Choke Canyon State Park and Reservoir

Camped here with a group over Veterans Day weekend. Starting with the pros.. our campsite was huge! We had enough space for three tents, plus could have fit at least one more. The bathrooms were clean, and each campsite had a nice cover over the table. The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. However, the hiking trails were really just walking trails and weren't that exciting. We were also woken up every morning at 5am because the duck hunters would unload near our site and walk down to the lake. If you did manage to fall asleep you were soon woken up to gunshots starting around 6:30 for hunting. The first night, right at dusk, we were attacked by some sort of nasty flying bug.. I think maybe industrial terminates because they came from the ground. It was terrorizing. But didn't happen the second night. And the Javelina's were really cool to see, but an absolute nightmare for our guardian dog. They do get close to the campsite, even if people are out, and our dog declared them as public enemy number one. So we were always on edge and looking for them before he caught wind of them. If you are looking for a chill spot to just hang and camp, I recommend. But if you are looking for more activities in a park, this honestly wasn't the place. The kids activities that were scheduled for the Saturday were cancelled, which was disappointing.

I went for a Duck Hunt. The property is kept very natural, and the birds came in just as we needed them, too. Moose Out

Really cool place to fish and hangout. Don't camp during the summer it is brutal. It's very hot but it's very natural. It's a great place to take the family and look at the wildlife in the morning. It is hard to fish from the bank there is a seaweed moss type thing going on edge. But if you have a boat there are plenty of places to hunt fish. They are in abundance there. They also have bass tournaments there. We saw turkeys, rabbits, deer, javalina, gators, and other bugs and fish. It is really nice and plenty of things to do.

I went in the middle of the week and even though online it said it was pretty fully-booked I only found a few people staying within the park. The amount of privacy because of that is really nice. The amenities are not the cleanest, wasps nests infested all of the picnic areas around the tenting spots. The water doesn't look very clean. While I did not spot any gators from the sure, the multiple signs, reviews and sounds I've heard from the water at night does not sound like any water I would want to get close to. The birds around the area are VERY noisy at all times at night (not really the park's fault, but just an observation). Overall, the stay was relaxing to just sit in the shade during the day reading a book, making s'mores at night and having no expectations of anything! But if you are looking to get active at a spot with a lot more to offer I would look elsewhere.

Choke Canyon State Park consists of two parks that are about 14 miles apart. For the South Shore Unit, there is no overnight camping. This is a better spot for fishing, I'd say, because of the bigger boat dock. It also isn't as busy. The Calliham Unit is the bigger of the two with the overnight camping and cabins. There are a few hiking trails going through the park. It was completely booked when I was there, on a holiday weekend, and I'd recommend booking in advance. The toilets and showers by the camping area didn't smell great, like they hadn't been cleaned in a bit. I saw lots of wildlife here including a mama javelina and her two piglets, deer, rabbits, turkey, but sadly no alligators.

Cell service is very sketchy. Park is scenic and spacious. A very nice spot but definitely off the grid.

Wonderful, clean and quiet park!! Beware of the alligators! They're here!! We saw none in the campground area though.

This park is probably better suited for those that want to hunt or fish. We just wanted to get out of the house during the pandemic so we rented a cabin for three nights during New Years. The visit didn't start off great since I received a voicemail telling me that if we arrived after 4pm then the cabin would be unlocked with the key inside. We drove to the cabin and it was locked so we had to drive back to the entrance only to be told that it had just been dropped off. The cabin is very bare bones - three twin beds with not so comfortable mattresses (then again, I'm like The Princess and the Pea), some shelves, and a/c only, no heat. Thank goodness we brought a portable heater especially since night temps dropped into the 30s! Some of the cabins are located by the lake and have scenic views. If you're wanting to sleep in late you will probably be awakened by hunters shooting and the roar of fishing boats. We didn't spot any alligators but did see turkeys, some deer came by our cabin, we heard coyotes at night while walking to the restroom, and a javelina came by to get a drink from a leaky outdoor faucet. There was a nice bird watch in the tent/RV camping area. The bathrooms had a rather unappealing odor like dirty water. I know this is not typical of all Texas State parks because I have visited others. We only did one walking trail since I don't think there were any others. Several facilities were closed due to the pandemic. There isn't a store inside to buy supplies but Three Rivers is minutes away if you need anything. I think i was spoiled by a stay at one of Garner State Park's cabins a couple of weeks before visiting Choke Canyon. We ended up leaving after two nights since it was just too cold and the bed was uncomfortable. Roughing it certainly gives me an appreciation for the comforts of home!

Such a peaceful spot. If you don't mind the alligators. This is a sort of canyon that they turned into a big lake out the middle of Texas. There's a large dam on the south east side of the lake that shores everything up. You can drive out to the start of the dam, where they have an observation hut with some shade, parking, and a lot of bird nests. From there, you can survey the peacefulness of the lake and take it all in. Further down, you can go launch a boat but no swimming, due to the number of alligators out there. Please don't feed the alligators! I went out and looked at the area where you could sit on a picnic table under a structure on a concrete slab and take in the view of the lake. However, a bunch were closed due to wasps. But, the place was deserted when I went, so that wasn't much of a problem. The park is clean, and quiet. You could hear distant far off gun shots, but I'm sure those are hunters, and not Three Rivers going crazy! It's a good place to go if you have a boat with a motor that's fast enough to get away from gators. Admission to the park is $5, but the State Parks system is offering a deal where you can get a year of free entry into the parks for a flat fee.

Wife and I are state park pass members... so we go to a lot of state parks. On a rv trip back from South Padre Island we stayed one night. The park itself is very beautiful, rv camping spots are very spacious. Our first ominous sign was seeing the park located fairly close to a Federal prison. There are numerous signs posted to beware of alligators (why would anyone go swimming here?) There really are not many hiking trails. Our camp site had numerous wild javelina on it. We tried to sit out at our camp site during the day but the place is run by a protected species of leaf gathering ants. They are literally coating the grounds and trees around our site. In an attempt to sit by our fire at night, we were dive bombed by a large number of aggressive bats.The water in our rv, even after filtering is pretty rough and cloudy. This is a beautiful place, but just not our cup of tea.