camping in texas

soilmovers

Well-known member
Has anyone ever camped in Brackettville, tx ???

We visited Brackettville before we bought our RV so I can't offer any info on parks. Very interesting place though, with a lot of history.

Fort Clark has been restored as a guest ranch with a huge spring fed pool, restaurant, golfing, hiking, horse back riding- you name it.

A visit to Alamo Village is well worth it especially if you are a movie buff. Lonesome Dove was filmed there and of course John Wayne's The Alamo and many western flicks.

Cindy
 

ceegee

Member
Thanks, soilmovers -- we are thinking of staying in that area for an extended time next winter. Sounds like a place where you could take a few day trips to nearby attractions. We too have a 3055 Bighorn.
 

StevieWonder

Well-known member
I've been in Bracketville numerous times. I was there as a pre-teen when they were filming "The Alamo" with John Wayne and Richard Widmark at a replica Alamo and Bexar de San Antonio built on Happy Shahan's ranch just a few miles north of town.

Ft. Clark was a cavalry post built along with others, including Ft. Davis, to protect travellers and supplies passing through from San Antonio to El Paso. Among famous tenants there are Robert E Lee and George Patton. Ft Clark was the home to the famed Seminole Scouts. The fort was closed after WWII and was purchased by Brown and Root which operated it as a resort. It was later sold to a private real estate developer who converted the fort to a development, selling the officer's homes and converting barracks to condos as well as building some new homes and a host of RV spots. You can rent some of the condos, including the Patton Suite where Patton was housed during his tour there.

LOTS of great history to see, GREAT recreation including a spring fed swimming pool (COLD!!!), golf course and hiking trails. You can still find artifacts like arrow heads, US Army belt buckles, etc though they have gotten more rare through the years. Los Moras Creek runs at the front gate and is fed by natural springs which produced over 100 million gallons of fresh, clear and COLD water every day. These springs provide the water for the pool and the drinking water for Ft Clark and Bracketville. The surplus feeds the creek.

The Seminole Indian cemetary is west of the Fort property and accessible to the public. I don't recall the directions but you head south on a paved road just west of the western fort boundary. Somebody in town can point you there. Definitely worth a visit.

Alamo Village is a MUST see. Plan on a few hours there. MANY other films shot there besides the Alamo. I remember a cast party we were invited to that was hosted by Happy Shahan with John Wayne, Richard Widmark and the cast all in attendance complete with a steer barbequed on an open pit.

Check with the folks at Ft. Clark ... some of the RV spots may be available for rent.

http://www.fortclark.com

It's a bit of a drive but GREAT Mexican food in Del Rio at Memo's, right on the creek. If you have the time, drive out to Langtry, across the impressive Pecos River bridge and Lake Amistad to see Judge Roy Bean's courthouse, "The Jersey Lilly", which was famous as the "Law West of the Pecos".

LOTS of great day trips. Take the highway past Alamo Village up to Rocksprings and the back through enjoy the AWESOME Texas hill country views. Take Farm-to-Market (FM)674 to Rocksprings, then circle back to Brackettville via State Hwy 55 to FM334. If you travel at dusk, watch for DEER.

If you wonder why I know this ... in addition to the many childhood days spent at Ft Clark, I was a T-38 instructor pilot at Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, where my daughter was born.

Here are some pix of Ft Clark, the Jersey Lilly, etc:
 

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StevieWonder

Well-known member
Glad to help.

A word about weather --- Bracketville is a semi-arid desert so it's HOT in the summer but with little humidity. In the spring and fall the nights get cool pretty quickly after sunset. Keep an eye on afternoon thunderstorms. They build over the mountains in Mexico and can be worth keeping an eye on. In the spring, "blue northers" can drop the temperature 30-40 degrees in a few hours, so monitor the weather and keep a jacket in the truck if you plan on venturing out with a norther coming in. The National Weather Service has a radar site just outside Del Rio.

Grocery shopping is closest in Del Rio or Uvalde, but if you're planning on a long stay you might consider travelling to San Antonio for the day trip value (the REAL Alamo) and stocking up on groceries there. Cheaper, better quality and selection.
 

StevieWonder

Well-known member
FWIW, I would recommend this site to anybody looking for some peace and quiet and a dry situation.

If you haul a motorcycle, there is GREAT riding just an hour from Brackettville ... best roads in Texas (according to Ride Texas motorcycling magazine) are about 1.5 hrs with some great back roads to get there. Be sure and check out Leakey, TX.

If you're the hunting type there are some great day leases for deer and quail in the vicinity. Best striped bass fishing in Texas at Lake Amistad which is a HUGE rock-bottom lake used frequently for scuba diving and awesome water-skiing.

I know I sound like I'm on the Brackettville Chamber of Commerce, but it REALLY is a great place.
 

soilmovers

Well-known member
FWIW, I would recommend this site to anybody looking for some peace and quiet and a dry situation.

If you haul a motorcycle, there is GREAT riding just an hour from Brackettville ... best roads in Texas (according to Ride Texas motorcycling magazine) are about 1.5 hrs with some great back roads to get there. Be sure and check out Leakey, TX.

If you're the hunting type there are some great day leases for deer and quail in the vicinity. Best striped bass fishing in Texas at Lake Amistad which is a HUGE rock-bottom lake used frequently for scuba diving and awesome water-skiing.

I know I sound like I'm on the Brackettville Chamber of Commerce, but it REALLY is a great place.

you are so right- Brackettville is a great place to visit and kids love it, too!
 
You're right about the quickly changing weather around Brackett and Rocksprings. We had hunting property near RS and we've been stranded a few times inbetween towns to wait for the flash floods to subside. I remember in my childhood, stranded on the highway between RS and Brackett for an entire night waiting for the floods to subside and waking up in my car to the sound of the Highway Dept truck making sure the water was low enough for us to go through. Many happy memories of Ft Clark and Alamo Village too. We had a Del Rio horse club trail ride from DR to Ft Clark where they were waiting for us and had a western dance and barbeque for us that night. Hey, Stevie, you may know my husband. I'm from Del Rio and he was stationed at Laughlin as a crew cheif.
 

GypsyBill

and Jennifer
I
If you wonder why I know this ... in addition to the many childhood days spent at Ft Clark, I was a T-38 instructor pilot at Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, where my daughter was born.

When were you at Laughlin? I was stationed at Randolph from 1964-72 and taught in both undergraduate and instructor pilot training in T-38s... well almost, I was an enlisted flight sim instructor during that time. Did the same thing at Reese AFB, from '72 to '75 before getting in to computers...
 
Here's another Texas camping idea. We have been staying at the Guadalupe River RV Resort in Kerrville, Tx for the last three (going on 4) months and just love it! They are on the Guadalupe river and it's a beautiful place. You can check them out on their website Guadaluperiverrvresort.com. The prices are really resonable for a resort environment and there are lots of things to do around here. We love riding over to Bandera (20 miles to the "Cowboy Capital" of the world) to shop and just hang out with our biker friends. The riding is beautiful around here. We highly recommend them.
 
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