Falcon State Park

The park is located in Starr county.  There isn't much information on the Internet about this area of Texas.   It tends to be at the very low end of the economic scale.  It is also very remote.  One good source of information is Falcon Lake Tackle store.  Roma is the nearest "real" town.  (I don't consider Falcon Heights a real town.)    Roma and Zapata are considered to be in the upper part of the Rio Grande Valley.

According to Wal-Mart, the nearest Wal-Mart is in El Sauz, TX.   El Sauz in the center of Starr County.  Falcon State Park is in Starr County as is Roma and Rio Grand City.  Roma and Rio Grande City are both along the Rio Grande River.

However, you can't believe everything you find on the Internet.  There is a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Rio Grande City.  The Wal-Mart in Rio Grand City is about 35 miles from the park.  Rio Grande City is south on highway US 83.   On the way, we went through Roma.  Roma is another interesting border town.

The AAA map for getting to Falcon State Park is here.

The sign says (to the left of the viewing area) Park Headquarters.  PHQ? 

This is the only park we have been to so far that we have no interest in returning to.    There are a few things not to like about this park.  The rangers staffing "PHQ" are unfriendly.  The lake is the park's greatest asset.  Unfortunately, as you will see in the pictures, the lake doesn't have much water in it.  Apparently, that has been the case for the past several years.  Also, the campsites in the section with full hook-ups are laid out badly.  Perhaps the lowest bidders never used a camper before.  Maintenance is minimal.  More about all of this later.

Another aspect of the park that can be problematic is the bug sitution.  The first few days it was real cold.  No bugs.  It has warmed up into the sixties maybe low seventies today.  The knats are awful.  Then tonight, we got all of these baby bugs.  They were swarming the lights.  When I got back from walking the dogs, there were these tiny bugs coating the ceiling.  After the bugs get tired of clinging to the ceiling, they drop down dead tired onto the counters or the floor.  Then they wiggle around and try again for the light..

For those of you not familiar with trailer designs, there is a curb side and a roadside on all modern trailers.  With the trailer hitched up and using the tow vehicle as a guide, the right hand side is the curb side.  Curb side is where your door is.  It is where the awning is.  It is where you put your outside tables and chairs.

Road side or the left hand side of the trailer is where all the hook-up stuff is.   The power, water, and sewer are on this side.  The normal rule of thumb is to park the trailer so that the road side where all the hook-up stuff is adjacent to the campsite facilities.  See the picture below.   This way you don't run the pipes, hoses, and electrical wires under the trailer.  The pipes, hoses, and electrical wires tend to be 20 feet or less.  You really don't have the length to run stuff under the trailer.  They just aren't long enough.  Also, you don't have to worry about having all of the utility infrastructure in your outdoor living area.

The other convention for parks of this nature is to have the curbside part of the trailer facing away from the road.  This affords some privacy and makes the camping experience nicer.  Also, you like to have the outdoor living area opening up to the covered picnic table, outdoor grill, and fire ring.

Another problem with the campsite is the way the sewer hookup was installed.    The inlet pipes need to be lower than the surrounding area not raised up as was done for the campsite we have.  You can see the problem by looking at the way the sewer pipe raises up at the ground end.  Also, they didn't thread the pipes to allow the normal elbow to screw in for locking down the pipe.  I had to use the plug and tether to hold the pipe in place.