saw plenty of alligators, the park's signature animal. The oaks draped in Spanish moss, the peaceful marshes, and the calm waterways combined to make this an outstanding place to enjoy nature.

There are a few gas stations with convenience stores located 1.5 miles south of the park entrance, but otherwise the best place for shopping and services is in Sugar Land, about 25 miles away. On AT&T, we had only 1 bar of LTE service using our MyFi but it was solid enough to stream movies and do FaceTime (forgot to test speed while we were there).

In spring East Texas is emerald green and adrift in wildflowers, and this beautiful, well-kept park is a photographers paradise. Off the beaten path in farm and cattle country, the RV spaces are level and well-spaced for privacy. Lots of easy hiking trails that take you by beautiful lakes where you can see deer, alligators, water birds, turtles, and more. Peaceful and quiet. Firewood available. Nice showers. Playgrounds for children. Informative nature center open daily where you can pet baby alligators, and an observatory that has night-time programs on Saturdays.

We were there for 2 mid-week days in early April and the park was only 40 percent full. Wish we could have stayed longer. The one drawback was poor cellphone coverage under the trees.

I think this is my favorite of the Texas state parks we stayed at. We were camping during the week, so it was pretty empty/quiet. There are great walking/hiking trails (although some were still closed due to hurricane damage). You could see a mud line on all the trees. Everything must have been under water. There are alligator, vultures, deer, birds. The bathrooms were OK and they had a laundry room.

I made a youtube video of park at: https://youtu.be/1ziNzvc1FJ0

Cell phone data download/uploads (Mbps) using Speedtest:
Verizon 8.48/0.26
T-Mobile 5.17/1.17
ATT 4.32/2.20

With Weboost cell booster:
Verizon 15.0/1.0
T-Mobile 4.94/4.59
ATT 8.60/3.26

This was our first time camping at Brazos Bend State Park and we were surprised at how much we loved it. It's a well maintained 4,900 acre park located approximately 25 miles southwest of Houston. There are two loops for camping with sites that are wide, deep and level. There is also a loop with cabins and a primitive tent camping area. These loops have clean restrooms with showers and one of them also has a small laundry mat. There are over 30 miles of hiking/biking trails. These trails traverse three different ecosystems; coastal prairie, bottomland forest, and wetlands (which include lakes and marshlands). This park is excellent for bird watching, but it's most famous resident is the American alligator! The park also has a nature center where you can pet a baby alligator, and a rat snake, plus observe several poisonous snakes that live in the park. Another highlight is the George Observatory! It's a satellite facility of the Houston Museum of Natural History with three domed telescopes that is opened every Saturday evening.

Pros
Clean and well maintained
Deep and wide camping sites
Excellent hiking/biking trails
Excellent birding
Alligators
Observatory
Nature Center

Cons
Mosquitos
Mediocre cell phone reception

It rained quite a bit whilst we were here and of course it being August the heat and humidity are probably too high for most people although rain helped keep it manageable. That said we pretty much had the whole park to ourselves until Friday night, apart from the camp host and a few volunteers. Quite a bit of wildlife to see during our many in park cycle trips. Lots of trees everywhere and the whole place is well kept and clean including the close by toilet and shower facility. We had a great time in his pretty much deserted park 40 or so miles from Houston's huge population.