Texas Campgrounds Releases ‘Travel & Camping Guide to Texas’

Th  (TACO) has released its 2024 RV Travel & Camping Guide to Texas, which is available in printed and digital formats through TexasCampgrounds.com.

“We designed the guide as a travel planning resource that not only includes detailed descriptions of great places to camp, but information on activities and things to see and do throughout Texas,” said Brian Schaeffer, TACO’s executive director and CEO. He added that the guide contains information on chambers of commerce and convention and visitors bureaus that can provide additional information to camping and RV enthusiasts on local attractions, festivals and other annual events.

While the annual directory is available in digital format, TACO has printed 250,000 copies of the 2024 RV Travel & Camping Guide to Texas, which is being distributed at RV shows across Texas, including the Houston RV Show, Feb. 7-10, the largest RV show in Texas, and the Austin RV Expo, Feb. 22-25. Anderson’s Brochure Distribution Service will also distribute the guide at 25 other RV shows across the country.

“Our biggest sources of distribution are the Texas Information Centers, the Points of Entry into Texas,” Schaeffer said, adding that TACO-member parks are also passing out the guides along with chambers of commerce and convention & visitors bureaus, which remain in high demand in print format.

“People like to hang on to our printed directories and use them again and again to plan their trips because they’re packed with ideas on fun things to see and do in every region of Texas,” Schaeffer noted.

The ideas on interesting sights to see in each region of Texas also vary from year to year, Schaeffer said, which is another reason travelers hang on to the printed guides. For example, this year’s guide references several museums and scenic attractions that are unique to Texas, including:

• East Texas Oil Museum in Kilgore: This museum documents the discovery of oil in East Texas in 1930 and 1931 while noting the important role that Texas oil producers played in providing stable petroleum supplies needed to win World War II.
• Galveston Naval Museum: This museum features the USS Cavalla, a World War II-era attack submarine that sank over 34,000 tons of enemy shipping including the Imperial Japanese Navy’s carrier, Shokaku, during the Battle of the Philippine Seas. The museum also features the USS Stewart, one of only two remaining World War II-era destroyer escorts. The USS Stewart was built in 1942 by Brown Shipping Company in Houston and commissioned in May of 1943.
• George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in College Station: This presidential library contains more than 100,000 artifacts, including gifts given to President and Mrs. Bush during his term in office, including gifts from foreign heads of state. The museum also includes artifacts from his eight years as vice president.
• Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville: This zoo is divided into four geographic areas: Africa, Asia, Tropical America and Indo-Australia. The zoo also has a herpetarium, an aquarium, a tropical America “free-flight” aviary, “Macaw Canyon,” bear grottos and a Komodo dragon exhibit. The “Small World” section of the zoo features a nursery and an animal contact yard where children can touch and interact with domesticated animals.
• Museum of the American G.I. in College Station: This is a living history museum dedicated to preserving the equipment, uniforms and memories of all American servicemen and women. The museum is home to one of the finest collections in the U.S. of restored, running WWI, WWII and later era military vehicles, including a WWI FT-17 tank, WWII Sherman tanks, M18 Hellcats and various other tanks as well as historic uniforms and equipment used by American serviceman and women. The mission of the museum is to increase the public’s appreciation of the American servicemen and women from WWI to the present through educational programs, static and living history displays as well as historical re-enactments.
• National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg: This museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate that provides the nation’s most comprehensive account of World War II in the Asiatic-Pacific theater.
• Painted Churches of Schulenburg: The painted churches are located in the communities of Dubina, High Hill, Praha, and Ammannsville.  The churches appear unassuming as you approach them, but visitors marvel at the incredible beauty found inside.
• Sam Houston Memorial Museum and Republic of Texas Presidential Library: This museum is dedicated to the Tennessee-born lawyer, soldier and politician who led Texas troops in their victory over Mexican forces in the Battle of San Jacinto, securing Texas’s independence from Mexico. Located on 15 acres of the Houston family’s original homestead, the museum celebrates the life of General Sam Houston.
• Space Center Houston: Attractions include the Official Visitor Center of NASA Johnson Space Center, a Smithsonian Affiliate that features more than 400 space artifacts, exhibits and experiences, including theaters that showcase America’s human space flight program.

In addition to highlighting museums, festivals and scenic natural attractions in each region of Texas, the guide includes listings of more than 400 campgrounds, RV parks and resorts, complete with locator maps, listings of park amenities, websites and contact information for each park. The directory also features a Texas Saver Card, which provides 10% discounts on nightly stays at participating parks.

Designed by Texas Advertising, the 2024 RV Travel & Camping Guide to Texas features display ads from RV resort chains, such as Quality RV Resorts as well as campground and RV resort networks with parks across the country, such as Encore and Thousand Trails, Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts, Kampgrounds of America, Inc. and Wilder RV Resorts.

The guide is supported by advertising from prominent campgrounds, RV resorts and RV dealers in Texas, such as PPL Motorhomes, the largest RV consignment dealer in the country, and Platinum Cottages, a prominent park model RV manufacturer whose units are widely used as rental accommodations and campgrounds and RV resorts.

RV and camping enthusiasts can order the free 2024 RV Travel & Camping Guide by visiting TexasCampgrounds.com. The guide is also posted on the website in a digital page-turning format.