Balmorhea State Park - Texas

AJMike · 11-08-2020, 06:37 AM

For some years now we have made several trips a year from the Phoenix area to San Antonio and South Padre Island, and because of the distances between campgrounds from El Paso to San Antonio along I-10 we had a set number of places we stopped. One of those was Balmorhea State Park and we were camping there 3 years ago when they closed it due to a break in the septic system.

We were told at the time that they expected to open the following year but it is now more than 3 years later and the park is still closed with no expected opening date according to the park web page. I was wondering if anyone on this forum who lived in Texas might have seen some information about what is going on.

As it is we have worked around the problem by stopping at Fort Stockton instead, but Balmorhea was a much nicer place to stop than the commercial RV parks at Fort Stockton, and there are not many campgrounds after Fort Stockton and before San Antonio except for Junction, and that is really too short a distance to make a day's drive.

Morich · 11-08-2020, 07:14 AM

I don't know that park as it has been closed every time we went West and wanted to use it, but I do a lot of looking at the state parks in Texas, as well as other states and there is a general trend which seems to be working. I've noted it in Texas, Florida, and Missouri, over time.
We had favorites in all of those states and found the state is sometimes backing away from certain parks and at times there are swaps made of the park land for land in a different location even though, it is not a good swap in my view. At this point in history there is very little truly great park land left to discover or develop but the states are not willing to increase tax money spent to maintain the great places if they can make a swap with a land developer for undeveloped land and cash for the park system.
At times Texas has swapped state parks to counties and I would assume it is just to reduce the expense but then the county doesn't have the money to do it, so the park just falls into pretty unusable condition.
If you know the Padre area, give some thought to how Isla Blanca State Park has gone? It's now less of a park and more of a general long term trailer court. We've stopped going there.
With the repeated delays in the park you mention, I would expect it to be traded at some point. What I have seen in Florida is that a park is left closed for repair, then when the question of swapping comes up the figures on usage are way down and those figures are used to justify getting rid of the land as the numbers using it are way down!

AJMike · 11-08-2020, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morich

With the repeated delays in the park you mention, I would expect it to be traded at some point. What I have seen in Florida is that a park is left closed for repair, then when the question of swapping comes up the figures on usage are way down and those figures are used to justify getting rid of the land as the numbers using it are way down!

Well, that is not encouraging, but after 3 years we have sort of gotten used to not being able to use the park.

Wayne M · 11-08-2020, 11:16 AM

What I found on closure of Balmorhea State Park

AJMike · 11-08-2020, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne M

What I found on closure of Balmorhea State Park

Thank you for the post.

They had that linked on their website earlier this year, but now the info section says:

The entire park, including the pool, is closed. A reopening date has not been set.

I guess times have changed. During World War II they built the Pentagon, the worlds largest office building, in something like 16 months, but Balmorhea has been closed for more than 3 years with no specified opening date. I know there is a difference in priorities, but still ...

Morich · 11-08-2020, 01:03 PM

That is part of what we feel is kind of a different way to ignore and put things off as construction in Texas was deemed an essential business and continued without much delay ---except at the state park!
Announced built and completed in the time the park has been closed?
https://www.kalahariresorts.com/texa...R_l2DpLqIIh0o0

It does seem like rebuilding the sewer lines and pool at the park would have been quite a bit easier and quicker----if there was any desire to get it done!

al1florida · 11-08-2020, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJMike

For some years now we have made several trips a year from the Phoenix area to San Antonio and South Padre Island, and because of the distances between campgrounds from El Paso to San Antonio along I-10 we had a set number of places we stopped. One of those was Balmorhea State Park and we were camping there 3 years ago when they closed it due to a break in the septic system.

We were told at the time that they expected to open the following year but it is now more than 3 years later and the park is still closed with no expected opening date according to the park web page. I was wondering if anyone on this forum who lived in Texas might have seen some information about what is going on.

As it is we have worked around the problem by stopping at Fort Stockton instead, but Balmorhea was a much nicer place to stop than the commercial RV parks at Fort Stockton, and there are not many campgrounds after Fort Stockton and before San Antonio except for Junction, and that is really too short a distance to make a day's drive.

We spent the night once in Fort Stockton parked in the gravel lot behind the Pizza Hut: 30.893072, -102.888689

We much prefer to park overnight at the Ft Lancaster Scenic Overlook a Texas roadside picnic area on Spur 290 at: 30.678429, -101.672829 Very quiet and very nice view to the north. Spur 290 is the old US Highway 290 before I-10 was completed in this area.

AJMike · 11-08-2020, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by al1florida

We spent the night once in Fort Stockton parked in the gravel lot behind the Pizza Hut: 30.893072, -102.888689

We much prefer to park overnight at the Ft Lancaster Scenic Overlook a Texas roadside picnic area on Spur 290 at: 30.678429, -101.672829 Very quiet and very nice view to the north. Spur 290 is the old US Highway 290 before I-10 was completed in this area.

Thank you for the links. We have stopped at the Walmart in Fort Stockton for diesel several times and done some shopping in the store as well, but I never knew about the empty lot behind the Pizza Hut. I also did not know that Texas allowed overnighting at scenic views.

We have stayed at the Fort Stockton RV Park just east of the city, and the park is OK, but we don't much care for the management. My wife likes to position the RV so that the bedroom is facing away from the highway to cut down on the truck noise but they made us turn around because they did not like the way we were facing. Given that I would rather not stay there and we gave them a pass the last time we went to San Antonio.

Instead we went to Sonora, but the campground pickings at Sonora are pretty slim and I did not like the area.

**creativepart** · 11-08-2020, 03:38 PM

We stayed at Balmorhea SP two or three times a year for over a decade.

Three plus years ago they found bacteria from the septic system in the water and closed the park to fix that problem. It turned into such a big problem that much of the hotel had to be rebuilt. Along with that they were going to replace the campgrounds restroom which were really subpar.

As they were working on this a massive problem was discovered with the swimming pool which was a central attraction of the park. And the fix was millions of dollars. Before they found the pool problem they had opened it to a small numbers of daily users but you had to get reservations in advance. But that all stopped so they could rebuild the pool.

We stopped by the park last February to see what was happening there. The whole park was fenced and closed. The hotel was partially rebuilt. The pool was empty and there was a lot of work going on. Interestingly, the campground was pretty full. With the entrance gated and locked we assumed the TTs in the campgrounds were workers working on the projects there.

**creativepart** · 11-08-2020, 03:56 PM

We always stopped at Balmorhea on our way to and from San Antonio-Tucson (and on our way to Albuquerque sometimes). What we do now with Balmorhea closed is stay at South Llano SP and then the Van Horn RV Park and then at a Harvest Host in Deming, NM (a winery!).

Van Horn RV Park used to be a KOA and we find it better than anything in Fort Stockton. It’s not great, but it is better.

But we’re really hoping Balmorhea reopens soon. We’ve been to a couple completely rebuilt State Parks and they were excellent.

AJMike · 11-09-2020, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creativepart

We always stopped at Balmorhea on our way to and from San Antonio-Tucson (and on our way to Albuquerque sometimes). What we do now with Balmorhea closed is stay at South Llano SP and then the Van Horn RV Park and then at a Harvest Host in Deming, NM (a winery!).

Van Horn RV Park used to be a KOA and we find it better than anything in Fort Stockton. It’s not great, but it is better.

But we’re really hoping Balmorhea reopens soon. We’ve been to a couple completely rebuilt State Parks and they were excellent.

We used to stay at Deming, at the Low-Hi RV park a bit south of town. It was away from the interstate, relatively quiet and inexpensive, but we now go to the RoadHost just west of El Paso instead. Never knew about the Harvest Host, but we are not a member either, although I may check that out.

We also used to stay at the Van Horn RV park slightly south of Van Horn. That is not a bad place but since we are now staying in El Paso it does not seem like much of a trip, so we go on, presumably to Balmorhea. If we can't stay at Balmorhea, then Junction, where S Llano River SP is, is just too far. That is a shame because my my wife and I really like S Llano River SP. She loves the walk toward the river and the armadillos and I like the bird blinds, so there is something for both of us, and we do try to stay there on our way back from San Antonio.

al1florida · 11-09-2020, 07:47 AM

All the Texas roadside picnic areas have a small sign stating that parking is allowed for no more than 24 hours. The major rest areas along major highways have lots of 18 wheelers parking overnight so they get pretty noisy. You also find the 18 wheelers in some of the smaller picnic sites along major highways as well.

al1florida · 11-09-2020, 07:54 AM

The picnic area I mentioned that is on TX-290, near Sheffield, TX is shown on the Campendium.com website and has a couple of pictures of the site.
https://www.campendium.com/fort-lanc...cenic-overlook

al1florida · 11-09-2020, 08:04 AM

In late July 2020 we spent the night in Fort Stockton at Hilltop RV Park: https://www.campgroundreviews.com/re...-rv-park-11060.

The RV Park was quiet and the staff was friendly and helpful. The roads and campsites are just gravel with a concrete pad with a table. It was fine for one night.

Since it was 103* that afternoon, we didn't want to spend the night at a picnic area and run the generator all evening and night.

**creativepart** · 11-09-2020, 08:13 AM

The harvest host in Deming is 2-3 miles off of I-10 and just west of town about 6-miles. They have a very large gravel parking lot that an accommodate 6 or more RVs. We’ve stayed there 3-times. Last year there was at least 6 of us there. A mix of A’s, C’s, B’s And TT’s.

It’s gated but they leave the front gate open when RVs are there. It even has overflow in the back.

There are no hookups, but no generator restrictions. They do require that you show your membership card. They even make a photo copy. It’s totally free to stay but most buy a bottle of wine or patronize the little wine bar. Harvest Host asks its members to buy something at any HH stop. It seems to make a difference for the Deming winery. At last years stay the wine bar was buzzing with activity with all the RVs there.

We always try to make South Llano River SP our first stop on any trip west. It’s only 107-miles from our home, but going that short on the first travel day removes all need to rush in the morning. From there to Van Horn is a longer 320-mile day and then Deming is perfect distance at 225-miles. This makes our 3rd day an easy 210-mile drive to Tucson.

PS. The wine at the Deming HH is very good! Hers a photo from one of our stays there.

Karm · 11-16-2020, 05:13 AM

Just about 40 minutes south is Fort Davis, Indian Lodge State Park. They have RV sites and it's beautiful. Take a day or two and visit Alpine and Marfa (all within 30 minutes). The Lodge was built by the CCC. The redheaded boy on the post cards is my husband who grew up at the lodge (his dad was park superintendent). The beauty and history is well worth the short drive.

al1florida · 11-16-2020, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karm

Just about 40 minutes south is Fort Davis, Indian Lodge State Park. They have RV sites and it's beautiful. Take a day or two and visit Alpine and Marfa (all within 30 minutes). The Lodge was built by the CCC. The redheaded boy on the post cards is my husband who grew up at the lodge (his dad was park superintendent). The beauty and history is well worth the short drive.

Would that be this postcard? https://picclick.com/TX-Fort-Davis-C...l#&gid=1&pid=1

AJMike · 11-16-2020, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by al1florida

Would that be this postcard? https://picclick.com/TX-Fort-Davis-C...l#&gid=1&pid=1

Thanks for posting this. I was wondering what post card she was talking about and could not find anything like that when I did a search.

**creativepart** · 11-16-2020, 11:29 AM

We love Fort Davis SP and have visited 3 or 4 times. They even have full hookup sites.

There is ZERO cell service there, you have to go into town to find any. And, though the drive from I-10 to the park is one of the most beautiful drives you'll ever take in Texas it's a bit far to go unless you've got lots of time on your hands. It's only 40-miles but it's fairly slow speed and it will take you an hour at least. So, if you were going there because Balmohea SP is closed you'll add 2-hours and 80+ miles round trip.

I know, because we've done it before... Once. And if you are traveling East on I-10 there is an exit for Ft Davis State Park on the far west side of the park that will take you 2+ hours one-way and on narrow, broken steep grades. It brings you into the park from the "back way." If you are coming from AZ or points west stay on I-10 to the Balmorhea exit and take that to Fort Davis.

It's a great place to visit. Terrific State Park and worth a 3 to 7 days trip. But it's not a good replacement for a Balmorhea overnight stop when traveling east or west across Texas.

PS. It's one of the highest spots in Texas at around 4,000' so it can be as much as 10 degrees cooler there. But it's deep West Texas so it's still roaring hot in the Summer.

Karm · 11-16-2020, 12:13 PM

The man bending over the fire pit is my husbands father. Louis is the little boy by the tree. Can't tell from the picture but he has red hair also. There are better postcards of him at the Lodge. He's 74 now so that picture was taken about 64 years ago. As a teenager he helped build the observatory. Went on to become a plastic surgeon in Houston when he left.