Garner State Park

We’ve started a tradition– twice counts as a tradition, right? – of a Texas trip during the week after Christmas. This year, after a family Christmas Eve, we departed for Garner State Park on Christmas Day. This park is about an hour and half west of San Antonio in Concan, TX, located on the Frio River.

We stayed in the Oakmont Loop Campground, which was perfectly situated for everything we wanted to do. We were close to the river, close to the park store, and most importantly, close to trailheads! I love being able to get right to a hike without driving or a long walk on roads to get there.

I’ll start with some logistical information and a little history of the park, before I get to the main feature–the trails!

*The Frio River was about a 2 minute walk from our campsite!*

Logistics

The park store, along with an ice cream and candy store are just north of the Oakmont Camping area. They were both open on Christmas! There is also a food truck that appeared to be open more normal hours.
There were showers at some of the bathhouses; while not palatial, they were clean with HOT water, so I was happy
We had very intermittent cell phone coverage at this park (with T-Mobile). Funnily, we had great coverage on the top of Old Baldy and the Campos Overlook (something to keep in mind if you forgot to send that email before you entered the park!)
The river is cold!! You might be thinking, “okay, duh, it is winter!”, but apparently it doesn’t get above 68, even in the summer. Of course, this main more sense once I learned that “Frio” means “cold” in Spanish

History

Like many Texas State Parks, much of this park was build in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC). This is apparent in the structures throughout the park. The park store building is one example of this and has hosted summer dances since 1941!

It is apt then that the park is named for John Nance Garner, a Uvalde native who served in the US Congress for 30 years before serving as Roosevelt’s Vice President from 1933-1941 and acted as Roosevelt’s liaison with Congress for much of the New Deal.

*The CCC influence is everywhere in this park. This building houses the park store and ice cream shop and has hosted social dances on summer weekends!*

Trails

We spent much of our two full days there checking out various trails. The southwest region of the park is a web of trails. Many of them intersect at multiple places, so you could spend a lot of time exploring and traversing different routes without getting bored.

Old Baldy

On our first full day, we tackled the Old Baldy, which is definitely the most famous trail in the park. It is short (about a half mile), but challenging! There are some very steep, rocky sections, and in some places, it's not completely clear which part is the trail. Fun though, and we were rewarded with hill country views at the top.

Madrone Walkway and Blinn River

After Old Baldy, we were ready for something easier that we could bring our dog Zoe on, so we walked out on the Madrone Walkway. This is a paved path that runs along the road. The only really special thing about it is that it has a scenic overlook of the Frio River, which made for some nice pictures.

We walked back on the Blinn River Trail, which was a delightful walk by the Frio River. It is rated "Easy," but there were a couple of tricky parts and it ends with a pretty steep climb! The river is spring-fed, so it is super clear. Zoe had a blast on this trail and enjoyed sampling the river.

*The Frio river is so clear!! Too bad it literally means “cold".*

Crystal Cave, Campos, Donovan, and Old Entrance Road

We started out our second day on the Crystal Cave trail. It is hard!! The Old Baldy Trail was challenging, but it was in spurts-- up for a bit, then level off, then more up. Crystal Cave was all up-up-up to the namesake cave. And rocky! Both little slippery rocks and big boulders make this a hike where you need to constantly watch your footwork. I like the physical challenge of a difficult hike, so it was fun, but be prepared to huff and puff.

The cave (which is point-of-interest 3 for those following along on the trail map) was cool in that we could actually go all the way inside! Its small-- only a few people can really fit inside comfortably. The rocks are lined with crystals, which are most visible when you shine a flashlight on them.

We continued onto the Bridges Trail and to see Old Baldy from the point-of-interest 4, the Painted Rock Overlook. You can actually see the trail from this vantage point and it was neat to see the path we traversed the day before.

Then we made our way to the Donovan Trail. This trail starts out with a pretty steep descent, but then thankfully levels off for a nice walk in the woods.

There are several trails in this little area, so there are tons of combinations to choose your own adventure. We looped back on the Campos Trail to see point-of-interest 7 and 8. I'll be honest, the "CCC Horseshoe Footrpint Bollards" (POI 7) were a little underwhelming -- they're basically wooden signs with a horse shoe and foot print painted on them. But the simple fact that they've held up for 70 years is impressive.

But the Campos Trail Overlook (POI 8) is definitely worth the climb back up! It's a great view of the hill country. If you're really not up for another round of ascent/descent, you could easily catch the Highway Trail for a slightly longer, but flatter experience.

*We were tired after another ascent, but it was worth it!!*

We then descended from the Campos Trail Overlook and jogged west on the Foshee Trail. We got to see point-of-interest 9, the Old CCC Entrance. It was nice, but at this point, we'd already seen many CCC structures in the park and I definitely wouldn't go out of my way to see it.

By this time, we were worn out, so were happy that the Old Entrance Road was literally a paved road. We stopped about half way at the Old Entrance Road Overlook (POI 1) for a rest and some views.

This was some of the more difficult hiking I’ve encountered at a Texas State Park! I normally don't really like hiking sticks-- I find they just get in the way-- but I was glad we brought them, especially on the way down from Old Baldy and the Campos Overlook. Of course, there are also easier trail options if you aren’t up for the climbs (or just want a break!).

I would definitely return here, both to revisit some of the above trails and explore others!

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