Best Camping in and near San Antonio Missions National Historical Park

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Chula Vista Farms

4 sites · Tents1 acres · Helotes, TX

I was not looking for another house to buy, but my daughter wanted me to look at a "little cottage" in Old Town Helotes. Just to shut her up, I made an appointment on a rainy day so I could not see/access the back of the property. The house was 3,000 sq feet and I fell so madly in love with it that I made an offer two hours later. I saw the potential of both house and land. Only after moving in did I walk the pasture and realize how much land I had bought. The house was featured in the San Antonio Express News (Spaces 2/27/2011) as a home for the arts because I collect folk art—mostly from Mexico. My daughter Kelly and I worked on the front gardens first—butterfly and cactus gardens, always mindful of choosing local plants and trees. In the spring, the mountain laurels add color; honeysuckle and jasmine scent the land and the flowers on the cacti bloom scarlet and yellow. The summer and fall produce the yellow and orange Esperanza bushes and the Mexican Bougainvillea. Three years ago, I decided to maximize the use of the back pasture which is separated from the front by a dry creek bed. Kelly and I started an heirloom vegetable farm with raised beds and terracing. We installed some stone steps for easier access. According to the "old folks" here, this property was part of a ranch on the stagecoach line replete with cowboys and Indians, started out as a two-room stone shack and blossomed into a Cinderella home with Moroccan arched ceilings and even a wine cellar. Learn more about this land:As parking is on one side of the creek and camping is across the creek, RV's and camper vehicles are discouraged. However, if you message me prior to booking, we can accommodate one low one under the oaks in the front and you will have access to front chiminea and back pasture amenities also.We are proud to announce that our campsite has been nominated for Best Hipcamp in Texas for 2019 and was recently featured on television to promote Hipcamp. The video can be found under S A Live Hipcamp and provides a visual description of the layout of the property.Note: Only two tents per site and only two cars per site. Mardi Gras in the Cowboy Capitol: Bandera, Texas. Fun will begin Thursday, 2/17 and continue till Saturday, 2/19. Please visit website for tickets/events including bull riding.So you want to spend a weekend at Chula Vista Farms and enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Here is the recipe for a unique experience. You check in Friday afternoon and set up camp. Then you walk into Old Town, shop at the antique shops and gallery (Hill Country artists), have a beer with the old-timers at an outdoor picnic table at the Country Club, have dinner at El Chaparral Mexican Restaurant or Big Daddy's BBQ. Then you kick back-- sipping a glass of wine at Wine 101. Then you carefully walk back to the farm, sit in the zero-gravity chairs, watch the stars, and listen to country music coming from Floore's Country Store. Next morning, you walk to the Cracked Mug in Old Town for coffee, and then, for breakfast, drive 30 miles through the Hill Country to the famous OST Cafe (Old Spanish Trail) in Bandera--the Cowboy Capital. Not only is the cafe famous for its western saddle bar stools, its John Wayne room, its down-home cooking--it is also the destination for the leather-clad, serious-helmeted motorcycle riders from San Antonio who rendezvous and ride up there every Saturday. So you end up with quite an eclectic crowd: serious old-time ranchers, drug-store cowboys, the Steve McQueen type motorcycle racers, and the tourists. And the prices are right! Then, after visiting Bandera, you head out Hwy 73 for 13 miles to Camp Verde--an old Army Camel Fort from the 1840's with a still-functioning post office, and a gorgeous restaurant along the banks of the river (best onion rings this side of heaven). On the return on Hwy 16 (Bandera Road), turn off on PR-37 and visit Medina Lake., Then you return to camp for siesta--before repeating last night's adventure. Next morning, you walk into Old Town and have breakfast at the Helotes Bakery--full breakfast and baked goods--Texas-size Cream Puffs. On the way home, you stop in Grey Forest and walk/hike through the one-lane roads of this enchanting artist colony with its 300+ cottages and rock homes. Some important dates for Floore's Country Store where you can camp and walk to the shows American Aquarium (11/13); Kody West: 11/19; Kyle Nix of the Turnpike Troubadours: 11/27; Kolby Cooper: 12/3; Last Bandaleros & Vandoliers: 12/9; Read Southhall Band: 12/10; Mike and the Moonpies (12/11). Please check with Floore's to make sure of dates. Also every first Saturday, Old Town hosts Market Days--music, crafts and food. We are beginning to host artists who want to paint the Texas Hill Country--what a neat idea: camping and painting. Old Town has just opened its first art gallery featuring local artists and Chula Vista Farms is hosting its second "en plein air" event in the fall.Ten miles from the Riverwalk in San Antonio, Chula Vista Farms, in Old Town Helotes, lies at the gateway to the Texas Hill Country. Camp under magnificent old oaks in the front area or up in the back pasture ( with our heirloom tomatoes) across the creek. See the stars (no city lights) and experience total tranquility. Old Town Helotes is home to several antique stores, wine and coffee bars, El Chaparral Mexican Restaurant and Floore's Country Store—the oldest honky-tonk in Texas where Willie Nelson plays twice a year and country music bands play on weekends. You can hear the music from your campsite. Chula Vista Farms is part of Old Town Helotes so you can walk to the restaurants and shops. Across the highway (four miles) is the quaint town of Grey Forest with hundreds of artists' cottages and gorgeous walking trails with hills; three miles away is HEB plus—a mega-grocery and wine store; 10 miles is downtown San Antonio with the Riverwalk; 30 miles is Bandera—the Cowboy Capital of the world—a stunning drive of hills and western panoramas--home to the famous OST (Old Spanish Trail) cafe and 13 miles from Bandera lies Camp Verde-with, serene streams, lovely picnic area, a still-functioning post office (from the 1850"s), and a famous restaurant with panoramic views. Camp Verde sits on land which housed a civil-war-era army fort which experimented with camels from Egypt. Four miles away from Chula Vista is Government Canyon -a primitive hiking experience. Chula Vista Farms has five private campsites in the back pasture. This field is also ideal for group camping--20 tents could be accommodated. We have a communal fire pit, tables, adirondack and zero-gravity chairs and four chimmineas for easy, romantic fires. We can accommodate small pop-up campers under the oaks in front area--but only one at a time. Please ask before booking. Thanks!You could spend a week here and not run out of things to do: shopping, sight-seeing, walking, hiking, eating, drinking, relaxing, cooking, painting, sitting by the fire, listening to country music and, of course, camping and being close to nature. And if that is not enough, we can put you to work with our heirloom tomato, herb and vegetable farm where names such as Eritrea Basil; White Icicle Radish; Ruby Queen Beets; and tomatoes with exotic titles: Black Vernissage; Black Beauty; Indigo Apple; Ananas Noire; Pork Chop; Lucid Gem and my favorite- Chestnut Chocolate- constitute the language of the day.

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