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Pace Bend Park
Categories: Active Life Parks Active Life Swimming Pools Active Life Beaches Parks, Swimming Pools, Beaches [Edit]
2501 N Pace Bend RdSpicewood, TX 78669
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
15 reviews for Pace Bend Park
15 reviews in English
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Review from Jessica R.
Austin, TX
4/6/2011 1 Check-in Here
Ehhh the boyfriend, bff, her bf and all four of our dogs come out here at least once a month. We're kind of a big deal out there.
Their campsites are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo awesome. They are secluded and (for the most part) heavily wooded so you get plenty of privacy. Whether you want to smokes trees, climb them, or boogey underneath them (if you catch my drifts) you have quite a good amount of privacy. There are a few well-kept "secret" areas that are closed certain parts of the year that we prefer to frequent but pretty much all the areas have been graced by our collective presence. The water is gorgeous. The lake bed around the cliffs (for cliff diving, duh!) is pretty rocky so bring your Tevas or Keens or other preferred lesbian-esque water shoes otherwise you'll hurt your feet. There are sandier areas too but they're usually pretty crowded.
Their leash laws seem to be more strict this year but whatev. Last weekend we had a run in with a ranger who the Senior Ranger referred to as Uncle Grumpy (LOOOOOL) but other than that the rangers there are really nice. Ranger R. Johnson (aforementioned Senior Ranger) is seriously the nicest guy EVER. He LOVES my dog Rogue - seriously loves her. He has offered to take her on ride alongs, home, to meet his other pups, etc. As of this past weekend (April 2011) he is retiring in three months after 20+ years, so if you have questions about the park he will certainly be able to answer them. Again, he's the nicest guy there and kind of a hippy, which I think is pretty legit. If you are nice enough and have a cute enough dog (I mean, no dog could compare to Rogue but it's cool to try) maybe he will show you pictures of his two. They're adorable.
Go camping here, bring koozies for your beers ("IF I SEE BEER YOU'RE OUT OF HERE!" - Uncle Grumpy), bring leashes / tie outs for your dogs and probably some TP if youre a female cause when you get drunk and the bathrooms are a 1/2 mile walk uphill... ya know sometimes you gotta pop lock and drop it. Best camping spot in Austin if you have dogs fo sho. -
Review from Carolyn N.
Briarcliff, TX
7/28/2011 31 Check-ins Here
Get place to camp! They let you camp wherever you want to pitch your tent. Just be careful, there are some steep cliffs, so keep a good eye on your kids and pets. Great location on a peninsula one short hour from downtown Austin. The two boat ramps here are typically some of the last to be closed in drought years (like this one-they are already closed). You can launch from the east beach if you trailer in jet skis or a light boat...and the right vehicle.
Two reasons I did not give this five stars 1) The hefty cost of entrance-$10 per vehicle and 2) they lack a good trail system and the one they do have is not well marked. -
Review from Tonya T.
5/9/2011
This is what I get for not looking this place up on yelp first - I didn't realize you could go cliff diving! We didn't camp, just came for a day by the lake. We had no idea what we were doing so we just kept driving until we saw people in the water. That turned out to be Mud Cove. Most of the shore appears to be rocky, but Mud Cove has a nice little patch of sand where you can set up shop. According to some friendly fellow beach-goers, the water has receded quite a bit due to the drought. The water is also FREEZING this time of year, but they said it gets nice and warm as the summer progresses.
Obviously Lake Travis is never going to be the ocean (or one of the Great Lakes, even - I miss you Michigan. Tear.) but if you want to hang out by the water give Pace Bend a try. I'm looking forward to checking out the trails and coves. -
Review from Ryan L.
10/11/2010
My first weekend in Austin and my friends took me camping at Pace Bend Park. I haven't gone camping much, but I have gone camping and slept in tents and stuff.
The park has primitive and RV campsites. The primitive campsites are first come, first served and you pay a fee per vehicle to camp, not for the campsite. The campsites are not numbered or clearly delineated, so take up and stake as much area as you want. The campsites are either on the beach or on cliffs overlooking the water, or back in the trees a ways.
I found the campsites to be primitive but well taken care of. There was some garbage and glass on the ground, but not much. It appears that the fire pits are dug out regularly. The bathrooms were concrete structures built over giant holes in the ground. The were maintained pretty well for what they were.
The park requires dogs to be on a 6 foot leash at all times. I guess that's reasonable. There were a lot of dogs in the park. Also, drinking is allowed, but you can't bring glass and you can't show the label of your beverage, so cups and coozies are a necessity. The other main rule is that quite time is at 10pm.
The only run in we had with the rangers was Saturday night. A ranger came up to our campsite to say that a truck was driving around erratically and dangerously close to tents. She just wanted to let us know and if we saw it have them call the main gate or 911.
Overall, I thought it was a great park and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to go camping.Listed in: Austin - I Barely Knew Ye
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Review from Jessica M.
Austin, TX
9/1/2010 5 photos
So I haven't been camping here (yet) but this place is great. It's clean, it's big, my dog went swimming and had the time of her life, not to mention you can jump off cliffs!
You, not your dog. Though I have heard of people throwing their dog off the cliffs, I did not practice this, nor do I recommend it.
Sure it's a little scary when you first jump, but it's well worth it. The best cove we found was N Baldwin, we definitely had to drive around a while to find safe cliffs, but once we found them it was awesome.
Even if cliff jumping isn't your thing, there are plenty of places to go swimming and cook out and just have a grand ol' time.
I'm going back to this place asap. -
Review from Jessica S.
Austin, TX
7/17/2011
This park is incredibly beautiful and the camping sites are great. But the Park Rangers are deranged!
We were camping and a ranger pulled up to our site at 11 at night. Demanded all of our IDs because we were drinking (all of age) and threatened to fine us even though we weren't violating the rules and he threatened to fine us $500 for our dog, even though he was on a leash. When my husband informed him that he shouldn't be harassing us because we were within our rights, he pulled a taser on him and held it in a potentially lethal position. He stole all of our beer and told us to get out of the park. As we were packing up to leave, we saw about 8 other people leaving as he went around the park. It was one of the scariest experiences of my life and I would never go back here.
Do NOT go to this park unless you are prepared to be harassed and possibly harmed by the insane rangers that they have here. -
Review from Adley H.
Austin, TX
4/24/2009
Some of my favorite memories in Austin have been with friends at Pace Bend. A couple of times a summer we go on "camping" trips. Why the air quotes on camping? It's hard to feel like you're roughing it when your friends Rav4 is parked like 50 feet away from your tent. And by the time morning comes we're always happy to get the hell out of there and get a celebratory meal at the McDonald's down the road.
But anyways.
Pace Bend has beautiful views of Lake Travis and is an awesome spot to spend a Saturday afternoon/night. After a little bit of rain, come here and do some cliff jumping. The water is perfect when it's 95-100 and the cliffs are the right height so people will actually jump and not pee themselves with fear.
The park rangers are actually pretty strict, but I never got the sense that they were doing it just to be pricks. They're trying to make sure the park stays in good shape. Just keep your cans, plastic bags, food, etc. in coolers or trash bags and they won't hassle you. Never had a problem with noise either.
There might be campsites with better views, better atmosphere, whatever, but Pace Bend works just fine for me. -
Review from Tara M.
5/12/2008
Pace Bend is one of my favorite spots on Lake Travis with some of the most beautiful views of the lake.
The park is located on the West shore of Lake Travis about 45 minutes from downtown Austin or 15 minutes west of 620/71 and well worth the drive.
This park offers just about everything: hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, moderate to difficult rock climbing, cliff jumping (be sure and check water levels), improved and primitive camping, restrooms, picnicking, grills, fishing, designated swimming only areas, wave runner rentals and 2 boat ramps (smaller boats and wave runners can be launched off the beach).
The West side of the park has cliffs and several rocky coves and has the best secluded camping sites with the best views. Not so great a camping spot if you happen to be a sleep walker;)
The interior of the park can only be reached via foot, bike or horseback and the trails that lead up into the hills provide some great views of the lake.
FYI:
Quiet time between 10PM and 7AM and leash laws are strictly enforced .
Bring a crate for your dog if they like to wander at night.
Make reservations 2 weeks ahead for improved sites on the weekends.
If you are coming with a group there is a HEB down the street you can carpool from since there is a car entrance fee.
Have Fun! -
Review from Wendy M.
Houston, TX
This is an amazing park... Offering bolding, deep water soloing, and even boating for the non climbers... Clean bathrooms stocked with TP.... cold water only though... And not too much policing when you've brought glass in or have a fire, by mistake, of course!
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Review from Rebekah D.
Austin, TX
9/20/2010
Love this place! We've camped out a couple of times up on the cliff, beautiful views. Some of the best times and just a short drive from Austin. Oh, the dogs love it too! Just be careful to keep them on a leash when the park ranger makes his/her rounds.
Have jumped off the cliff, my advice is if you do make sure to land toes in first don't lean either direction or you could end up with a 6 in x 4 in purple bruise that lasts for weeks. :) -
Review from Josh K.
San Diego, CA
4/24/2007 2 photos
Not far out of the city of Austin is Pace Bend Park on Lake Travis. Freshman year of college (1998), my RA Glenn took our whole floor of our dorm out here to go cliff diving the week before finals. I ended up coming back every day for the next week. Cliff diving is addictive.
You can also swim, camp, make s'mores, etc. -
Review from Catherine D.
Austin, TX
4/25/2007
This place is beautiful. I haven't been here camping yet, but am slowly accumulating the equipment to do so. It's a great place to go spend a lazy Saturday afternoon in the sun. You are better off going in a truck to safely ride out onto the beach. Nice swimming water & great view. I have yet to jump off the cliffs because the water has been to shallow & I am a little chicken.
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Review from Kristen F.
Austin, TX
6/12/2007
It had been a couple years since I'd hit up Pace Bend, but I went last weekend with my husband and his friends. We had a great time climbing down the smaller cliffs, jumping into the water, discovering a rope swing that someone had so kindly left for others looking for that ole timey waterin' hole kind of day. We made friends with a group of guys that brought their dog, then three people on a road trip from Illinois. Then we went back to our camp site, even though we were just there for the day, and grilled up some real and fake burgers, and ate some very quickly melting cupcakes. It was hot as all get out, but we still had a great time.
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Review from Leslie H.
Houston, TX
7/5/2010
Great secluded camping spots and cliffs for jumping. It's a very clean, well kept park. I will definitely go back!
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Review from Sonna G.
Austin, TX
6/2/2010
Best time camping and the cliff jumping is amazing. Drinking is allowed "unofficially" so make sure to bring koozies and drink containers. They will kick you out and ban you for a year if your group gets too rowdy. I know from experience...doh! Get there early for the best spots....see you there!!
