Windmill State Park – NE

Location & Map

  • When – June, 2019
  • Weather – Very pleasant!

Facilities

  • Notes
    • This is a huge camping area, clean and grassy.
    • Clean shower and restrooms centered in the camping area.
    • Plenty of room for tent or screen room use at every site.
    • Nice fire pits, (even a little wood dumped at our site.
    • Many partially shaded sites, but you would need to drive the area to choose an available site first.
    • Reservations required for multiple nights on the Nebraska State Parks web site.
    • Walking paths to the lakes, windmill and gazebo Handicap accessible.
  • Park Map

What we liked / disliked

  • Notes
    • No water at individual sites, only community spigots.
    • Not easily accessed during construction through the end of 2019!! Eastbound I-80 access forces you to go 5 miles further east and return on the westbound side. This was NOT noted on the state parks website.
    • A constant noise of I-80 traffic and trains.
  • Wildlife
    • Turkeys seemed to have a run of the place! 🙂
  • Media
    • Some TV and good cell service

Photos

Lake Thunderbird State Park – OK

Location & Map

  • When – June, 2019
  • Weather – generally pleasant

Facilities

  • Notes:
    • Lots of tent areas and picnic areas in this park.
    • A nice playground and swimming area with lifejackets available for use.
    • The pads are level but close together. During peak season and weekends, it will be noisy.
    • Dump staton is a single use station so be patient on the weekends.
    • This too is a quiet park… save the power boats… two or more boats were so loud you could hear them even after they had crossed the lake!

Park Map

What we liked / disliked

  • Notes
    • Paid shower in new building
      • Cold shower in old buildings… a good incentive to pay for the showers!
    • Laundry… unfortunately it was out of order.
    • No trails in this park.
  • Wildlife
    • Geese everywhere
  • Media
    • Limited TV but good cell service

Photos

Ray Roberts Lake State Park – Isle du Bois

Location & Map

  • When – June 2019
  • Weather – Warm and humid

Facilities

  • Notes:
  • We were in the Ray Roberts Lake State Park – Isle du Bois area which had some partial flooding and a few closed camp sites. One of the other campground areas was also closed due to flooding.
  • Because the staff had not been out to the sites, there were unaware of mud filled sites… and unfortunately we were assigned one of these sites! A trip back to the office solved the problem with a move to another available slot.
  • We did not see a single park patrol… and it showed from the above point.
  • The parking pads are not too level so be prepared to spend some quality time with your blocks! 🙂

Park Map

What we liked / disliked

  • Notes:
    • The Showers are adequate but in need of an update.
    • There are walking trails to / from a playground and it appears to be a family friendly area.
    • This a a very quiet park and very peaceful in the evenings.
  • Wildlife
    • We had deer everywhere and geese… watch where you step!
  • Media
    • Limited TV access, good cell service.

Photos

Osage Hills State Park

Location & Map

  • When – April, 2019
  • Weather – Comfortable 70’s and cool evenings in the 50’s

Facilities

  • Notes
    • This is a quiet park! The camping area is in a bit of a hollow and surrounded by trees.
    • The office closes at 5PM and the gate at 10PM so the traffic is minimal.
    • We’re certain the noise and activity will pick up during the ‘camping season’ and on weekends in the summer.
    • The area has some nice trails to and around Sand Creek
    • The spaces are primarily ‘back-in’ with a chart that shows the max length for the pad chosen.
    • Two bathhouses and one handicap accessible.
      • The bathhouses and shower areas were kept clean!

What we liked / disliked

  • Notes
    • The park trail maps need to be repainted.
    • All the trails were clean and walkable.
    • The waterfall area is scenic, although it may be very popular in the peak of the summer season.
  • Wildlife
    • We saw one beaver rustling through the brush, he/she was not bothered by us!
    • Birds were limited for this time of the year, a few Cardinals and a few Grebes.
    • It was probably too early for other birds.
  • Media
    • Four local channels, (two Christian Broadcast, one Spanish language and one ??

Photos

Park images

Lost Maples State Natural Area

Location & Map

  • When – Feb, 2019
  • Weather – 80’s 40’s

Facilities

  • Notes:
  • This is a small camping/RV area tucked in the Lost Maples valley with only 30 spaces for tent and RV camping. Our advise, Reserve Early!  
  • The camping area is fairly open without a lot of mature trees.
  • The restrooms and showers are clean and well kept.
  • This is a quiet park, with most spaces full, the noise was minimal.
  • The park staff were very friendly, helpful and showed a great deal of care for managing this little oasis in the woods.
  • There is a single Dump Station near the entrance on the main road. Dumpsters and recycling bins were plentiful and the guests were keeping the area clean.

What we liked / disliked

  • This is supposed to be a beautiful park in the Fall with the changing colors of the maple trees. We’ll plan to return to see the colors.
  • The trails are dog friendly, (leash required), and seemed to be well marked and maintained.
  • Our stay was short, but the birds were at a minimum and no sign of any four legged critters. We did hear two owls talking to each other… but that was it.
  • The camping area is disconnected from day-use area by ½ mile park road which was nice to see.
  • The day use area is large and there are several hiking trails up into the hills – see map below. The trails follow the Sabinal River and branch off into the hills.
  • The river area is pretty, even for early Spring, even though Spring… had not quite sprung – the colors were flat and the trees had not started to bud out just yet, but as mentioned, we’ll be back in the Fall!

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Photos

The Camping and Day Use area:

The Trails:

Goose Island State Park

Location & Map

  • When – January 2019
  • Weather – 70’s & 50’s

Facilities

  • Level hard-pack (chip seal) pads for RV and trailers.
  • Most spaces are back-in and many have ‘T’ or ‘Y’ areas for parking your tow or towed vehicle.
  • Recycling bins for aluminum cans were near most dumpsters.
  • A nice picnic area and large overflow parking lot with sidewalks to the beach.
  • There are two separate dump stations on the roads to the camp areas and not located in the camping areas.
  • Two restroom buildings with showers, (maybe four when the island camp areas are reopened).
  • A fish cleaning station is available and the local pelicans will help!
Park Map – note: the Island camp sites are closed at this time.

What we liked / disliked

  • The park was very clean, quiet and walkable.
  • There is a nice birding area near one of the shower buildings for attracting and encouraging birds to become accustomed to the human activity.
  • We noted there were several park hosts and a separate birding host with planned bird walks and talks.
  • The staff were very helpful and upon check-in, allowed you to drive through the area to pick your space from the available pads
  • The Big Tree live oak is separate from the park, (about 2 miles walk/ride on a public road). There is a loop road that takes you along the bay for a way to stay off the main roads if you are walking or biking. (Google Maps can be your friend)
  • Media – Local TV stations from Corpus Christi and Victoria are available.

Photos

Wildlife

The Big Tree

Island Camp Areas Closed due to Hurricane Harvey

Lake Corpus Christi State Park

Location & Map

Easy Access from Mathis, TX (c) Google Maps
  • When – November 2018
  • Weather – Beautiful 75F days and 50F night

Facilities

  • The staff were very friendly and in-fact guided us to a good parking place with nice shade.  The site is circled on the map below.  One note, the tree roots have grown up to the parking pads and it made for some tricky walking maneuvers, (watch your step in the dark 🙂 ).
  • We watched one family park an extra long trailer with some difficulty, (read – one dent later), because of the wooden posts lining the parking pads.  If you are towing anything longer than 22-24ft, you might find the spaces tight.
  • The pads were level and I think most were concrete.
  • The lake supports all water activities.  The dock was busy with fisherman, (and hungry herons and egrets).
  • The camping area was generally quiet, however the boat ramp was busy and the jet skis were a bit noisy by mid-morning on a weekend day.
  • The dump station had easy access with space for two rigs and no waiting.  The dumpsters were located near the  restrooms.  The showers were located in the adjacent loop and easy access to all sites if needed.
Park map

What we liked / disliked

  • The park is very well kept and has some nice trails for some easy hikes.  One trail had a bird hide and seed available to attract some of the local residents.  
  • The ducks, herons, great egrets and deer were everywhere!  It was fun to see and enjoy.
  • Media – Local TV stations available from Corpus Christi

Photos – the campground

Photos – the wildlife