seminole canyon state park and historic site

This park is really nice. It's small, with several hiking trails, the facilities are very clean & maintained, and the staff are great! The views from the camping area are wonderful.

Even though we have a home nearby, we still love to camp at Seminole Canyon. Take a couple of days for this one. Really! The guided tour down to the petroglyphs is a strenuous walk for us old people, but it is certainly worthwhile. The paintings are fading at an accelerated rate, probably due to the increased humidity from the lake, but they are still impressive, the visitors' center has excellent interpretive displays. The trail to "Panther Cave" is an easy walk, but it IS three miles each way. Go early in the morning, except in the dead of winter. Looking across the canyon and seeing that big "panther" painted on the rock is impressive. If you are lucky, you might hear a loon's cry echoing down the canyon! This walk was also where I saw my first Pyrrhuloxia. In the, recently expanded, campground the sites are level and spacious. There is usually a breeze. The facilities are we kept. Birds abound! Orioles (in season) woodpeckers, swallows, finches, phainopepla, road runners. There are even some historical remnants from the building of the railroad. A very nice park, in an excellent location. A great stopover between San Antonio and Big Bend, but worthy of a visit in its own right!

Camped here over Thanksgiving and had a great time. The park is remote, but if you're passing thru the area it's worth a stop. We have a large 8-man tent and were given site 6 (with electricity). They have designated "tent pads" built which are normally too small for our tent but the pads at this site were level with the surrounding ground so we could overlap a bit without any problems. The sites aren't super private but there are medium-size bushes/sotol plants between them so they don't feel crowded/exposed. Excellent picnic shelters at each site. Restrooms are very clean and the showers are hot. We hiked all the trails and especially enjoyed the overlooks along the Rio Grande. Great place to watch the sun set. Petroglyph tour is an extra $5 per person and we were feeling cheap so we didn't do that. Plus we had our dog and dogs are NOT allowed on the petroglyph tour. Nice museum at the park headquarters and they sell ice/candy/firewood. Fires were allowed when we were there but always check the burn bans. Little light pollution so the stargazing is great. Fun place to explore in the desert.

This fantastic spot is located 45 min outside of Del Rio and totally worth the trip. There is not much to do in Del Rio Tx so this was a must visit. They have two tours daily into the canyon during the fall, at 10 and 3. This is the only way to go into the canyon. The guide was super knowledgeable and very friendly. On the website it says it is a fairly vigorous hike however there were more than a few small children and the main obstacle is climbing up and down stairs but if you take your time and bring a bottle of water this should be no problem. Beautiful land and the paintings are amazing. I just visited for the day but did check out the overnight camping and for the full service sites it was pretty booked. Due to the terrain each campsite was fairly enclosed and gave lots of privacy. I look forward to going back and spending a night or two there.

If you are in the general area, you must stop and visit. The tour guide to the bottom of the canyon and into the Fate Bell Shelter to see the pictographs is worth it. Just make sure to take water and a camera. The view from within the Fate Bell Shelter outwards will make you wonder about the people that called that location home.

Camped out at Seminole and although we slept in a tent we were not exactly "roughing" it. The campsite provides restrooms and showers, electricity and running water at campsite available. Recommend the Canyon Rim hike. Come prepared with sunscreen, bug repellent and plenty of drinking water.

I'm working my way through all of the Texas State Parks, and so far I've camped at about 50% of them. Seminole Canyon was never high on my priority list, but we decided to make a stop there on the way to Big Bend and see the pictographs. WOW! Am I ever glad we made it to this park! It's true, the camping accommodations are not fantastic. The sites are nice enough, but the desert landscape is not really my preferred setting. Don't let that keep you away.The real highlight here are the pictographs. Make sure you sign up for the Fate Bell Shelter tour, and I'd do a morning tour before it gets too hot. The walk is at a leisurely pace and not too difficult. There are several large rocky steps going down into the canyon, and then of course coming back out. Those are at the very beginning of the tour, so you will know what you are getting in to from the start. It's definitely do-able even if you are not in great shape (like me). I was so interested in the ranger's talking points about the landscape and history here, and then further absorbed in viewing these ancient pictographs, that I hardly even noticed the walk. There were a couple spots to sit down and rest while viewing pictographs, if needed, but I hardly sat for a moment. This didn't really feel like exercise until it was time to climb those tall stairs out, but it was manageable and I am so glad I did it.These pictographs are only expected to be here for another 20 years or so, and no one has yet devised a way to preserve them. Be sure to see them before they are gone!Some inquired about the safety of camping so close to the border. There are border patrol officers stationed everywhere along the way, and you will cross through a checkpoint near the park with K9 dogs and officer inspections. The park and the area are very safe.

Ancient pictographs and a neat limestone canyon. The rock pictographs are about 4000 years old (about the time Moses left Egypt). This is one of the largest walls of artwork I have ever seen. The only problem is the limited availability of the tours (twice per day)(used to be 3-4 per day). During the summer, they only offer a 10 AM tour, it was very very hot (88 degrees and climbing). Ideally something much earlier would be nice, but this park is a long way from no where.The best time to visit is any season but summer. I've been in the Spring and Fall and both times were very nice.

Every time we head west to the Big Bend area, we stop at Seminole Canyon SP. We fell in love with this park the first time we stayed. Talk about solitude. There have only been 2 or 3 other campers in the park in the 3 times we have stayed here (Oct and July). We took the guided tour to the Fate Bell Shelter to see the pictographs and walked the hiking trails to the junction of the Pecos and Rio Grande. Love sitting outside and just looking around. The staff is very friendly and there is some information in the park headquarters about the history of the area we found interesting. The bathroom and shower facilities are in great shape.

A really beautiful park.But I'm sorry to say so, the signing is not what I think it should be.And the information about the state park in the surrounding town, could also be better.No we where just passing through, and it's also my own fault that I didn't do more research about the place.Unfortunately for us, we where one hour late to the information center, so maybe next time we come there, my rating would be higher.

There are views of the ancient cliffsides of the Pecos (millions of years old), a view of cliffs in Mexico above the Rio Grande where the Pecos River flows into it. There is well-organized, dedicated path through local vegetation. There are a boat launch and picnic areas.

On my way to Big Bend, I stopped and camped two nights here (Dec 13th-15th) in the primitive camping area. Attended two tours of the Fate Bell Shelter (the pictographs are amazing!), browsed the museum and gift shop, hiked, and enjoyed the solitude. To my surprise I was the only occupant of the primitive camping area (it's a bargain at 8$ a night, and a short walk to the bathroom and showers). Love this park!

We were headed from Del Rio to Fort Davis and went on 2 hikes in this park. The weather was warm down in the canyon. These hikes are not for the bone weary as there are chains to assist you pull yourself back up the path. The hike is close to vertical but is SO worth it. The guide was from Austin and taught us so much history about the rock art. The views were spectacular! I highly recommend taking time to stop and take these hikes. Just make sure that you are dressed properly and have plenty of water with you! Enjoy!

We really enjoyed seeing the Fate Bell shelter rock art in seminole canyon-- good hike and guide (you cant go by yourself but it is pretty informal-- check the website). The best part isnt even in the Canyon. Every Saturday the Rock Art Foundation conducts a tour-- exciting hike, they provide the walking sticks) to see the best Pecos Indian Rock Art-- it is the White Shaman tour/hike, starts about 1 mile west of Seminole Canyon-- lots of people try to do both. Views are beautiful and hikes are great. So glad we went. (Very do-able for healthy seniors like us also)

This park was a camping stop on the way out to the Big Bend area and I will definitely return. It was windy, so I wish I had a shorter tent but couldn't put a damper on the trip. The canyons are incredible and the hiking was a blast. The views were breathtaking and the mini museum in the visitors center was cool, too.