S’mores Squad: Fall Camping with Friends, 15 Kids, and an Armadillo at Guadalupe River State Park, Texas (Nov 2024)
About 2 hours south west of Austin, Texas and 45-minutes north of San Antonio, Texas lies Guadalupe River State Park. Known for its scenic river views, outdoor recreation, and limestone bluffs, this beautiful Texas Hill Country gem was the perfect spot for a family weekend camping trip with our longtime group of friends and 15 kids.
Trip Dates (2 Nights): November 1st, 2024 – November 3rd, 2024
The scenic views of the Guadalupe River provide endless photo opportunities from nearly every angle along the riverbank. We soaked in the sights, sounds of flowing water, and even caught glimpses of fall foliage with leaves changing color.
The Guadalupe River runs through the park, offering excellent options for swimming, tubing, fishing, and kayaking during warmer months. The park has over 13 miles of trails suited for hiking, mountain biking, and birdwatching, with paths for all skill levels. We took a quick half-mile hike down to the scenic riverbank—a perfect introduction to the park.
The shaded campgrounds offer both tent and RV sites, making it a great spot for family getaways. We set up at site #52, with our group booking a total of four sites close together. We designated one as our main gathering area, and having the sites so close created a fun, compound-like space for the kids to freely play and safely run around between sites on their own.
Our family was the only one with an RV camper, while our friends brought along impressive tent setups that fit perfectly on the park’s 16’ x 16’ designated tent pads. One friend even had a cool yurt-style tent, and another combined two family tents with a shared tarp-covered common area.
For a large camping group like this, every family’s contribution is essential, especially when it comes to meals. This allowed us to enjoy fully loaded cheeseburgers, Chicago-style hot dogs, Vietnamese Bánh Mì sandwiches, and hearty breakfasts with eggs, bacon, and pancakes. We even had instant ramen as a late-night snack! With our RV’s fridge and freezer, we stored milk, cheese, and other perishables, including a stash of Kirkland burger patties for the grill.
Our Airstream also became the go-to coffee hub. Each morning, I set up an outdoor coffee bar with our Nespresso machine and frother, offering oat milk and condensed milk for those who like options.
If there’s one thing kids look forward to when camping, it’s making s’mores. Unfortunately, Guadalupe River State Park had a burn ban due to the ongoing dry spell in Central Texas since September, so no open wood or charcoal fires were allowed. While we missed the full campfire experience, we made it work with an Electric S’mores Maker kit , which kept the s’mores tradition alive for the kids.
As for activities, we didn’t need to plan much beyond our group hike down to the river and the s’mores session. The kids roamed freely between our four campsites, tossing around a football, playing frisbee, and getting creative with games like hide-and-seek. They even spent hours playing with a Costco-bought foldable blue wagon—proof that simple toys can bring the most joy (like big cardboard boxes).
After lunch on Saturday, the moms took a well-deserved break and ventured out of the park for a few hours, leaving the dads in charge of entertainment. We played impromptu games, including tug-of-war, a water sponge bucket challenge, and group jump roping.
The kids vs. dads tug-of-war was a major highlight. It started with just one dad against all the kids, who quickly won. As we added more dads, the kids still managed to pull through until it took all five dads to finally win. (To be fair, all the dads were in slippers!)
We anticipated some rain during our trip, and sure enough, we had a heavy downpour for about two hours. We brought all 15 kids into our Airstream, where they played board games and watched a movie. Having that many kids inside was a bit nerve-wracking, but with guidelines like “no horseplay” and “no digging through cabinets,” they managed to keep things fun and under control.
One of our friends’ tents got soaked, so we brought them into our Airstream for the night. The mother and her two daughters fit comfortably on the convertible dinette bed and lounge area.
And let’s not forget our unexpected guest, “Chunky” the armadillo, who stopped by with a few of his friends! As the state small mammal of Texas, armadillos are equipped with armor-like skin that acts as a defense. They weren’t shy, coming close to our site looking for food but quickly fleeing to thorny bushes whenever the “predators” (aka kids) got too close.
Another year, another group camping trip in the books! Though our stay at Guadalupe River State Park was short, we made plenty of lasting memories. We hope the kids can look back on this adventure and appreciate the time they spent outdoors.
Guadalupe River State Park has officially made our list of favorite spots for fall camping!
