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Review of By the River RV Park

9 04 2010

By the River RV Park

We’re on the way back home, and our first night is at By the River RV Park near Kerrville, TX. This park is only a few miles from where we stayed 2 weeks ago, Johnson Creek RV Resort.

By the River is about ½ mile off of the secondary highway that runs parallel to I-10, through Kerrville, Ingram and Mountain Home, Texas. This off-highway location offers a quieter environment than at Johnson Creek which was closer to the highway. Another difference is that the river is visible here at from nearly all of the sites. The sites are laid out in a long double row, one side backed in overlooking the river, the other across a paved roadway. Most of the sites here are back-in sites, with a few pull-throughs at the far end of the park. All sites have full hookups, water, sewer, 30 or 50 amp electrical and cable TV. There is a picnic table at most sites.

When we checked in around 4pm, they were preparing a “pot luck” dinner of Texas Fajitas and made sure to invite us to join them. While we didn’t join in for dinner, it appeared that they had a good crowd, so I assume they have a fairly large group of permanent, or at least long-term residents.

The large clubhouse building contained the registration office, a kitchen facility, a small library/setting area the restrooms and the showers. The restrooms and showers were very clean, well maintained and easy to access through an outside door with combo lock. There was also a very nice pool area next to the clubhouse.

Overall we enjoyed our stay at By the River more than at Johnson Creek. This park feels a bit more welcoming, has slightly larger sites, and has more of an “in-the-woods” feel because of less cement and pavement. The pool and outdoor BBQ/entertainment areas at Johnson Creek are certainly the better of the two, but we didn’t use those facilities in either location. By the River RV Park gets a thumbs up, we’d definitely stay here again.

Rates start at $30/night for a standard back-in site, we opted for the back-in premium water-front site at $36, or $32 after the 10% Good Sam discount.

: Our neighbors

: Tent-camping island

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Tags: by the river, kerrville
Categories : Facility Reviews, Texas Roadtrip 2010

Review of Johnson Creek RV Resort

30 03 2010

We’re at Johnson Creek RV Resort, a medium size park with about 50 spaces. It’s unique because all of the spaces are set among an active Pecan Orchard. Unfortunately the Pecan trees in this area haven’t spouted their summer leaves, so the forest of trees is a bit sparse right now. But, the RV sites and amenities are very nice. All sites are pull-through, attracting the really big rigs – lots of 5th wheels and coaches. We’re definitely the smallest rig in the park tonight! All driveways and parking spaces are cement, and all include water, sewer, electric, cable TV and an outdoor picnic table. Probably the most impressive feature of this park is the Club House which is a large, newer building set on the cliff above the meandering Johnson Creek below. Complete with a bar/social area, a card room, a billiard room, an outdoor pool surrounded by patios, and a very clean bathroom/shower room. There’s also an office building with a Country Store stocking many of the necessities and selling Pecans (of course). Wi-Fi is readily available with 2 pro-grade access points providing well over 2Mb download speeds.

This is the first park that we’ve found along the way with full time “Winter Texans” – northerners that spend 3 or more months in Texas during the winter time. Some that I met are full-timers – those who have sold their homes, packed away the possessions and taken to the road. Many of the Johnson Creek residents have been here all winter. Others are just stopping by for a couple of days or weeks on their way back north. Most of those “in-transit” have been in the lower Rio Grande valley.

Everyone I talked to love this location and the park. It’s much more like a mobile home park than a “camping” experience. We’d prefer to have more of a camping experience, maybe not quite as rustic as Balmorhea, but a location with a bit more space and privacy between sites would be great. However, for those wanting a “neighborhood” feel, great amenities, very friendly staff – Johnson Creek RV Resort is perfect.