2023-10-23 Bastrop State Park

Our October Texas Ramblin' Roses was held at Bastrop State Park right outside of Bastrop Texas.

The first thing you see upon entering the park is Lake Mina off to the right.

The park has a section for groups which includes a dormitory building and several large cabins holding a number of people.

There was a horrendous fire in the Bastrop area in 2011. In addition to the loss of many homes was the loss of millions of loblolly pines. Park personnel were able to save all the park buildings and millions of trees were replanted. These tall trees survived and the replanted trees are now about 10-12 feet tall so things are filling in. The site was devastating right the fire but it is lovely once again.

The scenic overlook area is a great place to watch the sunset.

 

It was just one of the many great buildings built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). 

The refectory is another CCC building. There were special efforts made during the 2011 fire to save all the CCC buildings. Events from the public are often held in the reflectory.

The CCC also built some great cabins here at Bastrop.

They are built of rocks and untrimmed lumber. By untrimmed, I mean the boards are not squared off.

There was a sign about the Historic Golf Course building with exhibits but when we looked inside it was just being used for storage.

Interesting sign "Historic Starter House" but nothing to see through the windows.

I stayed in the Copperas Creek Camping area which has back-in sites. Some are full hook up while others are water/electric but there are lots of tall pine trees. There is also a nice covered picnic pavillion built of rock by the CCC.

It has a very nice new restroom area that has great showers and toilets for men and women on opposite sides of an open hallway running down the center of the building. There is also a great outdoor sink area for washing dishes and cleaning things.

There is also another RV camping area where all the sites are pull-through with full hook ups. there is a bit less shade there as the fire hit that area harder. It is great for trailers but the sites on one side of the road can be a bit more difficult for motorhomes as they slope down in the back so it's necessary to lift the back up to get it level.

There is also a road over to Buescher State park, a 12 mile jaunt up and down over hills that is popular with bicyclists and runners.