Diamond in the rough. 11 minutes form Austin CIty Limits
Good Water Trail [Hiking] - 6/22/2013  [View Log Page]
Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 22.00 Miles Duration: N/A

We dropped in at the Cedar Breaks trail head and waked the full south shore of the lake. 11 Miles out. 11 miles back.

We saw very few people the entire 24 hours. On a weekend where we could not get a reservation at any state park with 100 miles of Austin.

• There is nothing at the Cedar Breaks trail head other than a tidy parking lot. No water. No Trash cans. Nothing.
  
  
• The "map" they pass out at the gate is the same PDF that you get on the web. ( http://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/georgetown/images/gtwn%20images/images/HikingTrailCDW.pdf ) IF you are an orienteering person: forget it. Perhaps the USGS quads are available.
  
  
• The trail is not well marked, but very easy to follow. Our only confusion was to turn off on the feed trails Cedar Hollow Camp and Sawyer Camp. There are rck sign structures to mark the trail junction, but the wooden part that told you what is going on has rotted away.
  
  
•   Crocket Garden/ Knight Springs was nice and cool. Good spot to filter water. (mile 2.5 or so)
  
  
• Cedar Hollow Camp was empty other that one group of campers: despite the fact it was a Saturday night in June. It looked very nice. There are no facilities or clean water there. We pumped lake water here to purify it. We did not stay here. It did look nice. There were some boaters who looked like they were about to do "Drive Up Camping"
  
  
• Sawyer Camp (Mile 6.5 ?) was up the hill a bit form the lake. There was not a single person there. We got there about 5 PM on a summer saturday. So if you are looking for a get away: this could be it. Getting to the lake to get water was a bit of a scramble thru some medium thickets. Bothe Sawyer and Cedar Hollow have old abandoned outhouse facilities. These are so abandoned that they have neglected to even tear them down. They are not useful: if you are the kind of hiker who needs potty....
  
  
• From mile 7 to 10 the grass grows in on the trail so Knee high socks or long pants are advised. (not to mention the waves of grasshoppers you will upset: it was like a biblical /plague but cool!)
  
  
• Tejas Park Campground is the one at the extreme West end. Very nice facility: But it is a "Drive up and camp" place. Despite this we were the only one to stay the night. Its clean an the land around it is very nice. Lots of room if you have kids who want to run in the open meadow. There is a single water socket with running water and restrooms.
  
  NOTE: The old guy who care takes the Tejas facility is very nice: but I get the impression that he has to have the rules followed. This means make sure you print your reservation slip or have it on your iPhone.
  
  * You never get to far from the noises of boats, farms or highways. But you don't see too much of it.
  
  We will go back and probably do the north shore before summer is out.