The first state park Sherry (my wife) took me to after we both lost a bunch of weight was Huntsville State Park for a hike. Little did I know back then that we would return to this park more than a few times for camping, hiking, mountain biking, and even kayaking.
Huntsville State Park is located just North of Conroe, Texas about an hour or so North of Houston. It’s pretty close to I-45 which makes it easy to get to, but it also means that at night (especially when the air is cooler), you can still hear the highway, but it’s not too bad.
The hiking/biking trails are pretty amazing. In many places, there are a lot of roots growing into them which, on the hilly portions, makes for natural steps for hikers but introduces a higher degree of difficulty for bike riders. I found the challenge of the roots to be fun while Sherry hated them. The hills are also pretty big and require 1st gear and a lot of leg work to get up. Sherry walked her bike up most of the big hills, and I don’t blame her. I feel comfortable on a bike pedalling fast and moving slow, even up-hill, the result of riding bikes extensively in my youth. Sherry rode bikes as a kid, but not nearly as much as I did. This is something to consider if you want to go mountain biking and are not experienced; Huntsville State Park’s trails are what I would call intermediate level.
For hiking, the trails are really good and will get your heart pumping. The hills are pretty big, but not so steep or big that you get winded. The views are serene and the forest is beautiful with many different types of trees, underbrush, and wildflowers (especially in springtime). The trail we took goes around Lake Raven, the central attraction at Huntsville State Park.
On our third trip to the park, we took our Tucktec kayaks and spent hours on the water. As it was our first time in these watercraft, we took it slow at first, but quickly became comfortable with them. We went from one saide of the lake to the other and back again within about two and a half hours. As a bonus, I almost capsized once due to horseplay, and I learned my lesson. A quick trip to the shore to pour the water out of my kayak was all it took to get back to the adventure, although my bottom was soaked.
The campsites are of a good size and well maintained with water available. On our third trip to the park, we stayed at an improved campsite for RV’s and even had electricity available, but we didn’t plug in. We like to practice living off our own resources as much as we can when we camp, even if power is available. The only thing we typically will use if it’s available is water, although we still find ourselves using the 5 gallon water containers pretty often. They’re just more convenient sometimes. The campsites are well-spaced from each other, and we never felt cramped or like campers next to us were too close. To the contrary, it feels very spacious and isolated, which is a good thing while camping.
The park has cabins, but we have not used those. We did see people staying in them, so it appears this state park has some sort of COVID-19 mitigation in-place for use between campers. The roadways are all very smooth, and the trails are well-marked. There is a wildlife center staffed by workers, and there is also a store that sells some snacks and basic camp supplies as well as fishing supplies. I don’t remember if they sell bait. They also rent canoes and pedal boats, and there is a swimming area that was closed when we were there. The water seems pretty cold, though, so we weren’t missing that opportunity. The park hosts are very friendly and helpful.
Overall, I would rate this park 8/10. It has a lot of activities, amenities, and it is well maintained and staffed by friendly people. If the trails were a little more bike friendly, I would rate it higher (if only to get Sherry back onto the trails with me). I would gladly bike those trails again; they are a lot of fun!
I recommend using the Reserve America website to secure a campsite well in advance. One of the realities of the world in COVID-19 is that more people are visiting parks and forests than ever, and unless you have a reservation, you will likely be unable to camp at a standard campground. We have been using Reserve America with great success since last year. It makes the reservation process easy and reduces the wait during check-in.
Overlanding with PaleoMarine 