The leaves are changing and Texas’ summer heat is gradually giving way to cooler, kinder weather perfect for a weekend spent outdoors.
Luckily for Wacoans, Central Texas is home to several Texas state parks, some as close as a 40 minute drive from downtown. The state’s park system is among the most affordable ways to ditch the doom scroll and enjoy public land, especially as federal budget cuts and a government shutdown affect operations at U.S. national parks.
The state parks highlighted below showcase the diversity of Central Texas’ landscapes, habitats and wildlife, reflecting Waco’s unique position at the convergence of four “ecoregions,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Day passes range from $2 to $8 (per-adult), while children 12 and under receive free admission. Camping spots typically run from $12 to $25 a night, with options for RV hookups and primitive tent camping. Keep in mind that fall camping reservations can fill up weeks or months in advance at more popular Texas parks, especially on weekends. So make those reservations as soon as you can.
Mother Neff State Park
Mother Neff State Park is the first and oldest state park in Texas, established in 1937. The first portion of land was donated by Isabella Eleanor Neff, the mother of former Texas Governor Pat Morris Neff, which is how it got that distinctive name.
Visitors will find easy-going trails winding beneath canopies of cedar and live oak, climbing up rock escarpments and diving down into a shallow, seasonal stream bed. A dramatic overhanging rock at the center of the park once sheltered indigenous Tonkawa people and before them, the Clovis people, almost 10,000 years ago.
But the park’s signature feature is a stone tower constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps offering a panoramic view of Coryell County’s rolling woodlands and ranches. A 2015 rebuild of the park’s entrance facility means Mother Neff has some lavish bathrooms by Texas state park standards. — Sam Shaw
Distance from Waco: 30 miles; 40-minute drive
Adult day pass: $2
Campsite: $12 to $25/night
See the wildlife: LINK
Fort Parker State Park
Fort Parker State Park, 45 minutes east of Waco, straddles two ecoregions of Texas – the Blackland Prairies and the Post Oak Savanna.
The Navasota River feeds the park’s main attraction, Lake Fort Parker, which accounts for more than half of the park’s 1,450 acres.
Seven miles of trails loop along the banks, where fishermen cast for crappie and catfish, or white bass below the lake’s dam in spring. Kayaks and canoes can be rented, and swimmers may be surprised to find pockets of cool water percolating up from the nearby spring. A spring-fed fishing pond is also accessible on the premises, just beside the dam.
Fort Parker State Park gets its name from a palisaded homestead some 3 miles south of the park. Comanches attacked the compound in 1836, killing several Parker family members and abducting young Cynthia Ann Parker. Her son, Quanah Parker, would become the Comanches’ last leader.
In 1936, the Civilian Conservation Corps built a replica of the fort, which remains open to visits outside the park.
An African-American team with the CCC built the park itself between 1935 and 1942 on the site of the former Limestone County seat of Springfield. They used hand tools and harvested local timber and stone to build the structures and a dam across the Navasota River.
The park offers tent and RV camping as well as screened shelters and a group camping site with kitchens, barracks and cabins. — Sam Shaw
Distance from Waco: 42 miles; 45-minute drive
Adult day pass: $5
Campsite: $12 to $20/night
See the wildlife: LINK
Meridian State Park
If Fort Parker State Park feels like entering the lushness of East Texas, Meridian State Park, with its arid, cactus-strewn bluffs, feels like the stage of an epic Western.
That’s not to say there isn’t water. An earthen dam impounds a 72-acre, spring-fed lake populated with largemouth bass. Kayaks are available through a self-serve kiosk.
Positioned just above the lake’s fishing pier is an unusually regal CCC club house overlooking a picnic lawn. (A note on that lawn: It is full of thorny goatheads, I discovered the hard way, so footwear is advised).
Traversing the 2.2-mile Bosque Hiking Trail around the lake yields the park’s best gems, including Bee Ledge, a limestone bluff that commands a view of the whole lake, and Fern Ledge, an overhanging lip of limestone with ferns dangling beneath it like vines.
The campground offers tent and RV camping as well as screen shelters and cabins. Bathrooms have hot showers. — Sam Shaw
Distance from Waco: 51 miles; 1 hour drive
Adult day pass: $5
Campsite: $15 to $25/night
See the wildlife: LINK
Dinosaur Valley State Park
Visitors to Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose can wade in the limestone-bottomed Paluxy River and inspect dinosaur tracks formed in the Cretaceous Era more than 113 million years ago, when this area was the beachfront of a shallow sea.
But that’s just the beginning of the charms of this popular park, opened in 1972. You can enjoy a swimming hole, horse rides, camping and 20 miles of hiking trails through rocky clifftops and lush creeks. There’s also an excellent interpretive center and a couple of giant dinosaur models rescued from the 1964 World’s Fair that demand a kitschy photo op.
Campground includes full RV hookups and tent camping, and backcountry primitive camping is allowed. – J.B. Smith
Distance from Waco: 76 miles; 90 minute drive
Adult day pass: $8
Campsite: $16 to $26/night
See the wildlife: LINK
Colorado Bend State Park
Perhaps the wildest and most remote park within a day trip of Waco, Colorado Bend State Park is known for rugged cliffs, bass fishing in the Colorado River, cave tours and waterfalls, including the 70-foot marvel that is Gorman Falls.
Some 35 miles of hiking trails offer day-use and overnight backpacking opportunities, as well as mountain biking. The campsites are geared to tent camping, though self-contained RVs are allowed. Facilities include composting toilets and outdoor showers, so be prepared for a more primitive experience. – J.B. Smith
Distance from Waco: 116 miles; 2 hour drive
Adult day pass: $5
Campsite: $10 to $15/night
See the wildlife: LINK
Lake Whitney State Park
The lake’s the thing at this popular park.
Lake Whitney State Park encompasses 775 acres but offers full access to fishing, boating, waterskiing and swimming at a 22,500-acre U.S. Corps of Engineers reservoir. It offers plenty of lakeside camping spots ranging from tent sites to full RV hookups and offers a good entry-level camping experience.
You’ll also find hike-and-bike trails and a group camp with air-conditioned facilities. – J.B. Smith
Distance from Waco: 37 miles; 45-minute drive
Adult day pass: $5
Campsite: $14 to $24/night
See the wildlife: LINK
Editor-in-Chief J.B. Smith contributed to this guide.
