Colorado Bend State Park in Texas offers excellent hiking and backpacking near Austin

Two years ago, I began a tradition of kicking off my winter backpacking season with a one-night adventure outside my home state of Florida during travel to college football games.  This year I tried Texas, as I spent the Thursday night before the Florida Gators’ road game last Saturday against the Texas Longhorns backpacking at Colorado Bend State Park. If you plan to visit Austin and are looking for a great place to backpack, hike, camp, or mountain bike (or swim, fish, or even explore caves), Colorado Bend is worth the drive.

Located two hours northwest of Austin near the town of Lampasas, Colorado Bend State Park sits on 5,328 acres along the banks of the Colorado River—not that Colorado River, but it’s lesser-known sister that lies entirely within Texas.  (At 862 miles, Texas’ Colorado River is still the 11th longest river in the U.S.) Comprised of hills cut by the river and several spring-fed creeks that pour into it, Colorado Bend State Park is a wonderland of karst and limestone, cacti and high prairie grasses, and riverside forests. It also boasts spring-fed creeks with picturesque swimming holes, the 65-foot Gorman Falls (one of the state’s largest), and caves that can be explored on guided tours. Having long been used for ranching, its lands were acquired by the state in 1984 and opened as a state park in 1987.

Colorado Bend is a playground for hikers, mountain bikers, and campers, as it boasts 32 miles of trails that can be easily connected for hikes of varying lengths through terrain ranging from flat grassy river walks to rolling upland meadows and thickets to rocky climbs through canyons.  Along with its large group campsites beside the river, Colorado Bend also offers two options for hike-in primitive camping—eight secluded riverside campsites, and another eight upland campsites in the park’s Windmill Backcountry. Each site holds up to four backpackers with no campfires permitted and can be accessed from trailheads located beside seven parking areas spread throughout the park along its main paved road.

With limited time and questionable early season fitness, I focused on the park’s eastern half and booked a campsite in the River Backcountry Camping Area, then parked on high ground at a trailhead for Lemons Ridge Pass, hoping to do a 12-mile loop over two days that would take me to two of the park’s featured attractions—Gorman Falls and Spicewood Springs Creek. My original plan was to combine the Spicewood Springs, River, and Old Gorman Road Trails with portions of Lemons Ridge Pass, Cedar Chopper Loop, and the Spicewood Canyon Trail.  Unfortunately, a downed bridge on the River Trail on my Day 2 hike kept me from reaching Gorman Falls, Cedar Chop Loop, Old Gorman Road Trail, and the westernmost mile of the River Trail, so I had to improvise and hike up from the river on Lemons Ridge Pass. In all, I hiked 11.5 miles with a total elevation gain of only 660 feet.

And I loved it.

The highlight was my hike from high ground down to the river on the 1.3-mile hikers-only Spicewood Springs Trail. After starting in a dense forest of tangled oaks, the trail soon reached the Spicewood Springs Creek, where the path forged down a mostly gentle canyon beside the creek, past outcroppings and limestone dams that formed crystal clear swimming holes that more than a few visitors from the nearby group campsite were enjoying. With seasonal washouts that change the route up the washes, some spots do require scrambling, and you will get your boots wet on several creek crossings. But the views will knock your socks off.

I was also pleased with my campsite. With the backcountry empty on a Thursday night, I had my choice of sites and picked one on a bank about ten feet above the river, nestled among leaning oaks beside a secluded connector trail. The primitive sites are spaced far from each other for privacy, and for such a relatively small park, I felt leagues away from civilization and enjoyed a starlit Texan night. I also saw several deer and a ram on the trails.

Primitive campsites can be booked here for $10 per night plus the park’s daily $5 per person entrance fee. Although the park headquarters near the group campsites has a small camp store with soft drinks, snacks, and souvenirs, you’ll want to be sure to shop for food and supplies well before you arrive, as there are few stores near the park (Lampasas is 30 miles away). Bring plenty of water, which can be replenished only at the group campsites near the park headquarters—although I had several friendly park rangers offer me water when they drove past me while I was hiking.

For a taste of Texan backcountry near Austin, you can’t beat Colorado Bend State Park.