(Last Updated On: May 10, 2022)
Within the vast park system, you and your family can enjoy unique landscapes, bats, and waterfalls at the area’s seven best state parks.
Even better, the parks are free for children under twelve and cheap for everyone else.
Whether you want to camp or walk with your horse, you can find a new favorite destination for your next adventure.
Find some history along the way at a couple of historical sites to make the most of your trip.
Get all the information you need to plan a fun-filled summer of camping, exploring, and relaxing right here.
Map of State Parks Near Marble Falls TX
Here is a map of the Texas state parks covered in this post:
List of State Parks Near Marble Falls
Here are each of those state parks with distance from Marble Falls and what is special about each.
1. Longhorn Cavern State Park
Longhorn Cavern State Park is a short 14 miles drive from Marble Falls, Texas. The natural rock formations around the park, carved by an ancient river, seamlessly blend with the stone buildings.
While the park offers epic scenery and offers a unique experience, you can not camp at this park, but it makes a fantastic day trip.
The cavern includes a unique geological landscape dating back thousands of years in an upheaval known as the “Llano Uplift” which caused fractures in the region’s flat limestone.
With each fissure, water dissolved the limestone and slashed the solid rock beneath it. Water eroding and cutting the cavern, making it one of the world’s most bizarre cave systems.
A guided tour of the cavern will give you the full scope of the trail. Choose from a walking or a primitive tour with safety gear provided.
At the park, you can enjoy a gift shop for food and souvenirs. Those who want to park can check out Inks Lake State Park below, just a few miles away.
2. Inks Lake State Park
Inks Lake State Park offers outdoor pleasure for the whole family about 20 miles northwest of Marble Falls by Buchanan Lake. Enjoy geocaching, volleyball, nine miles of trails, and swimming.
Rent a paddleboat, canoe, or kayak for the day. Buy supplies at the park store if you forgot anything at home.
The Valley Spring Creek Trail begins at the Devil’s Waterhole, a small canyon with waterfalls upstream of the lake. Daring visitors can take the 20-foot leap off bluffs into the swimming hole.
Beyond Devil’s Waterhole, the trail winds through steep terrain and magnificent cactus clumps. During the wet season, a waterfall cascades into small pools, making this a spectacular destination.
Inks Lake State Park offers over 200 campsites, several with lake access. It is possible to stay in cabins with lakefront views.
Camping also allows you to beat the crowds to swimming holes and hiking trails! This park’s fauna, geology, and vegetation will never cease to amaze visitors.
3. Pedernales Falls State Park
Pedernales Falls State Park offers a variety of activities in the river and on land. The river has limestone cliffs, big boulders, waterfalls, and a limestone bed.
The park contains miles of hiking trails ranging from casual strolls to backcountry pathways for expert hikers. It’s only 35 miles away from Marble Falls, making it an easy destination not too far from home.
Visitors can geocache, birdwatch, cycle, stargaze, camp, and swim. However, the main highlights are the waterfalls located on Twin Falls Natural Trails.
Wolf Mountain Trail offers little gorges, creeks, and pools with airstairs. The ten-mile Juniper Ridge Trail is a challenge for cyclists.
Everyone can find a method to unwind and enjoy life. You can camp with water and electricity or hike to a basic location.
Bring your horse and ride in the woods for a small fee. The park offers sites with water and electricity, primitive sites, youth group camps, and equestrian group camps.
4. Lyndon B. Johnson State Park & Historic Site
Former President Johnson’s grandparents and parents lived in the area before settling in Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site before it was a park.
Visit the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm, where park rangers costumed in period costumes care for crops, farm animals, and cook meals during WWI.
An Olympic-size swimming pool provides respite from the summer heat, and it’s only during the summer. For a day trip, the park is only 37 miles from Marble Falls.
It’s free to enter the park, but only groups can camp. However, your family will have free access to a baseball field, education center, and amphitheater.
Guests can enjoy trails, bison, longhorns, wildflowers, a creek, and historic cabins. At the visitors center and learn more history.
Tours are available for all of the sites and make for an enjoyable and educational trip.
5. Blanco State Park
Find Blanco State Park with a cool lake supplied by a natural spring. Even on the hottest Texas summer days, the park stays at 68 degrees offering relief from the heat.
On the other side of the park, the swimming area receives direct sunlight, so you will not be too cold in the water. After passing Pedernales Falls State Park, you will find the park 37 miles southwest of Marble Falls.
A swimming facility rents tubes and provides a rope swing near the dam.
The park includes two modest paths for hiking and ecological research great for beginners, but experienced hikers may need more of a challenge.
Armadillos are abundant along this tiny track but should not trouble you while there.
Enjoy the park in style by camping on the grounds. Choose from full hookups or water and power campsites.
Pre-book a screened riverside shelter for a less primitive camping experience. Bring your own boat or hire a kayak to experience the Blanco River from the water.
6. Old Tunnel State Park
Location: 10619 Old San Antonio Rd, Fredericksburg, TX 78624
Old Tunnel State Park contains a lot of Civil War history, and a historic railroad tunnel about 57 miles southwest of Marble falls close to Fredericksburg.
Visitors to Old Tunnel State Park can hike, bird-watch, attend educational events, and observe Mexican Free-Tail bats most nights.
However, most people visit the park to see the 3 million flying mammals, which you can see between March and October.
Despite being Texas’ smallest state park, the rustic park has plenty to explore despite its lack of amenities, making it one of the Hill Country’s best-kept secrets.
In addition, the park is an excellent place to work-out on a short trail loop. With many steps and elevation changes, you can get a solid workout.
However, the park closes at 5 p.m. After then, only those with bat viewing licenses are allowed in.
Due to its vastness, you cannot camp, bring pets, light a fire, smoke, or consume alcohol. The park is free to enter; a bat permit costs $5 per person.
7. Colorado Bend State Park
Colorado Bend State Park offers a natural sanctuary about sixty miles from Marble Falls. With caves, a waterfall, hiking, camping, and much more, the entire family will love the park despite the slightly longer drive.
Add beautiful swimming holes and more sprawling over the 5,000-acre park far away from civilization for a perfect place to relax and enjoy the outdoors.
Gorman Falls hike in Colorado Bend is a must as it leads to a 70-foot waterfall! The three-mile round-trip hike is mostly flat but ends in a steep natural rock staircase.
Green moss-colored stones surround the area, giving it a tropical jungle paradise atmosphere.
Unlike Gorman Falls, several spring-fed lakes in the park allow visitors to swim. Spicewood Springs is a 1.3-mile loop with lovely views near the swimming hole and campgrounds.
Enjoy basic campsites with fire rings and water nearby, or group camping near the canyon and river. Spend the day fishing, exploring, caving, or relaxing any way you prefer.
