Blanco State Park

101 Park Road 23 - Blanco, Texas 78606                                        

Ethan Belicek - Superintendent                                                        

830.833.4333

Despite being one of the smallest and oldest parks in the Texas State Park System, Blanco State Park exudes charm and river bank beauty. Situated at the southernmost end of the City of Blanco, the state park has historically measured 4.5 on the Bortle scale. Updated readings of Night Sky brightness are overdue, especially in light of the city’s recent designation as an International Dark Sky Community, awarded by the International Dark-Sky Association.

at a quarter of a mile at its widest, Blanco State Park is more of a glorified city park with state park perks. Hugging a mile of the Blanco River, most of the focus is on water recreation with available swimming, boating, and fishing. Two trail loops run parallel to the shore, one to the northwest and the other to the southeast. The small size of this park might fool you, but hidden within are a total of 16 full hookup campsites, eight electric-only sites, and eight screened shelters. A large CCC pavilion and its surrounding area afford decent sky access and have played host to several local star parties events. Other viable observing areas include the day-use areas on the north and south sides of the river

Dense trees surrounding the camping areas make this a slightly more challenging park for nighttime observing. Similar to Lockhart State Park, Blanco might be best saved for the fall and winter seasons when park visitation is lower and the bare trees provide more viewing area of the sky.

The park day-use fee is $5, with Campsites ranging in price from $20 to $25 per night, and screened shelters at a nightly rate of $30. Our personal picks for best sites include campsites #13, #15, #18, #19, and #51, and Screened shelter #43.