Medina Lake - Thousand Trails
|
The two RV Gypsies enjoyed Medina Lake RV Campground. It is situated about an hour's drive from San Antonio. This campground is a wilderness area with lots of wildlife, perhaps snakes, spiders and other critters, plus poisonous plants, so the campground provides some general camping safety tips in their paperwork.Like most Thousand Trails campgrounds, 50 amp full hook-up sites are not in abundance. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times. All camping vehicles must be occupied and attended overnight by member. Any vehicle may be removed without notice or liability and placed in storage at the discretion of the preserve manager. Most other campground rules apply. The campground had extremely low water pressure. TV via antenna came in fair. No Wi-Fi at sites. This was a very large campground. |
|
Below: Interesting decor at the Thousand Trails entrance |
|
Below: Picnic area and playground near the lake that were in real need of maintenance. This campground is humongous and this part of the campground is an area that does not get much use now that Medina Lake has dried up. |
|
Below: The new home of the two RV Gypsies and a rare dip in the hot tub. |
|
Swimming pool hours: Sunday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. (as of this date). Adult supervision required at pool. |
|
Below: A very large pool - notice the dirt in the pool by the stairs. Plus a kiddie pool - where's the adult supervision? |
|
Below; DEER IN THE CAMPGROUND - they were everywhere. |
|
MEDINA LAKE |
|
Medina Lake is a reservoir on the Medina River in the Texas Hill Country of the United States. It is operated by the Bexar/Medina/Atascosa County Agricultural District. Medina Dam was completed in 1913 in a privately financed project, creating the lake to supply irrigation water for local agricultural use. Lake Medina is in northeastern Medina County, and southeastern Bandera County, about 40 miles northwest of San Antonio.It is a crescent-shaped reservoir running west to east. It is 18 miles long and 3 miles wide at its broadest point. It is contained by the Medina Dam at the lake's south end. At the time of the dam's construction, it was the largest concrete dam in the country and the fourth largest dam overall. The dam is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.The lake is fed by and discharges back into the Medina River, and serves both recreational and irrigation uses. |
|
However, as seen in the photos below, there was no water here at Medina Lake on this date. The campground paperwork says, "Swim at your own risk - when lake is present." |
|
It was only a few decades ago that Medina Lake was highly regarded by anglers. Now fishermen cannot even access the dried-up lake. Not only was the fishing great, it was record-breaking. Gone are the bass, crappie and catfish. Surprisingly however, no major fish kill has occurred. As for those who hope to fish the waters again, not all hope is lost. Should the lake refill to even half-capacity, Texas Parks and Wildlife plan to restock the reservoir. |
|
Below: Floating docks, but no water and the boat ramp - no water at the bottom |
|
THE RECREATION HALL |
|
This campground offered lots of activities on certain days, mostly week-ends. There was a miniature golf course, volleyball court, horseshoe court, ping-pong tables, basketball court, pickle ball, shuffleboard, pool tables, playground and swings, sandbox, a junior size Olympic pool, kiddies pool, hot tub, sports court, laundry facilities and more. While the two RV Gypsies were here, they hardly ever saw other people. Only one person was in the Rec Hall. |
|
ADULT ONLY AREA |
|
Below; The Chapel area with a song book on every seat |
|
Below: the Smoking area |
Below: These look real, but are not. |
Outside area |
|
Menu for the two RV Gypsies Adventures in Texas |