Did You Know?

Texas state parks offer luxurious accommodations for comfortable camping

AUSTIN, Texas – For those who don’t have much of a taste for roughing it, there is still no excuse to not visit Texas state parks. Thirty-seven Texas state parks offer a range of indoor overnight accommodations to suit any taste, from the most Spartan to the most luxurious.

On one end of the spectrum are the rustic campsites, which offer a picnic table, fire ring and a grill. These sites are perfect for campers who want to get away from it all, and generally rent for about $8 per night. They are a stark contrast to the comfortable, furnished cabins offered at more than a dozen state parks, whose amenities include beds, air conditioning, heating, hot showers, stoves, refrigerators, microwaves and much more. These cabins do cost a bit more – somewhere in the range of $75 to $100 per night – but it is worth it for campers who want to enjoy the outdoors, but also enjoy some of the comforts of home. Here are some of the best bets:

• Caddo Lake State Park: The camping accommodations at Caddo Lake are some of the finest in the state, with total of nine cabins offering a range of amenities. Two of the nine cabins accommodate two campers apiece, four are medium-sized cabins that accommodate four campers each and the remaining three cabins sleep six campers each. After a full day of hiking, swimming, picnicking, nature study, fishing and boating, campers can rest up in a cabin complete with central air conditioning and heating, a bathroom and shower with hot water and a microwave. The 4-and 6-person cabins include all of these things, plus a two-burner stove, dorm-sized refrigerator and a gas-log fireplace. All of the cabins also feature a waist-high grill and picnic table outside. Two of the four-person cabins are ADA-accessible.
• Palo Duro Canyon State Park: The state park built around the “Grand Canyon of Texas” only offers three cabins, but they feature the most luxurious human habitation in the canyon since Clovis and Folsom Peoples first settled there more than 12,000 years ago. Both cabins have air conditioning, heat, outside picnic tables and grills, a small refrigerator, a coffee pot and a microwave. Cabins have two bedrooms, one with two twin beds and one with a full bed. There is a bathroom with a shower between rooms, and linens are provided. For those with a taste for the rustic, Palo Duro also offers four “cow camp cabins”— screened-in shelters with two bunk beds each, as well as tables and chairs.
• Cooper Lake State Park: Cooper Lake offers 15 of the most modern cabins in any Texas state park. They sleep four people apiece, several of them are ADA accessible, and they feature central heat and air-conditioning and kitchens with microwaves, range tops and refrigerators. Each cabin has a front porch and a rear deck with BBQ grill and picnic table.