Great place for camping and enjoying the scenic parts of Austin. This is for people interested in cliff diving because I couldn't find any advice through my search. As a swim team tradition from Dallas, my friends and I would always travel out to Lake Whitney near Waco and go cliff diving every summer. I was pretty stoked when I heard about cliff diving in Austin. After calling Pace Bend Park to get a feel for the possibility of cliff diving, I was confronted with a bit of hesitation as usual. If you are interested in cliff diving, note that all lake administration NEVER recommends cliff diving and suggests you avoid it any time of the year at any water level. When you drive up to pay at the front, there are even big poster boards declaring, "CLIFF DIVING NOT SUGGESTED." Liability reasons is understandable, and there are always cases of people diving in without a straight head. A day pass is $10. I've found Mudd Cove Tournament to be a good place to jump through videos, personal blogs, and my own scouting. When you drive into Mudd Cove, take the right road. The area is between restroom 11 and 12. Across the lake, you should be able to see the massive manshion-like hotel to your right at about a 60 degree angle. In Waco, the cliffs I dove off of were about 30-maybe 40ft. At Lake Travis with the drought, you are looking at 50-65ft. (At these heights, make sure to keep your legs tight together. You are reaching heights where if you land awkwardly, it will hurt.) However, this year round. The lake has been hit hard with the drought. The lady I called informed me the lake is less than 55% full. So when I reached the cliffs, there was absolutely no one diving. After I swam in the lake to check the depth, I built up the confidence to dive. I'm the type of person to generally dive in first, and I consider myself as a adrenaline junkie. If you don't have that type of person, really scout the place out. When I jumped, there were a bunch of people watching with curiosity. Some have been waiting all day for someone to go first. Generally, the smarter thing to do, but I don't think I am patient in that aspect. Disclaimer: Not for the faint of heart. Stay safe. Have fun. Definitely, not a good idea with drinks. Pretty common sense, but I see people every year get injured in Waco. Make sure to drive the speed limit of 10 mph once you get off the main road. The rangers are very assertive. read more

Great park! My friends and I found, what we thought, was the best campsite, with the fire pit over looking the Colorado river, and a "secret" passage to climb down the rocks and into the river. Beautiful and clean, I have to make another trip back! read more

Pace Bend Park - Parks Near Me - Spicewood, Texas

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Beautiful! :) Go here during the week or weekend, it's gets pretty crowded. My friend and I brought our inflatable kayaks and had a blast! read more

Wow. This park is beautiful. I've been to many lake parks, but this is the first one I've been to that has smooth sandy beaches instead of rocky shores. There are people here, but they aren't all in your space. You have enough room to spread out. The camp sites are really cool, and we stayed in the primitive ones near the water. We were walking distance to the bathroom and the water. It was quiet enough at night to sleep, but not too quite to be up hanging out if you wanted to. I love the natural cliffs that surround the water. It made it feel even more like the hill country. It's also really affordable, we only paid $15 a car for camping. I highly recommend checking it out if you're looking for a beautiful place to pull up to the sand and hang out. read more

Pace Bend Park on Lake Travis. We have a picnic near the water, but could not find any shady spots. Good thing we carried our own tent! If you do go to the park for a day trip. It was very hot, but taking a few dips in the lake was refreshing and cooled us off. The beach is a little bit rocky, but there are very few rocks once you are in the water. The regular entrance fee is only $10 (for day use). Also, there are plenty of restroom facilities, dumpsters and prepared picnic and day use sites. Some of the picnic and day use sites do have covering, but they are not right on the shore. So, if you are in the area, Pace Bend Park is a great place to explore. Spanish Pace Bend Park en Lake Travis. Tenemos un picnic cerca del agua, pero no pudimos encontrar ningún lugares con sombra. Menos mal que llevamos a nuestra propia tienda de campaña! Si tienes que ir al parque para un día de viaje. Hacía mucho calor, pero tomando algunas inmersiones en el lago era refrescante y nos refrescaba. La playa es un poco rocosa, pero hay muy pocas rocas una vez que están en el agua. El precio de la entrada normal es de sólo $ 10 (para el uso del día). Además, hay un montón de instalaciones de baño, contenedores de basura y de picnic preparadas y sitios de uso diario. Algunos de los picnic y sitios de uso día sí tienen cubierta, y que no están justo en la orilla. Así que, si estás en la zona, Pace Bend Park es un gran lugar para explorar. read more

This is a great place to come running, hiking, or biking if you don't mind the drive. It's quiet and I felt like I had the whole park to myself. I would recommend taking a phone. I got lost on these trails running last year. I see a single soul for 2 hours. read more

I love the biking trails and the lake is so awesome! It was our firs time being here. But really worth it. We'll be back to expend the night. Hopefully soon. read more

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Great park! Went on a camping trip with friends and had a great time. Bring cash. Pets are allowed. The trails are great and easy to find. Also, the staff are great! read more

This is what I get for not looking this place up on yelp first - I didn't realize you could go cliff diving! We didn't camp, just came for a day by the lake. We had no idea what we were doing so we just kept driving until we saw people in the water. That turned out to be Mud Cove. Most of the shore appears to be rocky, but Mud Cove has a nice little patch of sand where you can set up shop. According to some friendly fellow beach-goers, the water has receded quite a bit due to the drought. The water is also FREEZING this time of year, but they said it gets nice and warm as the summer progresses. Obviously Lake Travis is never going to be the ocean (or one of the Great Lakes, even - I miss you Michigan. Tear.) but if you want to hang out by the water give Pace Bend a try. I'm looking forward to checking out the trails and coves. read more

Get place to camp! They let you camp wherever you want to pitch your tent. Just be careful, there are some steep cliffs, so keep a good eye on your kids and pets. Great location on a peninsula one short hour from downtown Austin. The two boat ramps here are typically some of the last to be closed in drought years (like this one-they are already closed). You can launch from the east beach if you trailer in jet skis or a light boat...and the right vehicle. Two reasons I did not give this five stars 1) The hefty cost of entrance-$10 per vehicle and 2) they lack a good trail system and the one they do have is not well marked. read more

Went camping here and chose to hike into a more primitive location, away from other people. Pros: it's easy to park your car nearby your site, unless you hike out like I did. You can find a lot of trails to explore and there's lots of spots for swimming. You can also check out the cliff jumping. There's a variety of campsites available, so you can choose which kind of scenery you wake up to. I got to see a mountain lion cub, which was pretty exciting. Cons: Biggest complaint is that I had to listen to music blaring until about 4am. People were out camping and playing beer pong at their sites. Also, not all the primitive campsites are maintained, particularly the ones in the back wooded areas. Good spot to get away from the city for a bit, but don't expect to have a lot of seclusion. read more

Great swimming. Great beach. Fun for going with friends or with your family. You can bring a grill and cook some food too, or pitch a tent (gotta pay for overnight though). We LOVE going here. It's our favorite place to go hands down. read more

I had a two night camp with a couple of good buddies of mine. We stayed Sunday and Monday nights and had which I think was the best campsite at the park. It was in a cove and overlooked the cliffs. We could actually walk right down to the water and fish and swim if it was warmer weather. I took my inflatable boat out and the three of us cruised around on the lake and got a nice sunburn. We bought some firewood from a convenience store a few miles down the road. Our site had no water or electricity and didn't even have a grill or fire ring. No problem for us we built a fire ring with rocks and put a grill on top. I bought the grill at the convenience store. Hiking was really good. The trails are not marked that well in some areas and like most park maps they suck in my opinion. I slept in my hammock with the most beautiful view of the cliffs and lake. We were the only campers in the entire cove. We had the whole place to ourselves. I will definitely be back in the summer to try swimming and cliff jumping. Great park and I highly recommend. read more

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Great park overall, well maintained with clear signage for the various points of interest. read more

Pace Bend Park - There are multiple cliff jumping locations with plenty of places to climb up for experienced and novice climbers. - Parks Near Me - Spicewood, Texas

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As a county park, 5 stars for sure. As a state park, maybe down to 4? Maybe. I haven't been camping in years (at least 12-yrs) and even then I was maybe 13. So, this was a refresher experience for me and a first experience for my wife. We've been planning to go to Big Bend or further but needed to get our feet wet first, literately. This was also our first time to this park. Pace Bend Park offers great campsites with some awesome views of Lake Travis. We grabbed a primitive site too quickly without scouting more. Our's didn't really have a view at all. After setting EVERYTHING up, we drove around and notice many other available spots on the clifs or even the beach side with better views and more room. Even still, we had a great time. We took our two dogs (lab and a chihuahua), let them swim and explore on the beach side and then enjoyed the fire that night. We only stayed one night since rain cancelled our first planned night but it was worth it. We drove all the way from Houston and it was worth it. If I were to do it better next time, I would drive around a bit more and find a good spot... and that's probably it. Good place for a quick weekend get-away. read more

Love this place and pretty much frequented here every weekend from 1999 to 2008. When I moved way up north it wasn't as easy to get here but upon moving back to Lakeway this summer it's felt like I'm home all over again. read more

I want to give this place a good review but I can't. I went here with 5 friends our dogs and a baby. We are very respectful campers. We found a good private spot and stayed 1 night. The next day around noon we were sitting around the campfire discussing what we should do for the day and a park ranger appears. My first thought was thank goodness we aren't doing anything wrong, but apparently he thought otherwise. He wrote us all tickets for our dogs who were off leash but sitting by our feet. Even my friend who had a 2lb 16yr old Pomeranian in his lap got an off leash ticket. Normally I would keep my dog on a leash but we had a very private area to ourselves and no one else was in sight so there was really no reason to tie them up. The ranger then continued to snoop around our campsite and found a wine bottle. We got a ticket for that too. We were all just so dumbfounded by the situation we didn't know what to do or say. It was outrageously unfair considering we were not causing any problems at all. A warning would have been fair but he said our warning was the sign at the entrance of the park. He then told us we were banned from the park for 6 months and had to leave right away. Even sitting here writing this review I can't believe it happened. The problem with this Park Ranger is that he is extremely lazy. He saw us as an easy target. We were not doing anything wrong. We were not making noise, we were not even listening to music. We were not drinking and our dogs had not left our side. But "by the book" we deserved a ticket. There are plenty of people at PaceBend breaking all these rules who are there just to party. This was not us. Now I probably have $1,000 worth of fines that were completely unnecessary. I guess this review is just a rant but it is also a warning. There is a ranger out there that is not doing his job. He is not actually helping keep the park safe but instead just trying to meet a ticket quota. read more

Well, where to start? Approaching the entrance of the park there was a sign stating cash or check for payment only. Minor detail but a bit of an inconvenience. Arrived at the check in booth / "guard shack". Stated I had reservations and provided payment. I was then in a very kind and courteous fashion read the litany of rules and regulations. Well, about a quarter mile in to the park I guess is where all the rule keeping stops. It is very apparent that the rules are discussed at the entrance and that is as far as it goes. In the improved section kids were gathering firewood, dogs running around without leashes, campers walking in from other parts of the park and using the RV only bathrooms and showers (the rest of the park has toilets only). Repeatedly told no glass containers in the park. Can't count how many wine bottles and beer cans (no open consumption of alcohol) I saw in the park. Told several times that 2 vehicles per RV spot are aloud and your trailer counts as a vehicle. Arrived to our RV spot and other campers have a trailer, an SUV, and a car which is parked in the grass which is against the rules at their spot. Asked i.e. we could park our "3rd" vehicle (we had a truck, trailer, and our daughter's car) in overflow parking as we are waiting for our daughter to pick it up for school. We informed each site is allowed 2 vehicles and no extras. Overflow is not to be used for Peking extra cars. Overflow is for people with RVs that towed a vehicle. With all that being said the lake is nice and plenty of hiking trails (map and trail markers don't quite match). The sites are clean (as far as I can tell in the improved RV section). All other sites appear too be first come first serve with no rules at all. I saw tent campers, RVs, box trucks, u-hauls, 5th wheels, etc. I saw from 1 person camping to a dozen plus at a single site. No parking issues as people parked wherever they felt like. I saw 5 cars in one site. read more

We went this last weekend and stayed in primitive camping near Mud Cove (latrine #11 on your map there)- 2 adults and 1 three year old. We went there for the first time to camp and watch the meteor shower during the new moon and do some swimming. What I learned: 1) The cool thing about Pace Bend is you can pretty much just drive to wherever you can get your car and set up camp. There are campsites, but you are not limited to camping in them. I was under the impression you could just park it practically anywhere. You can get away with practically anything, too. The rangers don't seem to give a poop as long as you're not using glass containers. 2) The cool thing is also the crappy thing. You can get away with practically ANYTHING. There was a group of about 100 college kids on the other side of our loop and they partied all night. ALL. NIGHT. So loudly. SO LOUDLY until after 6:00a. I get it. It wasn't so long ago that I too camped and partied all night but this was ridiculous. And the rangers do not care. At around midnight, my hubs and I were quietly in the field next to our site watching the stars when a ranger came by to inform us that we needed to get our wine into a Solo cup since glass bottles were prohibited and then proceeded to give me the juvenile explanation about broken glass and blah blah blah- which I totally understand, I should not have had my wine bottle there etc. -and I would have taken my reprimand more respectfully if he didn't have to use a raised voice to be heard over the mini-Burning Man expo happening down the way. It was complete crap to be bothering us about a wine bottle and not bat an eye at the BS happening on the other side of the loop. (for the record- we operate on the "cleaner than you found it" philosophy in our fam. Clean up all our trash and then each person has to find 5 more pieces of trash before we can check out of the campsite. STFU about my wine bottle.) Also: Cars driving by with their brights on and stereos blaring, whizzing by the campsite until 4a from people looking for said party. 3) Mud Cove lives up to it's name. It is muddy AF. And the beach was dirty. There was washed up lake trash debris from broken docks and there where trash piles from beach goers everywhere. Broken bottles, torn up floaties, dirty diapers- you name it. That was a disappointment. Over all, it was a pretty area- the cliffs are nice and the lake scene from a distance is lovely. I doubt we ever will go back, but if we do, we will try the West side on the park. I don't think it was as populated. We camp as a family, but don't go into situations expecting everything to be some cushy, bubbled "family friendly" experience- but I do expect that the rangers dole out their wags of the finger equally and that there is a reasonable, mutual respect from other campers. read more

Park is Beautiful, lake is awesome! I would suggest to explore sites before you pick a spot to camp. This is the first time I have gone and first set up at "Mud Cove" off the suggestion from a lady working there since I had kids with me. Mud Cove is not just a name, the pond area is literally just muddy water, but view is nice. Decided to check the rest of the park out and went through N Taylor Loop. We immediately grabbed our stuff and moved. THATS where the lake is, and although the water isn't "Kid Wading Water" they had floaties and life jackets and had a much better time. Water was accessible, just took a little cliff rock stepping and we had a blast. Only downfall was that we were by the bathrooms and had REALLY loud neighbors who were ended up wandering into our campsite well past 10pm. There were other neighbors who were pretty loud but it's summer. Anyways. Had a lot of fun! Hiking trails not that kid friendly either but swimming is great!! read more

Pace Bend Park - Parks Near Me - Spicewood, Texas

This place is beautiful. I haven't been here camping yet, but am slowly accumulating the equipment to do so. It's a great place to go spend a lazy Saturday afternoon in the sun. You are better off going in a truck to safely ride out onto the beach. Nice swimming water & great view. I have yet to jump off the cliffs because the water has been to shallow & I am a little chicken. read more

Great cliff diving experience. There are lower ones that you could try if youre to scared. When we went there, there were ropes to help people get back up. The highest cliff is aprox 40 feet. read more

Wow!!! I have never seen Lake Travis this low. There is NO cliff diving. You'll die if you do because there is nothing but rock at the bottom and you couldn't jump out far enough to reach the water if wanted. It's so sad. read more

Great park right in the water, it can get busy on the east side with the cliffs but the west side is very tranquil and relaxing. Be sure to bring water shoes or sandals if you go swimming in the shallow areas because the clam shells on the rocks can be razor sharp. I'd definitely recommend to anyone read more

Great hike, but beware of the misleading side trails. The markers on the map provided at the park entrance do not hold true to the numerous side trails, and there is a real risk of getting 'lost' in the park. read more

Best time camping and the cliff jumping is amazing. Drinking is allowed "unofficially" so make sure to bring koozies and drink containers. They will kick you out and ban you for a year if your group gets too rowdy. I know from experience...doh! Get there early for the best spots....see you there!! read more

Such an amazing place to camp! So beautiful and out spot was perfect for the 8 of us! Each spot is pretty private and there's picnic tables and fireplaces for each spot! Super awesome and only $15 for such an amazing experience! Definitely will be going back! read more

ahhh Pace Bend Park is SO nice! I love it.... I live at Lake Travis, about a block from the water, and Ill drive half an hour or more to visit Pace Bend because its just SO nice out there! read more

It had been a couple years since I'd hit up Pace Bend, but I went last weekend with my husband and his friends. We had a great time climbing down the smaller cliffs, jumping into the water, discovering a rope swing that someone had so kindly left for others looking for that ole timey waterin' hole kind of day. We made friends with a group of guys that brought their dog, then three people on a road trip from Illinois. Then we went back to our camp site, even though we were just there for the day, and grilled up some real and fake burgers, and ate some very quickly melting cupcakes. It was hot as all get out, but we still had a great time. read more

Beautiful park with lots to do! Lots of hiking, biking, and even horse riding, trails. Fishing, swimming, and nice picnics. With boat docks & camping areas scattered around the park including picnic tables, grills, and campfire circles! Also some areas have electric but you need a reservation for that. It's an amazing outdoor fun filled adventure awaiting your visit! My girlfriend and I went on a beautiful fall day, partly cloudy, around 75 degrees. Couldn't have asked for a better experience. The attendant at the front gates was super helpful as well and offered maps and guidance throughout the park. Some areas were closed off because of the recent floods but glad we were still able to enjoy the rest of the park. read more

We go every 4th of July to pace bend. Approx 1 hour out side of Austin, Easy access, cheap ($10.00 all day) over nights are different costs. plenty of room to find good spots on the water. Never had any issues with campground employees or patrolling law, all good people. read more

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Sooo - I feel bad giving a lower score than normal, but I just didn't get it. I've been to my fair share of state and national parks, and at the very least there is a trail map and/or parking designations. I felt like I was fumbling about a bit, and I wasn't there for cliff diving, so maybe that's part of the problem. Yelp reviews were very helpful, so I at least knew to check out Mud Cove (which we stumbled on), and it was a nice little area. The kids had fun finding shells and digging in the dirt. We did a little geocaching. We will go back on a warm sunny day and see if we can find something else to explore. read more

Love this place! We've camped out a couple of times up on the cliff, beautiful views. Some of the best times and just a short drive from Austin. Oh, the dogs love it too! Just be careful to keep them on a leash when the park ranger makes his/her rounds. Have jumped off the cliff, my advice is if you do make sure to land toes in first don't lean either direction or you could end up with a 6 in x 4 in purple bruise that lasts for weeks. :) read more

First place I have ever camped was here almost 2 years ago. My husband proposed to me at this park about a year ago. We absolutely love it! We drive out to the hill country to camp quite a bit. Every time we go we want to try a new park, but always end up here. There are so many great camping spots and fishing is always great. read more

Pros- Beautiful park, it was Oasis in the middle of the hot arid climate. Me and my mates spent the day swimming and cliff diving near mud cove. It was fantastic. Great camping sites around 11 and 12. Cons- Cops are on patrol. First day we were stopped by cops at our camp site for drinking wine. 2 of the group were cuffed. We ended up all getting off with drinking tickets-public display of alcohol and a year ban from the park read more

Ehh.. Good for camping. Sucks for swimming, not really a place to go specially for that.. Can get too crowded. I've seen better spots for Lake Travis. read more

Very nice park. It was clean and well kept. several camping options and lots of hiking.

Love this park and have been coming here for years. However the security here sucks. My family and I have been out here a couple days for labor day. The mexican clan that is right next to us has been loud and obnoxious. Park rules are 10pm to 7am all radios and generators are to be off. I physically went to the front gate around 1130 to complain and they said they had several calls already on them. Yet they have still, at 3am, done anything to stop them. At one point they had 2 car stereos balsting and shooting off air rifles. Park security has done shit to keep the respect of camping rules at peace. Finally broke down and called the real cops. Hoping they show up........ read more

We had an amazing view for sunset and sunrise. Our camping spot was also prime. We barely had any bugs, which was surprising in July and how I always get eaten up. We were also close to the bathroom. The grill was clean, so we were able to whip out shrimp, lobster tail, corn, and chicken. We even made tea. There are so many activities such as hiking, biking, swimming, and fishing. We went cliff jumping. There are no showers, so be prepared. Great spot for families, couples, and an escape from the city! Thank you Pacebend Park! read more

The park is awesome, scenery is beautiful, and we had a great time, one particular situation rubbed me the wrong way. Let me explain- my friends and I went to the lake for a night swim and one of the "mighty park rangers" decided to creepily follow us from our campsite to the lake where he asked us to go back to our campsite for being too loud. No one else seemed to mind- just him. He told us if we didn't leave the lake, he would charge us for trespassing we would be banned from every state park in Texas. Thats one heck of a threat considering we PAID to be at the camp grounds. We went along with his power hungry demands and went back to our camp site. If you are looking to experience the great outdoors with friends who like to laugh and cut up while swimming and having fun- you may want to reconsider going to pace bend park. They better fire this guy or else people will stop paying to use the park as a vacation spot. What a shame. read more