RV Camping in Texas Lake Life Crane's Mills Park
Updated: Mar 12
Hello Beauties! Welcome back to my blog or if you are new here, thanks for visiting! Texas is one of those states that has so much to do and see, I could spend years here traveling all over the state. I wanted to share with you, a campground my family and I stayed at in Crane’s Mill Texas. It is between San Antonio and San Marcos Texas.
I am here to share with you my thoughts and opinions on this campground to give you a better idea of what to look forward to if you decide to visit. I strive to thoroughly capture as many details as I can, because I know it is a little unnerving picking out a campground when you don’t know the area very well. I do a lot of research before I reserve a spot. Since my family and I are full time RV’ers we need to book sites a lot. I hope to share information about its location, amenities, safety, cleanliness, cost, length of stay, and ease of access this campground provides. Always read Google reviews and look up their website too. I hope you enjoy, as always travel long, travel happy!
Crane’s Mill Park is right on the Canyon Lake (Guadalupe River), so you have water views everywhere you look. It is a little bit of a drive to similar major cities like San Antonio, San Marcos, and Austin Texas. If you looking to be closer to those areas, I would look for another campground or take on the 45 + minutes to your destination. This campground is surrounded by nature on the peninsula there are abundant wildlife like deer, variety of birds, fox’s, and raccoons. Disclaimer- I am not associated with this campground, they have not paid me to write this content. I legitimately stayed in this campground for 5 nights in April 2021.
Cranes Mill park includes 30 RV sites and 34 tent sites, most having electrical and water. There are restrooms with hot showers, and a dump station. All of the RV sites are back in only. I would say this is a big rig friendly campground as the sites range from 50 to 70’ feet long. There are options to fit your boat on as well. What I really liked about this campground was that they made parking spots in front of your site, so you don’t have to park your truck all funny to fit in the site. Included in your site is a covered picnic table, fire ring and grill. Lots of space for yard games and family bonding.
I thought staying here was very safe, it is gated at the front and they only way to get in is through a paid customer with a vehicle tag. There is also a camp host available at all times during your stay if you need help. The campground review rating is a 4.4/5, this rating is something I always look for when doing research. During my stay it was Easter weekend, so every site was full and everyone celebrating Easter. I did notice our site had lots of confetti and some food droppings scattered about. Obviously, I could tell there was a party before me, so I was not to worried about it. Just bummed I wasn’t invited! Lol When we did wonder the park, I did not see very much trash otherwise, which I am very thankful for that. It was pretty darn clean.
This park is open year-round, it does have peak seasons, but currently their website shows no increase during those times. Peak season is April through September. There are no restrictions on how long you can stay here. The only setback if you are looking for a month-long stay would be finding 1 site that is open for that long. A lot of the weekends are booked up and the longest stay I saw while quickly researching was 8 days. So, booking in advance for weekends or longer stays is a must. Here is their website to check your dates. Currently in 2021 their rates for RV sites are $30/night and $24/ night for tents. Additional fees may apply.
Ease of access may be something you might look into if you have a big rig, for us with the trailer and truck hooked up we are total 60’ in length. We want to be able to have ease going through the campground and have enough space to back into our site and not feel so squished and nervous. This campground has large roads with plenty of space to back in without many problems. Imagine 1 RV length and width between your neighbors on either side. You are not a sardine in this park.
Some things to do inside the park are lots of fishing with access to two fishing piers. A boat ramp inside the park and a marina outside the park, so boating friends, this is the place! Anything water related is available, bring your kayaks, jet skis, river tubes and canoes for lots of water fun. On land, there are hiking, biking, horseback riding, guided tours available and so much more.
Nearby attractions are Natural bridge caverns, historic downtown Gruene Texas, six flags, sea world and more. Nearby necessities are a few dollar generals close by, and a Lowes Market about 7 minutes from camp. A Walmart is about 20 minutes away. If you need a home improvement store or RV store those are a little farther away, so please be prepared and aware for that.
A few common courtesy tips to know before you stay is check in time is set in stone. There are no early arrivals. We arrived early and had to wait outside the gate in a really long line for about an hour before we could enter the park. Although it was Easter weekend, no early arrivals are ever allowed. Check out time is 2pm and check in is at 3pm, so they do not want cross traffic in the park. Gates close at 10pm, you are not allowed to enter the park with a vehicle at all after the gate closes. Guests also have to leave the park at 10pm.
1000% we loved this park. We want to go back with our boating toys, something like this would be awesome and come back in the future to have even more fun. I loved how big the sites are and how peaceful and beautiful it is. Internet usage was reliable to get some work done too. I want to rate this park an 9/10. Enjoy your travels, get out and have a blast. Travel long, Travel happy!
Written by Shelby Long
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