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| Sign at entrance to the park |
It also felt good to return.
We read that Hurricane Sally damaged the park and called the Ranger’s Station to learn more before we made our reservations. What we heard wasn’t encouraging. It sounded as if the campground was about the only place in the park that was still open. About three-quarters of the boardwalks were damaged and closed, the observation tower was unreachable and the park's roads were closed beyond the boat launch area. That meant we could not get to the kayak launch area. That was disappointing because we loved exploring the waterways in this park from our kayak. Our expectations were rock bottom after talking to the ranger. We decided that we would simply explore any open trails and enjoy the few areas that were still accessible.
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| Rosie's site in the campground |
On our earlier visits to this park, we frequently rode our bikes on the boardwalks from the campground to the bay. We occasionally stopped as we passed by what we called the alligator pond then continued on to the bay side of the park. Stopping was mandatory this time because the rest of the boardwalk was barricaded.
We hadn’t noticed before the quiet beauty of that spot. We enjoyed walking there most mornings and afternoons. We remarked several times about how peaceful it was there. In case you are wondering, we did see an alligator in that pond.
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| At the "alligator" pond |
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| The reflections were great |
We also saw two deer with babies near the alligator pond. Add armadillos, snakes, squirrels and many varieties of birds to that list and you see why some people mentioned wildlife in their reviews of this park.
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| Yes, you can see the alligator in this photo |
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| The barricades after the "alligator" pond |
Experienced campers know that most campgrounds change personalities over weekends. The campground filled with young families with children. We enjoyed seeing excited children laugh and play in the park.
For some reason, weekenders seem to believe they don’t have a good campfire unless it is belching out a blinding cloud of smoke. It was sadly amusing to see the campground area engulfed in a cloud of smoke as we walked our dog weekend evenings.
The temperature dipped into the 30s while camping at Big Lagoon. Rosie’s heat pump kept us warm until the temperature was too low for it to keep up and the propane furnace took over. There was a surprising number of people camping in tents and we hoped they were able to stay warm during the cold snap.
Here are some specifics about this campground:
- There were three loops in the campground
- Some sites had minimal shade. More sites were either full or partial sun. It helps to have a good working air conditioner when camping here
- Most sites had some space on both sides
- The surface of our site was dirt. Make that soft dirt. We needed to use leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean in Rosie, our Airstream trailer. We noticed that the leveling blocks kept sinking in the sand as we stayed there
- Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service. It appeared that only a handful of sites had 50 amp service as most sites were 30 amp only
- Our site had a water connection
- Our site did not have a sewer connection
- There was a dump station in this park. It was near the entrance to the camping area and was a long way from our site.
- The trash dumpsters were near several bathhouses. It was easy to walk there with your trash
- There were three bathhouses in the campground. They appeared to be clean and well maintained
- The park did not provide WiFi service
- AT&T provided 3 bars of 4G voice and data service over our campsite
- We were able to watch ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Bounce, Comet, Court-TV, Get, Grit, ION, ME-TV, Stadium and TBD
- This was a pet friendly park
We noticed while walking around the campground one afternoon that there were a couple of sites with about six or seven people pitching one-man tents. We talked to several in that group and found out they were a bicycle tour group traveling from San Diego, California, to St Augustine, Florida. They described their bike ride as three weeks before Texas, three weeks in Texas and three weeks after Texas. Most of the members in this group were in their 60s and 70s. That group was gone the next morning as they continued their trip.
We hope the park recovers from Hurricane Sally. It was easy to tell that they are making progress rebuilding what we have always considered to be a fun park to camp in.
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| Wildlife at the park |
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| A selfie |
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