Quick Facts
📍 Location: Outside Burnet, Texas, off Park Road 4
🏕️ Site: North Loop, Site #90 – water & electric, no sewer
🚐 Dump Station: New, large, can handle 6 units at once
🛒 Park Store: Well stocked — even sells extras like potholders
⭐ Main Highlight: Devil’s Waterhole – granite cliffs, cliff jumping, deep water swimming
First Impressions
Inks Lake State Park is one of the gems of the Texas Hill Country. Just outside Burnet, the park sits along the Highland Lakes and feels both spacious and scenic from the moment you drive in. The new headquarters building, opened in November 2024, is located closer to the entrance and makes check-in fast and easy.
This is a large park with plenty of room to spread out. Between the beautiful lake, the granite outcrops, and the mix of shaded camp loops, it’s the kind of destination where you can easily spend a whole weekend and not run out of things to do.
Camping
We camped in the North Loop at site #90, which offered a fantastic view of the lake. While the site wasn’t perfectly level for our Class A, it was workable, and the water views made it worthwhile. Like many Texas state parks, sites here come with water and electric hookups but no sewer. The park makes up for that with a brand-new dump station that can accommodate six rigs at once — a nice upgrade compared to many other parks.
The loop had a good mix of shade and open spots, and during our stay, we noticed a variety of campers — from solo visitors and couples to families, small groups, and even a Boy Scout troop.
Activities
Inks Lake is known for offering a little bit of everything. You can hike, fish, swim, paddle, bike, or just float at your campsite. The star attraction is Devil’s Waterhole, where the lake narrows between dramatic pink granite cliffs. The water is deep, and it’s a popular spot for cliff jumping. We rode our bikes there on Saturday morning and found people already lining up to climb and jump into the water.
Throughout the park, you’ll see campers enjoying a variety of activities — families swimming, kayaking, fishing from the bank, and hikers exploring the trails.
Our Weekend
We kept a nice balance of relaxation and activity during our stay. After biking to Devil’s Waterhole, we spent a few hours floating in large tubes right off our campsite. After our lunch, Rya found herself a supply of sticks to keep her busy for a while. Next was nap time, why are naps so much better when camping? After naptime, we did a three-mile bike ride around the park to get a feel for different loops and areas.
Saturday evening brought one of those picture-perfect camping nights. Doo Doo cooked a great dinner on the Blackstone griddle, and we capped the day by watching the sun set over the lake.
It’s the kind of park where it’s easy to picture yourself — whether you want to spend the day biking and cliff jumping, or just floating with your family and grilling at camp.
