Dug Begley

“The idea for many people to go to state parks is to get away,” said Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas, a nonprofit that has urged park expansion and funding.

Getting away close to some of the state’s biggest cities and at the most popular locations is becoming increasingly difficult. Parks that have high use also have high maintenance needs, and even as the state prepares to pour more than $1 billion into making more of Texas into parkland, there is less certainty there is enough cash for upkeep.

Texas parks officials acknowledge a maintenance backlog, caused by both under-investment in past years but also recent weather-driven damage.

“The list is still long and it takes a long time to get down the list,” said Rodney Franklin, director of Texas State Parks.

New wave of Texas state parks is taking shape, aimed at thinning crowds More than 9 million visitors went to a Texas state park last year, a decline from the pandemic but still huge growth as the state rushes to add new park land.