Birdsong and golden sunlight wake you from a good night’s sleep in a cushy bed. You head out to your private porch overlooking a bucolic lake with a cup of java and your journal in hand. In a zen state of mind, you spend the morning doing a little soul-searching on paper.
Is this the start of another idyllic day at a posh 5-star resort in some faraway locale? Think again! This is glamping in one of the several Texas parks operated by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) between San Saba and Matagorda.
Demand for glamping, a category of outdoor accommodation that resides between “roughing it” and “luxury,” is on the rise. In a 2021 report, market research firm Arizton predicted that the U.S. glamping market would grow more than 18% from 2020 to 2026.
LCRA Parks is expanding (and elevating) the camping options at its parks through public-private partnerships with companies that specialize in upscale accommodations in nature, such as GLAT (Glamping Atmospheres).
Glampers can say goodbye to pounding in stakes to pitch their tents—and forget about those occasional leaks on a rainy day. Stay dry and comfortable in cozy Airstream campers, roomy bungalows, and ultraluxe safari tents.
One caveat: LCRA Parks currently offers these accommodations at just 5 parks, and they’re still limited in number at each, so make reservations well ahead of time at their website if sleeping bags and lanterns aren’t your thing.
“There has been a movement in the outdoor recreation space, driving a new group [of people] to explore and get to know how to do things in the outdoors. The diversity in unique accommodations has been one of the driving factors,” says Margo Richards, LCRA’s vice president of community resources.
Here’s a rundown of these new LCRA Parks options, putting a glam twist on camping for those who want their outdoor getaways peppered with a healthy dose of creature comforts.