McKinney Falls State Park, TX

After boondocking for three nights in the Evangelical Church we decided it was time to recharge in the country side, both mentally and resource wise. We chose McKinney Falls State Park because it is just minutes outside of Austin, pretty much the same distance as the church was. Here the rates are $16 a night for a site with electric and water, but you also have to pay $5 a person a day for day-use fees in the park, so it ended up being $26 a night for us. We were only going to stay a couple of nights, but because the park turned out to be so nice and so conveniently located to Austin, we’ve decided to stay through Friday morning.

The view from our campsite

The park offers three hiking trails: one paved 2.8 mile loop (Onion Creek Trail), one single-track dirt 2.8 mile loop (Homestead Trail) and a 1 mile interpretive walking trail. Supposedly there is bouldering to be done here (its marked on the map), but we haven’t made our way over there yet. The two loop trails offer nice scenery and are pretty peaceful. Onion Creek flows through the state park territory and there are two pretty waterfalls.

Upper Falls, on the Onion Creek Trail 

Lower Falls, on the Homestead Trail

Hiking the Homestead Trail

The McKinney Homestead, on the Homestead Trail

If you find yourself in need of a camping spot near Austin, we highly recommend this state park!

More pictures of the park can be found here.

Happy State Parking,

M.