Keep Up With The Joneses

Park Review – Whistle Stop RV Resort

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Location: Abilene, TX
Type: Commercial Park
Check-in/Check-out times: ?/11:00
Site Quality / Amenities: Roads and pads are gravel. Each site has a concrete patio and a picnic table. Additional amenities include a dog run, playground, horseshoe pits, pickle ball and volleyball areas. There is also a pavilion, a clubhouse and a saltwater swimming pool. Facilities include restrooms, showers and laundry facilities.
Access: The park is along East Stamford St. (Basically the service road for I-20) which can be accessed from exit 286C on I-20 whether you are going west or east bound. East Stamford is one way so you have to go east to Ambler Ave. if you want to continue west bound when leaving the park.
Staff: The staff were very friendly and the check in packet included a thank you note which was a nice touch.
Cellular/WiFi: There was free WiFi and cable TV but we didn’t use them. I also didn’t check cellular since this was a short stay but it should have been good since we were along I-20. Starlink was great as there were no obstacles to get in the way.
Restaurants: There is a Twisted Root hamburger restaurant along with several other places nearby on Judge Ely Blvd. near Abilene Christian University. The Shed Market at 7925 Buffalo Gap Rd. was a bit further away but had very good Texas BBQ.
Nearby parks: We didn’t look at any other parks nearby.
What we liked: The park was easy to navigate and the sites were well laid out and it was a bonus to find good restaurants nearby.
What we didn’t like: There are only a few small trees around the park so it could be quite hot here during the summer.
Verdict: This is a good park for a short stay in Abilene.

We stayed at Lake Brownwood State Park in late October 2021 on our way back to the Round Rock area for doctor appointments and visits with friends. The park had many good points but one thing it has in common with many Texas State Parks is that they simply don’t live up to the quality and amenities of parks in many other states. It is a bit rustic and in need of some TLC. All that said, it’s still a nice place to visit and we’ll likely come back. In addition to fishing and nice views of the lake there are lots of trails within the park although most of them are labeled as moderate due to both some elevation changes of a few hundred feet and due to rough and rocky trails that require care when hiking. In our case, we had gusty winds up to 45 mph every day we were here so we only hiked the trails between our campsite and the lake on one day.

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