One of my favorite tx state parks. Beautiful place, looking more like Big Bend area every year. Lots of Pinyon Pines. Only open Friday to Monday I guess because of remoteness. 5 or 6 full hookup rv sites and lots of other camp sites with community water. A bath/shower house. You can get cell service if you take one of the hilltop trails. The bats come April thru October and are spectacular. Went down into a different cave a few years back. They lead the tour and give you a helmet but you need to bring your own lights. Make reserves for this. Lots of trails and great western birds. Pack all your trash out, no dumpsters. Not sure how much longer they will be open because their water well is scrapping the bottom. Wish our gov $$ would help the parks a little more. Saving some of our precious water rather than letting all the crypto and ai data centers use it all up. What a waste. Better hurry and enjoy this gem before it is gone. read more

See all

What used to be a ranch between 1920s to the 1980s, a rancher by the name of Seagram donated his land to the state of Texas creating the Kickapoo natural area. It wasn't until 2010, that it became a state park. The state park is unique from the others; whereas the CCC didn't take part in building certain areas. As you walk on different trails you will find a water trove I used to feed the animals that lived on the land. There's a loud creaky windmill that moves when the wind blows; you would think that a spaceship is landing because of his loud screeching noise. If you are a birdwatcher, you are in for treat since there is a variety of birds that live in the park. Stop by the headquarters to pick up birds of the park booklet. If you like strenuous long hikes, there are two trails: Arroyo Camino and Barbados. Both lookout trails, a rocky and rugged with a incline going upward. It is best to bring trekking poles to keep your balance. If you rock hounder like me, you would absolutely need to go on the cave tour. I would suggest that you are regular hiker and somewhat fit to keep up the endurance of the tour. There are some loose rocks that can hinder your balance if you step on them and incorrectly. You don't have to be super physically fit, but it is recommended that you are active in your daily life to be able to handle the cave tour. I would even suggest healthy elderly folks; there was a couple in their 70s that hiked for four hours in the hot and humid climate of the cave. I wore my Columbia hiking boots and felt secure when climbing over the thick rocks. The tour was delightful and very cool! The website will tell you to bring a headlamp but is recommended that you bring a flashlight. The headlamps are good when you're going into the smaller holes. If you are up for the challenge! Don't forget your flashlight! Because you will not be able to see where you are stepping without it. You will see scorpions crickets daddy long leg spiders, you will hear the barking frog and pitch blackness of nothing. This was the coolest cave tour that I've been on outside of the caverns of Sonora. I will even have to say that it tops natural bridge and inner Space Caverns. And the reason why is because you will see graffiti dating all the way back from 1887 from people like you and me who got to explore during their time. Another fun thing about the park, is that they have a bat cave that at around 7:45 p.m. the bats fly out of the cave. That's pretty gnarly rad!! If you're wondering well where do I sleep, I love the campsites here because some are secluded. Unlike at Blanco State Park, you'll enjoy peace and relaxation knowing that you could kick back in your chair read a nice book and listen to the birds sing without anyone watching you. Of course there's only a few campsites that have that option. Some campsite come with the picnic table covered which is an added bonus if you ever have to go through the extreme rainstorm that we had yesterday evening. Don't expect to roast more over the fire, because there's a burn ban. However they do allow propane grills and other options for you to cook. Desert terrain with its dryness, driftwood, dry heat, you got to love West Texas. With all of that in mind, Kickapoo Caverns State Park is still considered the least visited state park in the state of Texas. Unfortunately it is underrated, come visit this bomb.com ass park! read more

Very helpful staff. Wonderful trails with interesting rocks. Limited internet access, unless you have to Starlink. Bird blind is very good, no feeders but it has running water. read more

See all

HOT SHOWERS I have been car camping across Texas and (due to Covid) the past few campgrounds I had been to did not have their showers available. The park staff here were so kind. They told me they had just finished sanitizing the bathrooms. They were very helpful with giving me info about the park. I'm a bird watcher so I really loved the bird blind which gave me an up close look at the birds. This park is famous for the Mexican Free-tail Bat colony but December (when I visited) was too late to see them. I still enjoyed my time here throughly! Would come back again, maybe during a tad warmer time of year (I'm from Florida so this whole Texas trip has been a bit colder than I'd like haha) read more

Kickapoo Cavern State Park - Sunset beyond my campsite - Parks Near Me - Brackettville, Texas

Had a really great time! Went in knowing nothing, missing the cave tour as it's done on Saturday! The bats left a few weeks ago, but there are tons of other animals around! There are armadillos, roadrunners, porcupine, deer, hawks and ring tailed cats! We only stayed a night but loved it all, the weather was great, the ranger and his wife were really nice and it was a very clean and well maintained campsite, as well as peaceful and quiet, we will be back next year for the cave swallows! Also watch out for border patrol! They will pull you over and interrogate you! Don't forget your license at home or your Miranda rights. read more

See all

Kickapoo Cavern is a great place to camp and hike. And it was so cool to see the 3 million Mexican fruit bats leave the cave for about 45 minutes! The optimal time to see the bats is summer to October so go check it out. The hikes were pretty around Kickapoo. I was bummed that we couldn't do the hike inside the cavern due to COVID as I heard it was a great to get in there. I was surprised there wasn't a bat smell. Kickapoo was a fun weekend for camping. read more

See all

Beautiful scenery along the way from Fort Clark Springs. Didn't pass a car for 25 miles.

Kickapoo Cavern State Park is an incredible park and well worth a weekend trip out to southwest Texas. While it's not a very big park and doesn't have more than a handful of hiking trails, the cave tour is certainly worth experiencing ($10 per person). Unlike most cave tours, this one is completely undeveloped. There's no pre-existing lighting, no stairs, no railing, no bathroom, and only one tour per weekend. You are required to have two light sources per person and make sure to wear your hiking boots and bring water because it's extremely humid. The tour isn't particularly exhausting but you'll be climbing up and down rocks for about 3hrs so plan accordingly. The guides are extremely nice and seem to know what they're talking about. The facilities at this park are modern and well-kept. The restrooms have sinks and flush toilets for those of you that cannot handle primitive toilets. Several of the campsites have power hookups and they all have water spigots. The ranger station has free (slow) WiFi since there's absolutely no cellphone service within the park. You'll have to go out to the road to find a signal. You have to pack out your trash since there are no dumpsters in the park. The hiking trails are poorly labeled and can be difficult to follow across the numerous dry riverbeds they cross. Fortunately the park is not large and there are numerous landmarks that can be seen from almost anywhere. The bat cave is a very impressive experience and readily accessible from the main park road. The bats emerge at dusk and offer quite the spectacle (take that Congress Avenue bridge bats!). read more

Kickapoo Cavern State Park - Entrance to Kickapoo Cavern - Parks Near Me - Brackettville, Texas

See all

After driving all the way up there on that lonely road from Bracketville, the place was fenced and closed! Pretty disappointed. However, the scenery there and back was beautiful. read more

Our group of 8 all unanimously agreed that Kickapoo Caverns was a great highlight of our trip! This is a small yet beautiful park that I was eager to explore when entering. We called ahead to book a tour on a Sunday, which cost $10 per entry for adults. They took us on an old bus to get to the caverns, which was almost half the fun since we took dirt roads.. I felt like we were on the Indiana Jones ride in the gorgeous Texas outdoors!! Lol The caves themselves were stunning. Entering they were filled with wildlife, but as you continue on into the other chambers the rock formations stole the show. We had some great tour guides that led us along the way. They were extremely knowledgeable, funny, and engaging. We had an opportunity to experience the darkness of the caves and even climb into some naturally occurring tunnels! It was warm in the caves so try to wear moisture wicking clothes and a hair tie for all you long-haired yelpers. This is a great opportunity to see past formations and current growing formations without the feel of commercialism. It's totally worth the trip!!! read more

Kickapoo Cavern State Park is an incredible hidden gem and well worth the drive through West Texas. The cave tour is held every Saturday at 100pm (call to confirm) and is 10$ per person. My two boys (12 & 9) and were amazed by the crystals and views inside the caverns. This is not a show cave like Natural Bridge Caverns or Carlsbad, this is a semi wild cave only open to TXPWD tours. As a semi wild cave, you have to do some climbing, some hiking, and even belly crawl (if you want). The kids had a blast as it was their 1st caving experience. Kickapoo Caverns has several trails; some hard well marked, others are tough to follow. The trails range in difficulty as well. Although fun, the "Long Way Home Trail" lives up yo its name and can also get rugged at times. Note: the tour lasts for about 3 hours... I'd recommend doing Enchanted Rock in the AM, Kickapoo, and then Devils Sinkhole in the evening... There is absolutely nothing around the State Park... read more

This is a fantastic park. The cavern tour was definitely the highlight of our stay and shouldn't be passed up. It was amazing to have the opportunity to be so close to the formations inside the cavern. It can be a little strenuous at times climbing over some of the rocks and boulders in the cavern, but well worth it. We only had cell phone service in a few spots in the park, and not at our campsite. However, we were more interested in looking at the awesome star display at night than our phones anyway. Also suggest catching the bat flight at night out of Stuart Bat cave. read more

Cave tour is awesome and well worth the $10 fee. The park is a little disorganized and the trails are not labeled.