I found this in my notes from a long drive day on March 17, 2023:
We spent the last two days in Franklin State Park in Texas. Even though it was spring break, the park wasn't too crowded.
One of the nature trails
We paid $10 for entry, and $10 to camp. We were there Tuesday morning-Thursday evening. While we were there, we went on 4 hikes: * A short and steep hike up to a cave * A longer up-and-down hike that had great sunset views * A short morning nature loop * A poorly-marked trail that was supposed to end at a spring * This was my favorite because the hike was on the side of a steep mountain and we were hiking during golden hour, so the views were incredible. I wish the trail had been better marked though, because it didn't match the map they had at the trailhead at all!
Lots of pretty sunset views from these hikes :)
I really enjoyed staying in the park. It was nice to have the views, and get to break up the workday with hikes. Another bonus: the dogs got to hike with us on the trails! They love hiking, and it's fun to do it with them. :)
The dogs were very excited about their hiking opportunities
The park had no water, and the gates were closed from 5pm-8am. Luckily we had just refilled our water supply before heading in, but we still left with less than a galon. Also, we lost the ticket with the gate code but as we were driving out, we passed someone who had just entered and he gave us the code. Not sure what we would've done otherwise.
It was really neat that the park was just a few minutes from El Paso. I think Clay said they hold the title for the "Largest Metropolitan State Park" or something like that (?)
Short hikes made for perfect breaks during the workday
Today, we're back at a city park and it feels like the last two days never happened. I'm excited to head into New Mexico and Arizona where we can find cool places like this all over. Bonus if it's BLM land and we don't have to pay or worry about getting locked in/out.
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