McKinney Falls State Park
- Distance from Austin: 9.5 miles // 15 minutes
- Where am I? Austin, TX
- Amenities: Spacious campsites, restrooms, water & electric sites.
- Site recommendation: We stayed at site #2, which was very private and spacious.
We've done many day trips to McKinney, since it's only 15 minutes away from our house, but have never camped over night. It was time we changed that.
Earlier in the week, we had been blessed with 78 degree and sunny days in Austin. But of course, we pack up to camp, and the sun disappears and the temperature drops. Despite the dreary weather, the weekend was still great. We snagged spot #2 within the campsite which was a great location. Lots of space, good trees for hammocks, and close (but far away enough) to the restrooms. The only downside to our site was the awful company we had across from us. They were consistently blasting music and getting way too intoxicated. They also had an altercation with a couple walking their dog, which provoked the man walking by to KICK the other families dog and yell obscenities across the campsite. Not very peaceful.
We were joined by our friends, Paige & Michael, and explored around the Upper Falls hiking paths the first day. They are all pretty short, but allowed for us to see one of the falls, the limestone caves, and Big Baldy (a 500 year old , 100 foot tall Cypress tree). We had a great night of tales, beer, dinner, and s'mores around the campfire. Unfortunately, Paige and I both got a weird batch of food poisoning... but not sure why. Yuck.
In the morning we checked out some of the lower falls hikes. I've definitely seen McKinney at it's best with the beautiful trees and rivers, and unfortunately, in February, everything is a little dead. But overall, our trip to McKinney was beautiful, and a great way to have a quick escape from Austin.
