A park along Lake Georgetown with a great swimming area
My kid was introduced to jet skiing recently. I think my “go human power” stance may have lost some ground. I don’t think she’s going to lose the smile for a while, or the sunburn line across her face where she managed to miss putting sunscreen.
We went jet skiing with friends at the US Army Corps of Engineer’s Russell Park a few weekends ago. This is one of several USACE parks on Lake Georgetown. Lake Georgetown is made by a dam along the San Gabriel River. It covers about two square miles. Despite the proximity of the lake to the epicenter of growth that is Austin, TX, the lake remains uncrowded if you skip holiday weekends.
Just like all the other lakes in the area, though, it is afflicted with the invasive zebra mussel. Burn everything before you bring it to another body of water. I kid. Sort of. As long as your life jackets, inner tubes, and other pool toys are thoroughly dried and baked in the heat of your summer Texan garage, they should be fine. If you have motorized toys, you have probably been notified of this problem and the solutions. Basically, dry it out. If you can’t dry it out, bleach, bleach, bleach. The zebra mussel has no predators in the US so they grow out of control. They’re so small nothing can eat them. That’s the punchline of a joke I haven’t come up with yet.
The trail system around Lake Georgetown is dominated by the Goodwater Trail, which runs around the entire perimeter of the lake. It’s great if you’re up for hiking a marathon. If you have small kids with you and your piggy-back marathoning skills are not up to the challenge, you can also hike sections of the trail as an out and back. Or you can do a multi-day through hike. There are trailheads in each of the parks around the lake. The main USACE parks are Cedar Breaks, Jim Hogg, Tejas, Russell and Overlook, but Walnut Springs, Cedar Hollow and Sawyer Camp are also primitive campsite areas you pass by along the trail.
Russell park has one of the nicer swimming areas. The campgrounds are a bit less glampy than some of the other parks around the lake. Note that I have embraced car glamping with both arms. Our tent is sized appropriately for a child’s gymnastic floor routine, I enjoy sending my kid off for water without risking a side of dysentery, I love not doubling my pack weight with all of my kid’s stuff, and the ability to charge my camera (erm, phone) without extra gear. That said, I’m looking forward to mother-daughter backpacking trips when she’s older. I have to get some benefit out of angsty teenage silence.
If you love water sports, USACE parks are for you. There are lots of parks, and the yearly pass is cheap! It’s only $40 bucks. I believe a Federal Parks Pass also gets you into these parks as well, but that annual pass is much pricier. I say all of this, but we’ve been so focused on the Texas State Park system that I didn’t realize that we were close to the pass paying for itself this year until it was too late. Don’t be me.
Get out and buy a park pass.
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