Summer days at Garner State Park belong to the Frio, shallow and cold under the cypress, where kids work their way across the swimming rocks for hours and parents settle on the rocks nearby. After dark the jukebox starts up at the concession building for a dance that goes back to the 1940s. It gives a Garner week its rhythm, with the river all day, the dance floor at night, and the rig waiting with the air on.
That's a week for a motorhome that stays put. From the first night to the last the rig doesn't move, and its job is keeping a whole family cool through Hill Country afternoons and comfortable after a day in the river. That takes real power at the pad, and ideally a sewer connection, which is why the loop matters more than the floor plan.
Shady Meadows, the full-hookup loop by the river week
Shady Meadows is the loop families try for first, because it has everything at the pad. Its 12 pull-through sites come with water, sewer and 20, 30 and 50-amp electric, and tents aren't allowed there as of September 2026, so the loop is rigs only and nobody spends arrival day reversing into place.
A dozen pads in a park this popular means summer goes fast. Dance season is also when the most families rent a motorhome in this corner of Texas, so the pad and the rig are chasing the same dates.
On arrival day, aim to be through the gate before dark. In dance season the park's gates can close as early as 8:30 p.m. as of September 2026, and a full day of driving with kids has a way of running late.
New Garner's 50-amp loop and Oakmont in Old Garner
Missing Shady Meadows doesn't cost you the river or the dance, it just puts the rig on one of the park's electric loops. New Garner holds most of the park's power, with 137 sites on 50-amp and 35 more on 30-amp, so it's the realistic fallback for a motorhome that needs to run the air all afternoon. Over in Old Garner, Oakmont has 39 back-in sites with 20 and 30-amp hookups, fine for a rig that can live without 50-amp power.
The park's water-only sites are off the table for a family motorhome, since Texas Parks and Wildlife caps motor homes there at 20 feet. A couple traveling light can take one of those pads in a smaller rig from the Texas listings.
When every loop in the park is booked, the private RV resorts on the Frio in Concan keep the same river in reach, and the Concan RV page covers them. A family week that opens with a few days in the city before the river belongs on the San Antonio RV page.
When fall comes, Lost Maples State Natural Area is the day drive worth making from a Garner pad, with maple color filling the canyon walls. Hill Country State Natural Area makes a second day out, and the motorhome stays parked at Garner both nights.
