Rating: 
Location: Abilene, TX
Type: Commercial Park
Check-in/Check-out times: 12:00/11:00
Site Quality / Amenities: Asphalt roads and gravel pads. We arrived just after a hard rain and there was a minimal amount of water standing around the park. The park has a dog park area, a pool with a playground, and community pergolas and fire pits.
Access: Easy access from Interstate 20 on the east side of Abilene.
Staff: The staff member we talked to was very friendly and efficient.
Cellular/WiFi: There are only small trees in the park so Starlink service was unobstructed. T-Mobile was 5 bars and achieved about 365 Mbps downloads and 10 Mbps uploads. The park has WiFi but we didn’t use it.
Restaurants: Oscar’s Mexican Restaurant – Decent Mexican food.
Nearby parks: We didn’t look at any other parks this time but we have stayed just up the road at Whistle Stop.
What we liked: The interior roads are asphalt and the trailer pads are small gravel. Each site has a small area of artificial grass. Unlike nearby Whistle Stop, you can easily book sites online.
What we didn’t like: Most sites are somewhat un-level. Being right off I-20 there was some road noise. There are no site amenities like picnic tables or fire pits.
Verdict: We will definitely stay here again when passing through Abilene.

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.

In the fall while many other parks stay quite full even during the week, our loop was at best only about 50% full. Many of the other loops were almost empty. Keep in mind, only the Council Bluff Campground has full hookups. The two other campgrounds are electric and water only with some sites only having water. Some of the sites are for tents only. Also note that many of the sites outside Council Bluff are far too short for anything but the smallest RV. Even sites that appear to be long enough have trees that interfere with the site and might keep you from fitting properly.

The park also has 17 cabins and 11 “huts” that enable folks to stay there even if they don’t tent or RV. Many of the cabins appeared quite nice from the outside and many have great views of the lake. Most are fairly secluded. There are also 3 “lodges”, which aren’t what most people would call a lodge but they appear to have been homes that were bought when the park was created. We didn’t find out too much about them but they seem to be large enough for an extended family to come and everyone stay in the “lodge” together.

Park Review – Lake Brownwood State Park

Rating: 
Site Quality / Amenities: Asphalt roads and pads. Large amount of space between each site.
Type: State Park
Access: From TX-279 north of Brownwood, go east on State Highway Park Road 15 to the entrance of the park.
Staff: The gate staff were friendly but we had no interaction with the park hosts in our loop.
Cellular/Wi-Fi: Verizon was only available via roaming and data was excruciatingly slow. AT&T worked pretty well at 6 Mbps.
Restaurants: We didn’t eat out while at Lake Brownwood. Most nearby restaurants are in Brownwood about 20 miles away.
Nearby parks: We didn’t check out any other parks in the area.
What we liked: The park is secluded and was not crowded in late October. Lots of hiking trails but most are moderate due to rocky, rough trails with some hills to climb. Lots of cabins along the lake if you don’t want to camp.
What we didn’t like: Like many Texas State Parks, the maintenance and upkeep of the grounds is sub-par compared to other states.
Verdict: We would come here again especially during the off season when fewer people are in the park and we are looking for a place to stay with nothing else to do but just relax – there isn’t much else to do without driving into Brownwood.