We stayed at Goliad State Park and Historic Site as our first stop after leaving our winter home of Resaca de la Palma State Park. Many pros to this site far outweighed the few cons we came across.
As we’ve discussed many times, we love museums! Goliad State Park and Historic Site is a park and museum rolled into one!
About the history
The keystone of this park is the Mission Espiritu Santo. It’s a restored Spanish mission that was originally built back in 1722. The chapel, granary, and workshops were rebuilt using period-authentic tools and techniques. When the Civilian Conservation Corps did the restoration in 1933, they even used the original earthen kiln to fire the new bricks!
While the goals and cultural whitewashing of the Spanish missions were ugly, the buildings and grounds are beautiful, and a testament to the passion of the builders.
Nearby the park is the Spanish fort Presidio La BahÃa and the birthplace of the Mexican hero Ignacio Zaragoza. Zaragoza, among other things, led an under-equipped and undersized division of Mexican troops in a defensive action against French invaders on May 5, 1862. His heroic and overwhelming success at this battle, The Battle of Puebla, led to the modern celebration of Cinco De Mayo.
About the camping facilities
As for the camping itself, the campsite was a lot like the ones over at Lake Corpus Christi State Park. Clean, reasonably separated, and most importantly for us: FREE SHOWERS! Maybe it’s a Washington thing, but before launch, our experience with campground shower facilities was poorly maintained, coin-operated units that may or may not have heated water. The only trick to remember with Texas State Parks is to shower “off-peak.” The showers seem to run on smaller, older water heaters.
The campground did boast hiking trails. However, the main one we took the dog in crossed through not 1 but 2 campsites. The trail is not marked through the camping areas, so it’s more than a little awkward.
At the end of the day, it was still an amazing visit. If we are ever passing through southeast Texas again, it will be on our list of stops!
