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The Seminole Canyon State Park, Texas
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Seminole Canyon State Park Campground
The campground is located is on the south side of US 90, east of the Pecos River High Bridge, nine miles west of Comstock, Texas in Val Verde County.
Coordinates:
29.7058, -101.3189
Elevation:
feet
Ancient Steps:
Seminole Canyon State Park is also a Historic Site which preserves some ancient cave art. Cave art and archeological artifacts date back to the earliest human habitation in the area. The park is part of the larger Seminole Canyon Archeological District on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Val Verde County, Texas.
It is estimated that human habitation of the area began (in the
Holocene epoch) at about the same time mammoth animals inhabited the area. Vegetation is believed to have been a denser and richer variety to support the life of the area. Erosion that happened over the ages can be seen in some of the area rock walls.
Indigenous peoples began to leave cave art evidence of their presence some 2,000 years ago with some experts saying it was much longer, about 8,000 years.
Rock paintings found in the park are of the Pecos River Style. Tours of the Fate Bell Shelter are conducted by volunteers from the non-profit Rock Art Foundation. Rock Art Foundation requests that no guns, alcohol or pets be brought on the tours
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Onsite:
This state park is conducive to archeological study, biking, bird watching, back packing, camping and day hiking. Nine miles of trails lend to hiking and mountain biking.
Panther Cave
Panther Cave can only be viewed either from a distance along a hiking trail, or by boat boarded at the National Park Service dock in Amistad National Recreation Area. The cave derives its name from a painting of a leaping panther. Modern archeologist estimate the date the art was painted in the cave to 7,000 B.C. The large cat theme figures throughout the art, including humans with cat-ear head adornments
Fate Bell Shelter
Fate Bell Shelter is named for the one-time owner of the land, Mr. Fayette Bell. First excavated in 1932 and later in 1963, the
cave art and indigenous artifacts are believed to be some of the oldest in North America.
Tours are held Wednesday through Sunday, with limited hours during the hotter weather.
Nearby:
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General Information:
This campground has forty-six sites, and camping range from from primitive drive-up sites to sites with water and electricity, all with rest rooms and showers nearby. WiFi is also available in some areas.
All sites include fire pits, picnic tables, lantern post and tent pads. Electric and basis sites have shelters above tables.
Open seven days a week,
Daily Entrance Fees:
$4:00 per day per person 13 and older
Daily Camping Fees:
20 Electric and water sites: $20.00
8 Basic sites with water nearby: $14.00
15 Primitive sites (no conviences): $8.00
Campground Includes:
Covered picnic table, fire pit, lantern post and tent pad
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The 2021 Journey,
Seminole Canyon
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(Day 196 TN) 50°F. 6:30 am, sunny
Seminole Canyon State Park, space # 19
It is the evening of the second day that I have been parked upon a ridge high above most of the surrounding acreage of this state park, where I have a commanding view of both the sunrise and the sunset. However, it was tonight, just a little while ago after walking to the western edge of this ridge to get out past all the electric poles and wires stretched from campsite to campsite providing the power to the many large RV′s who come here to camp.
I arrive about a half hour before the sun was to set and took a large number of photos as the sun slowly dropped toward the horizon and then below. The entire time, I notice that even with the grand display of color, yellow, orange, red and maybe a hundred more shades of each, all along, there were often still areas of deep blue, turquoise and dark blue throughout the sky.
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The 2018 Journey,
Seminole Canyon
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The 2017 Journey,
Seminole Canyon
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(m1rock-pictograph-fatebell-2017-0114.0928) Fate Bell Shelter in the Seminole Canyon
(m4camp-09-tx-seminole-2017-0113.1430) 1882 Southern Pacific Railroad camp bake over.
The Naming
When I first arrived, my first thoughts were that the rangers and volunteers in this park had too much time on their hands because I would see signs all over naming different plants, historical sites and other features within the park.
However, later, after taking the Fate Bell cave art tour, I came to appreciate much more having the plants posted with names which made these plants (with their names) available for me to examine more closely.
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The 2014 Journey,
Seminole Canyon
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(Day 354 JO) 45°F. 6:00 am, clear
Seminole Canyon State Park, #33. CRS: 9.0
So, here at Seminole Canyon, the fee to camp being at eight dollars nets zero points for the Cost of Campsite category, but it excels in other categories such as hot shower, view, Wifi. I know that this will be a park that I will be returning to again.
The current reigning champion is still Harris Beach on the south coast of Oregon with an amazing 9.8 which it obtains by having a laundry mat and an ice cream truck driving through the park during summer.
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The Wayƒarers Journal.
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See Ya above the Treeline!
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This Page Last Updated: 31 March 2026
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