Hill Country State Natural Area Backcountry Camps

Hill Country State Natural Area, Texas State Parks

Hill Country State Natural Area covers more than 5,000 acres of canyons, plateaus, and creek bottoms, most of it donated by Louise Lindsey Merrick from her Bar-O Ranch. Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine says she asked that it stay “far removed and untouched by modern civilization.”

The park’s trail network is shared by hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders, and three hike-in backcountry camping areas sit two to three miles from the nearest parking.

The hike

TPW Magazine counts about 40 miles of multi-use trails and about 25,000 visitors a year. “It’s so quiet out here that you tend to hear even conversation from a mile away,” a park interpreter told the magazine. Hikers and equestrians have the right-of-way over bikes.

TPWD lists the three backpacking camps by distance from the closest parking: the Wilderness camp at about 2.3 miles, Butterfly Springs at about 2.87 miles, and Hermit’s Shack at about 3.25 miles. None has water. REI has run an overnight trip here covering 8 miles over two days, describing “uneven and sometimes steep terrain” through creeks, grasslands, hilltops, and canyons.

A forum member who took their family, including a nearly four-year-old, on their first backpacking trip to the Wilderness camp in March 2025 described the 2.3-mile hike in on Big Bend Chat. They found the trails rugged and steep in places, with loose limestone and tricky footing, and wrote that the hike out was slow with many breaks. The writer also ran the Spring Branch Trail with a detour to West Peak Overlook, where gusts reached 30 to 40 mph under a red flag warning, and looped the Ice Cream Hill Trail. TPW Magazine calls the West Peak Overlook trail steep and rocky, with a popular view.

The magazine also mentions walk-in sites along West Verde Creek, a camp for horseback riders, and a 1930s ranch house used as a group camp. Spring brings bluebonnets, winecups, and paintbrushes.

For a longer Hill Country loop, see Lost Maples, and for a river-canyon overnight, Colorado Bend State Park.

Tips

Carry all your water. None of the backcountry camps has any.
Call before you go. Trails and backcountry sites can close in wet weather.
Cook on a stove. Ground fires aren’t allowed, and fire rings have been removed.
Yield on shared trails, and watch for bikes and horses.
Arrive early or reserve where possible; the park often reaches capacity.
Watch your footing on loose limestone.

Camping

TPWD lists five sites at the Wilderness camp, two at Butterfly Springs, and three at Hermit’s Shack, each for up to four people, with a picnic table and no water. Ground fires are not allowed, but containerized fuel stoves are. TPWD’s pages call Butterfly Springs and Hermit’s Shack first come, first served and not reservable, while TPW Magazine says one backcountry area can be reserved online and the other two at headquarters (see needs review). The park page says reservations are strongly recommended because the park often reaches capacity, and vault toilets are near the primitive camps.

Inside Intel: No camper accounts recommending a specific site were found. The 2025 family trip report shows the Wilderness camp, the closest at about 2.3 miles, working as a short first overnight with young kids.

Trail facts

Distance: About 6.5 miles round trip to Hermit’s Shack; 2.3 miles one way to Wilderness; about 2.87 to Butterfly Springs
Route type: Out and back
Difficulty: Moderate
Campsites: Wilderness (5), Butterfly Springs (2), Hermit’s Shack (3); 4 people each
Water: None at camps; bring it all
Fires: Ground fires prohibited; stoves allowed
Trail use: Shared with mountain bikes and horses
Last verified: October 17, 2026

The Lowdown

Stove-only nights at Hermit's Shack:

The fire rings are gone from Hill Country SNA's backcountry camps, and there's no water there, so a stove that sips both fuel and water helps. See the camp stoves testers pick.

See the picks →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.