Enhanced online reservation system should aid visitors to state parks.
As many as 10 million people will visit Texas’ 95 state parks this year, looking to enjoy their rich diversity of outdoor recreation and natural and cultural history while making enduring connections that blossom through time spent on these tracts of honest, native landscape.
Visitors planning a trip to one of those state parks — figuring which park to visit; securing a prime campsite, cabin or other accommodation; even making certain they can gain entry to a particularly popular park on the days they want to visit — will find that path significantly smoothed this year.
This week, Texas’ state parks agency unveiled a greatly expanded and improved online reservation system that, for the first time, allows park visitors to reserve specific campsites, cabins or other facilities at more than 90 state parks. The enhanced online system, which also offers advance purchase of day-use permits guaranteeing visitors access to popular parks that regularly turn away visitors on high-use days, arrives just weeks ahead of March, Texas parks’ busiest month of the year.
“The new reservation system is designed to streamline and improve the process, with features that make it easier for park visitors to plan their trips,” the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Stephanie Garcia said of the expanded online options. “It’s a big step forward.”
The changes in the online park reservation system, a multiyear project between TPWD and Dallas-based Reserve America, are the most sweeping since TPWD began offering online reservations in 2010, and will benefit both day-use and overnight park visitors.
‘Save the Day’
With the new system, people wanting to visit a Texas state park for the day can buy an entry/dayuse permit for a specific park on a specific date as much as a month in advance. This option is aimed at addressing what has become a frustrating problem for TPWD and visitors to some of the state’s most popular parks.
Regularly throughout the year, parks popular with day-use visitors are overwhelmed with crowds, forcing park staff to temporarily close the park to new visitors until others leave. Entry to parks and access to facilities has been first-come, first-served.
At some state parks such as Enchanted Rock, Pedernales Falls, Balmorhea and Garner, scores of vehicles line up at the park’s entrance before dawn, awaiting entry. Park staff allow only a designated number of those visitors into the park at any one time, limiting the number to prevent overcrowding.
Some wait hours in line in their vehicles until spots open up as other visitors leave. Others simply abandon their plans and leave.
But with the new system’s “Save The Day” option, holders of those passes are guaranteed access to the park on that day.
For 15 state parks with the highest rates of overcrowding, the new system offers time-specific entry passes for online prepurchase. Those passes, which have a time window for park entry and are good until day use ends at dark, are available for Balmorhea, Bastrop, Brazos Bend, Buescher, Enchanted Rock, Garner, Government Canyon, Hill Country, Huntsville, Lake Livingston, McKinney Falls, Mustang Island, Pedernales Falls, Tyler and Village Creek state parks.
“They’re a lot like a movie ticket; it has an arrival time on it,” Garcia said of the time-specific day-use passes. “You buy one for when you plan to arrive at the park, and it guarantees access.”
Only in Texas
The option to pre-purchase day-use permits is unique to Texas state parks.
“This feature was specifically something we asked for when developing the new system, and we’re the first state to offer it,” Garcia said.
The revamped park reservation system site — texasstateparks.reserveamerica.com — has another first for Texas state park visitors: the option of reserving a specific campsite, cabin or screened shelter.
Park visitors accessing the online reservation system can navigate to specific parks, where they will find a map of the park with all campsites and other overnight facilities marked. A click on an individual campsite brings up multiple photos of the site as well as information on the size of parking area, available utilities and other amenities as well as distance from restrooms, hiking trails and other park features.
“Park users can see what each site offers,” Garcia said. “You might want a campsite with a lot of shade, or if you have an RV with a satellite dish, you might want a site with fewer trees to block your signal. The photos give visitors the ability to pick a campsite that fits their needs.”
The online reservation system, which is “mobile friendly” to accommodate the growing use of smartphones and other portable digital devices, allows users to enter the dates they want to visit a site and see if it’s available. It also allows groups to pick and reserve sites adjacent to each other.
Reservations for campsites, shelters and cabins can be made as much as five months in advance. Rooms at Indian Lodge in Davis Mountains State Park and San Solomon Springs Court in Balmorhea State Park also can be booked using the online reservation system. Reservations for Devils River State Park, Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site, all group sites and most ADA sites in Texas state parks still must be made through the park’s phone-in reservation system.
The online reservation system accepts payment only by credit card, and no service charge is assessed.
First big test
The new online reservation system is certain to get a workout over coming months. Visits to Texas parks increased an average of almost 4 percent annually between fiscal 2013 and 2017.
That growth slowed over the past year as dozens of state parks saw damage and closures caused by Hurricane Harvey and flooding that struck much of the state over the past year. But even with the damage to some parks, overall visitation continues rising.
The new online reservation system will see its first real test in coming weeks as the peak season arrives. March traditionally sees the highest state park visitation of any month because of Spring Break. June and July are the next most popular months, followed closely by May and April. Together, the coming five months see the bulk of state park use by Texans.
More information on Texas’ state parks and the expanded online park reservation system can be found on Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s website, texas.gov/stateparks/.