Some of us have great memories of summer vacation camping trips to Garner State Park in the western Hill Country. Located on the cold-water, cypress tree-lined Frio River, it’s a place of beauty. Built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC), the CCC boys invited local girls to dance on their newly constructed stone dance pavilion. That started a great tradition that five generations of young people have enjoyed. The park still hosts the oldest outdoor dance in Texas with juke box music. Many married couples today met their “man” or “woman” on that old stone dance floor.
Our family made several trips to Garner when I was a boy. Most of those camping trips were made when I was too young to dance but I loved watching the dancing on those summer evenings. My wife, Beth, also camped at Garner when she was a teenager. I wish I could say I met her there but that didn’t really happen. It would have been a real boost to this story.
But the famous warm, summer evening dances are not the only draw to Garner Park. The cold water of the Frio makes it great for swimming and tubing. I have done some fishing there but would not rate it very good. Just stay with the swimming.
