Just at the northern edge of the Texas Hill Country is a small state park that is one of the hidden secrets of Central Texas. Located just north of Meridian, Texas in Bosque County on Hwy 6 is Meridian State Park. This 505 acre park surrounds a 72 acre man-made lake that offers fishing, swimming, and no-wake boating. There are several hiking trails available at the park, as well as other activities such as bird watching, picnicking, and camping. The lake was formed when a rock and earthen dam was build by the Civilian Conservation Corps on Bee Creek. The park was purchased from private owners in the early 1930s and opened to the public in 1935.
So what’s my take on Meridian State Park? At first sight, it really appears to be a nice place to camp or RV. Entrance to the park is on top of a hill, and the motor vehicle route glides downhill towards the man-made lake on Bee Creek. The park surrounds the lake, and there is a trail around the entire perimeter of the lake. So far, so good. Down at the public boat ramp, there are several cabins available, right next to the old Civilian Conservation Corps pavilion. This rock structure was originally built as the park headquarters and served in that capacity for many years. Now it simply provides a small sheltered area, as well as restrooms, showers, and a soda vending machine.
We placed our reservation online for our stay in one of the cabins at the park. Camping with two small children is an adventure all it’s own, and doing this in a tent is not something I would recommend for the faint of heart. We decided on this stay that we would rent a cabin for 2 nights, and use our Texas State Parks Pass (and the coupons that came with it) to get a discounted on the fees. No problem.
Once we got to the site, however, it was a different story. We discovered something that you couldn’t find on any map. Cabin # 1 is not only located directly across from the boat ramp (this part was on the map), but it was also located about 20 yards from the dumpster. This led to several trips to the dumpster to shut the top doors after other folks had thrown away their trash. Needless to say, this was worse than when we had to change dirty diapers on site! The first night was bad enough with the smell, but the next night was something else entirely.
On the second day of our stay, two cabins down from us, a group of kids settled in for the night. Although I’m sure it is the policy that whoever signed for the cabin must be over 18, none of these kids looked to be over 15. So, as the night goes on, these kids are getting louder and louder. You can probably see where this is heading. At 10:00 pm, when it is supposed to be “quiet time”, they are absolutely having a party! My wife has already yelled at one of the passers-by, so I decided to drive up to the headquarters cabin and see if anyone is there. Nope, no one after hours. That was to be expected. So then I decided to call the number on the ticket. One of the brochures handed out said that if you had a problem with your neighbors, you should call the office. They can’t fix problems they don’t know about, right? Well, no luck there. Got a recording that said if it was a real emergency that I should call the Bosque County Sheriff’s Department. Yeah? OK, what’s the number? I got no idea.
Well, those kids finally went to bed sometime around 3:00 am. Needless to say, I was up at the office at 8:00 am complaining to the same nice young lady who had arranged for us to stay in cabin # 1 in the first place. I explained that not only were they up late, but they also had a dog on the premises. According to park regulations all pets must be kept on a leash, and all pets must be kept outside of the cabins. Neither of these rules were being observed by this group of young people. I explained that I was severely disappointed in the lack of communication available to the staff after hours, and I told them that if they wanted to catch this group breaking the rules, now was as good a time as any, as the dog was currently inside the cabin.
Apparently the staff at the Meridian State Park doesn’t have much concern for such things. We checked out at 2:00 pm, and never saw anyone from the park staff come and talk to the violators. On the way out, I stopped by the office and requested a refund of that night’s fees. I got what I asked for. I also took the time to explain that the biggest thing that bothered me at that point wasn’t the fact that I was kept up half the night by a group of rowdy youngsters. Nor was it the fact that they were breaking the rules by having their dog off a leash, and allowing him inside the cabin. What bothered me the most was the fact that nobody on the staff seemed to care. Nothing was ever said that day (at least not while we were there) to the group from that cabin. I did, however, tell the park ranger on duty that it would be my last time to visit the Meridian State Park.
My recommendation to anyone visiting Central Texas and looking for a State Park to camp in: don’t stop in Meridian! Your time will be better spent at Lake Whitney State Park, just a few miles down the road, where the staff does care. That will be a story for another Texas State Parks review.
