Inks Lake State Park
- Drive from Austin: 67 miles/ 1 hour 15 minutes
- Where am I? Burnet, TX - Northwest of Austin
- Camp Amenities: Indoor restroom with showers
- Sites we recommend: 346, 347 or 348 to be on the water. Or 325 is a great site for privacy and sunset views.
- Hike: There are 7.5 miles of hiking trails. Or check out Devil's Waterhole, hike the small canyon or swim. When Valley Spring Creek is running, you can explore the waterfalls.
- Also Nearby: Longhorn Caverns
Inks Lake State Park has turned out to be a good go-to for us.
It's not too far of a drive, we've had beautiful sunsets every time, the lake is great to kayak on, there are nice walking trails nearby, and a good amount of space between camps. There are 200 primitive campsites or 22 cabins available. Inks Lake has definitely become extremely popular, so we recommend making a reservation as far in advance as possible.
Although we've stayed at Inks Lake four times now, we had never checked out Devil's watering hole since we've usually just stayed at the water access near our site. Still located within the park, we made the quick 4 minute drive from our site to the access point. When we walked down the trail to get to the watering hole, it was a bit of madness. Very crowded, not a great place to set up for the day, and our dog would have gone crazy at all the kids jumping off the cliffs. We decided our site was still a better place for us to relax on the water and take the kayaks out.
In the morning, we walked along the lake trail. Although pretty, there's not much of a goal to reach at the end. We've started realizing that a lot of the "hikes" at the Texas State Parks are much more nature trails and walks rather than climbing to a destination. Not a bad thing, just something to keep in mind.
