2010 RUNNING & TRAVEL ADVENTURES

 

   
 
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MARSH MADNESS, PART 2:  
FACILITIES & OVERNIGHT ACCOMMODATIONS
@ BRAZOS BEND STATE PARK

SATURDAY, MARCH 27

 
 

(continued from previous page)

Although the campgrounds and screened shelters at Brazos Bend are heavily used throughout the year by guests who stay overnight for up to two weeks, the majority of visitors come into the park for just one day.

 

Above and below:  Spanish moss hangs from huge live oak trees
 in the 40-Acre Lake picnic area and playground.

In this entry I'll describe camping options and other day-use facilities than those I covered in the last entry. Facilities like picnic areas, restrooms, the group dining hall, park headquarters, the nature center, and George Observatory are also used by overnight guests, of course.

I'll conclude with a section debating whether all these activities and accommodations are a conflict of interest, considering Brazos Bend is also a wildlife preserve. How does park staff balance all this?

PICNIC AREAS

The park has three large picnic areas with numerous tables and grills. I highlighted their locations in yellow on this map of the park facilities (click this link for a larger map you can read):

All three picnic areas have bathrooms and parking for several hundred people who want to use the tables and/or walk on the trails around 40-Acre, Elm, and Hale Lakes.

Two of the picnic areas have nice children's playgrounds -- 40-Acre Lake and Hale Lake. There is a third playground near the screened shelters and RV campground loops for overnight campers but day-use visitors often sneak into it, too:

The Elm Lake and Hale Lake picnic areas each have a large covered picnic pavilion that can be reserved for a fee. Each group pavilion has electricity, water, a large BBQ grill, and picnic tables that will accommodate about 75 people.

DINING HALL

A large enclosed dining hall that seats about 100 people is located between the screened room loop and primitive campsites:

It can be rented for either overnight or day use. It has electricity and water, a full kitchen, restroom, air conditioning/heat, ceiling fans, tables, chairs, and BBQ pit. Park staff also use it for meetings, luncheons, and interpretive programs that are too large to be held in the nature center.

OVERNIGHT ACCOMMODATIONS

Unlike some Texas state parks, Brazos Bend does not have a lodge or fully enclosed cabins for guests. It does have a nice diversity of camping options for folks with and without tents or RVs.

Reservations can be made for up to two weeks at a time and may be extended if sites are available. Most sites can be reserved -- not specific sites, just types of sites. Upon arrival, however, guests may request a certain site and get it if it is available. Overflow sites are first-come, first-served.

This section of the park map shows the two big campground loops, smaller screened room loop, and primitive camping area (latter is highlighted in yellow):

The overflow area, group camping sites, and equestrian campground are located in other areas of the park.

Word of warning: weekends are usually booked up far in advance, even in the winter, for the screened shelters, RV loops, equestrian campground, and primitive campsites.

If you run into that problem, ask about staying in the overflow area or remote equestrian campground. Those usually fill last. It's much easier to get a screened room or campground site with little advance notice on weekdays, except for Spring Break in March when the entire park is packed. The only reason Jim and I got to stay that week was our status as volunteer campground hosts.


200-loop when it's not packed

Note that applicable entry fees ($5 per person age 13 and up, per day) are charged in addition to site fees unless visitors have a Texas state park pass. The passes are a bargain for individuals, couples, and families who use the state parks several times a year, even if it's only for day use. They're a tremendous value for folks like us who stay overnight in the parks for several weeks or months each year!

Here are your overnight options:

SCREENED ROOMS

There are fourteen handsome screened shelters that sport the park's ubiquitous alligator motif:

They are arranged in a large grassy area (below) near the campgrounds, a restroom with showers, and a large dining hall/conference center that groups can rent.

The shelters currently cost $25/night. They aren't heated and don't have any utilities but they provide shade, a large grassy yard, and a dry place when it's raining. Some folks sleep inside their shelter on a cot or air mattress/sleeping bag. Others set up tents in the grass outside or park an RV in the driveway and use the shelter for dining and socializing.

There are plans to enclose one of the shelters this year so it can be heated, cooled, and locked with a key. Check this fees link on the park website re: reserving any of the shelters.

RV SITES

There are two campground loops, designated "100" and "200," with a total of 73 sites that are large enough for most RVs. Folks with tents also reserve them, including metro-area Boy, Girl, and Cub Scout groups that may set up several tents at each site. Our 36-foot 5th-wheel would fit into almost any of these sites with room to spare --  a luxury for a public park.

We stayed in two sites in the 100-loop this month -- the first site we rented for six days, and one of the campground host sites for the last three weeks:


Our spacious host site

When host sites are vacant, the park sometimes rents them out to visitors who want a sewer and are willing to pay an extra $5/day for it. Host sites can't be reserved ahead of time, however.

Guest sites have water and 30-amp electricity but no sewer connection; there is a dump station near the entrance to the 100-loop. These sites cost $20/night whether you're sleeping in a tent or a big Class A motorhome.

Brazos Bend doesn't have a weekly rate in the off-season because there is no off-season this close to the Gulf! It's a very popular park and doesn't need that incentive to draw visitors.


Our woodsy "back yard"

Both campground loops have restrooms with showers. Those are also scheduled to be upgraded sometime in the next year.

There is a small laundry room for campers to use (not just campground hosts, as in some parks) in the rear of the 200-loop restroom. Most of the time we were there, however, the two washers and two dryers were not working properly.

Both campground loops are very attractive. The 100-loop has more shade and protection from wind; the "yards" tend to be smaller but still afford some privacy. The 200-loop (below) has more open, grassy areas to set up tents and for kids to run around but tends to be more windy.

Although our Verizon signal is weak in the campground, we are able to get online OK. WiFi is also available at the park headquarters and nature center. Our TV reception is excellent with only our camper antenna; we have clear reception of all the major networks and PBS.

So far, this is my favorite Texas state park campground -- and park, too.

Brazos Bend is a good little ways from the stores, laundromats, YMCAs, and restaurants we prefer to use but we could find everything we wanted in terms of goods and services in Sugar Land and Missouri City on the south side of metro Houston. Since they are 20-25 miles one way we limited our trips "to town" to a couple times a week.

PRIMITIVE CAMPING SITES

Fourteen primitive sites situated around a large grassy field between the 200-loop and the screened room loop fill up quickly on weekends. Vehicles cannot park right next to these sites. All camping equipment must be carried a little ways from two small parking areas. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. A kids' playground and restrooms with showers are located nearby.

OVERFLOW CAMPING AREA

This loop near the park entrance/headquarters has one host site with hookups and seventeen rather small guest sites. The closest restrooms are in the HQ building.

Several of the sites have water, electricity, grills, and fire rings ($15/night) and are suitable for RVs.

The remainder (shown above) are primitive sites with picnic tables, grills, and fire rings but no hookups, for $8/night.

Vehicles park in the paved parking lot next to each site, so equipment doesn't have to be carried as far as it does in the primitive campground near the 200-loop. Tents can be set up in the grass on the slope above the parking lot. Few people used these sites during our stay -- except Spring Break week and the two bookend weekends, when they were full.

PRIMITIVE EQUESTRIAN CAMPGROUND

Fondly referred to as "EQ" by park staff, this remote campground is located inside the far northeastern corner of the park and must be accessed via ten miles of roadway outside the park. Two horse trails allow access to the other park trails by foot, bike, or hoof but motorized vehicles other than official park ATVs and trucks can't use them. It's a good three miles on those trails to the nature center and more to the most popular lakes.

This is the only campground for folks with horses, however. And some non-equestrian campers love the campground because of its seclusion.

There are twenty shaded sites in a nice pecan grove. The campground is located at the trailheads for eight miles of the multi-use trails that equestrians may use. There are no water or electric hookups at these sites, or shower facilities nearby. There is water for horses and a portable toilet for humans. The cost is $12/night.

Jim, Ben (another campground host, L. in photo below), and I drove two four-wheel drive Gators out several park trails to the equestrian campground one very foggy morning soon after we began our hosting job so we could put up some newly-painted signs:

That afternoon I went back out on Jim's mountain bike to the campground to see it when the sun was out -- it looked more inviting then!

A few families without horses have used the equestrian campground this month when the other campgrounds were full. We haven't seen any horses yet; the trails have been too wet most of the month for the backcountry horse trails to be open to the public.

GROUP CAMPGROUNDS

There are two separate group campgrounds near Hale Lake that may be reserved only by sponsored non-profit youth groups. One costs $25/night for up to sixteen people, including the adults. The other is $40/night for up to thirty-two people. These sites were busy with Scout, church, and other groups during Spring Break and each weekend we've been here, but empty during the week.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST?

Allowing recreational activities in a nature preserve creates all kinds of challenges to park staff who have to balance what can be conflicting demands between protection of the plants and wildlife vs. allowing visitors to experience the wonders of their surroundings.

The more people who come to the park, hopefully the more advocates there will be to preserve it for future generations. That's a Good Thing.

You can probably guess what some of the Bad Things are.


Fishing/picnicking pier along Elm Lake

I'm surprised there aren't more rules and regulations at Brazos Bend than there are. For example, pets are allowed on a leash everywhere except in buildings. Every time I see a little yappy-dog walk within a couple feet of a ten-foot alligator I think "Gator Bait" but very few dogs (and no curious children!) have ever been harmed by alligators at Brazos Bend.

One firm rule is that dogs and people, including fishermen, aren't allowed to wade or swim in any of the bodies of water in the park because of the alligators. Although the 'gators usually stay pretty close to water, they've been spotted farther inland in the forests, prairie areas, and campgrounds. We saw a five-foot alligator strolling over the lawn near the nature center one day, apparently traveling between two lakes half a mile apart.

Spring is mating season and the males are on the move! It was cool to hear them bellowing occasionally.


These folks were oblivious to the 'gator (I highlighted him) in the water
below the trail until another visitor pointed it out to them.

It was hard for Cody to not be able to jump into the lakes, creeks, and swamps -- he's a Lab, after all. But we didn't allow him in at all. I kept him on his leash 99% of the time here, too, in case we unexpectedly ran into a 'gator. He pretty much ignored them, even the great big ones right along the trails.

The only time he showed any interest in the critters was a few times when younger ones got scared and quickly returned to the water. If any critter runs, his instinct is to chase it briefly. Fortunately, he obeys the command, "Leave it!"

When alligators were already lying in the grass next to a trail they usually just stayed there, not even batting an eyelid when dogs and people passed a few feet away. Although some keep their eyes open, many keep them closed and have that unique "grin" on their snout:


One big, happy boy!

That made me smile, too!

I think some of the 'gators must thrive on the attention they receive! There are plenty of islands out in the lakes and swamps and some very remote areas of the park that are "off the beaten path" where they could live in total seclusion from civilization if they wanted peace and quiet, yet many of them live around heavily-visited 40-Acre and Elm Lakes and the spillway that connects them.

Feeding and teasing the alligators is a big no-no but I saw folks (even adults, to my dismay) doing it several times. All we volunteers could do when we saw folks misbehaving badly was 1) as diplomatically as possible, explain how the behavior adversely affects the wildlife or other visitors, 2) warn them about potential fines, and 3) report anything really egregious to a ranger.


I had fun driving the ATVs around the park to pick up trash and place signs
we'd painted!  Ironically, one brand is called a Gator.

Some ignorant people also throw trash in the lakes and wetlands. Park staff and volunteers (like us campground hosts!) are kept busy with litter control. It frustrated me that I couldn't fish trash out of the water when it was beyond my reach but there was no way I was going to wade out and get it! On a daily basis volunteers pick up what trash they can reach in the campgrounds, on trails, along the roads, etc. but rangers have to periodically get in boats to retrieve trash in the water.

Ironically, the largest problem with litter was in the three large picnic areas -- where there are plenty of trash bins! There wasn't much litter on any of the trails.


Jim tidies up a parking area at Hale Lake with a leaf blower.

It's a shame people don't have more pride in their surroundings and assume more personal responsibility. I just don't understand how folks can trash such a beautiful, wild place (or anywhere else, for that matter).

This park does an excellent job trying to better educate its visitors with numerous exhibits and signs along the roads and trails, beautiful colored maps with explanations, a large nature center, lots of free interpretive programs, wildlife discovery programs for school and youth groups, and a large, active corps of volunteers who are available to answer questions and keep the place clean and inviting.


One of my jobs was folding maps for visitors, a job I could do in the camper at night.

Hopefully those efforts will continue to instill the value of keeping wild places natural, yet also available for recreational purposes.

FURTHER INFORMATION AND RESERVATIONS

Check the park website for current information and procedures. The entire state park system is due for a computer makeover later this spring, with its own totally new reservation system. Once the inevitable kinks are worked out, it should be easier to reserve sites and it will eliminate the current reservation fee that is charged by Reserve America.

Next entry:  heading to Georgia for Jim's next race

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, and Cody the Ultra Lab

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© 2010 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil

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