TX State ParksAn independent field guide

Stephen F. Austin State Park

State park in Austin County, in the Prairies and Lakes region. Established 1940. 466 acres by TPWD boundary data.

A campsite in Stephen F. Austin State Park in San Felipe, Texas, United States.
Photo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Stephen F. Austin State Park is on the Brazos River at San Felipe, where Austin based his colony, about an hour west of Houston. It's a wooded park with five miles of hiking and biking trails through bottomland forest and upland swamp. San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site, with its museum, is nearby.

Things to do

Hike the bottomland

Trails follow the riverbank under tall hardwoods. They close when muddy, so call ahead.

San Felipe de Austin

Walk the townsite of Austin's original colony headquarters and visit the museum at the nearby state historic site.

Trails

TPWD counts about 5 miles of trails in the park. These are the named trails it lists, with its own distances and ratings.

TrailDistanceDifficultyTime
Brazos Bottom Trail0.5 miEasy30 min.
Copperhead Trail0.5 miEasy40 min.
Cottonwood Trail0.7 miEasy30 min.
Ironwood Trail1 miEasy50 min.
Barred Owl Trail0.7 miEasy30 min.
Opossum Loop0.3 miEasy20 min.
Pileated Trail0.7 miEasy30 min.
Nature Trail0.1 miEasy10 min.
Sycamore Trail0.5 miEasy30 min.

Source: TPWD trail list. TPWD doesn’t list trail surfaces. Printable trail map (PDF).

Camping

Choose full hookup or tent sites, 19 screened shelters, a cabin, or a group camp.

Site typeSitesSleepsPer night
Full Hookup CampsitesFull hookup388$30
Campsites with WaterTent sites with water398$20
Primitive Campsites (Walk-in)Primitive258$15
Group Camp 1Group60$100
Screened SheltersScreened shelters198$35
CabinCabins18$75

Nightly rates are on top of the daily entrance fee. Book a site with Texas State Parks reservations, or call (512) 389-8900.

Visiting with dogs

Dogs are allowed on a leash no longer than 6 feet. Like every Texas state park, they can't go into park buildings or designated swimming areas.

Swimming

TPWD doesn't list swimming for this park.

Best time to go

Busy season
March to MayOctober to November
January low
43°F
July high
94°F
Rain per year
40.4 in.
Night sky
Bortle 5

TPWD lists March to May and October to November as the busy seasons.

Averages and busy season from TPWD. The Bortle scale runs from 1 (darkest sky) to 9 (inner city).

Getting there

Park Road 38
San Felipe, TX 77473
(979) 885-3613

Open in OpenStreetMap (29.8120, -96.1081)

From the nearest cities in this guide
FromApprox. driveStraight line
Houston1 hr 2 min43 mi
The Woodlands1 hr 22 min44 mi
Austin2 hr 20 min104 mi
San Antonio2 hr 48 min147 mi
Waco3 hr 7 min137 mi
Corpus Christi4 hr 10 min156 mi
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Nearby parks

  1. Brazos Bend State Park42 miles away. $7 per adult, kids 12 and under free.
  2. Lake Somerville State Park & Trailway47 miles away. $5 per adult, kids 12 and under free. Swimming allowed.
  3. Sheldon Lake State Park & Environmental Learning Center57 miles away. Free entry.
  4. Buescher State Park65 miles away. $5 per adult, kids 12 and under free.
  5. Huntsville State Park66 miles away. $7 per adult, kids 12 and under free. Swimming allowed.

Straight-line distance. See every park in the Prairies and Lakes.

Questions people ask

How far is Stephen F. Austin State Park from Houston?

About an hour from central Houston by car, based on OpenStreetMap routing.

Photo credits

Sources

Last checked October 14, 2026. Fees, hours and rules change; the official TPWD page for Stephen F. Austin has current alerts and closures.

  1. TPWD: Stephen F. Austin State Park, retrieved October 14, 2026
  2. TPWD state parks map (amenities, contact), retrieved October 14, 2026
  3. TPWD GIS: Texas State Parks Public Areas, retrieved October 14, 2026
  4. TPWD: Bortle ratings by region, retrieved October 14, 2026
  5. TPWD: Stephen F. Austin State Park campsites, retrieved October 14, 2026
  6. TPWD: Stephen F. Austin State Park screened shelters, retrieved October 14, 2026
  7. TPWD: Stephen F. Austin State Park cabins and lodging, retrieved October 14, 2026
  8. TPWD: Stephen F. Austin State Park trails, retrieved October 14, 2026
  9. TPWD: Stephen F. Austin State Park history, retrieved October 14, 2026
  10. TPWD: state park rules (pets, swimming), retrieved October 14, 2026
  11. TPWD GIS: Texas State Parks Boundaries (area computed from boundary), retrieved October 14, 2026
  12. Wikipedia: List of Texas state parks, retrieved October 14, 2026
  13. OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data (approximate drive times), retrieved October 14, 2026
  14. Wikimedia Commons (photos), retrieved October 14, 2026