Colorado Bend State Park Camping
The most remote-feeling park within striking distance of Austin, reached by six miles of gravel road along the Colorado River. Camping is deliberately rustic: river-access drive-up sites and walk-in sites with no hookups, composting or vault toilets in most areas, and very little light pollution. The draw is Gorman Falls, a seventy-foot travertine waterfall reached by a rocky mile-and-a-half hike, plus guided wild cave tours for older kids. Come prepared, because the nearest real supplies are a long drive back out.