Fisherman's Park Is Bastrop's Riverfront Front Porch

Fisherman's Park is where downtown Bastrop quits being just storefronts and turns toward the Colorado River. The 20-acre park sits in the LCRA Colorado River corridor. It has a boat and canoe dock, boat ramp, fishing pier, picnic tables, courts, restrooms, covered pavilions, and a fenced playground.

The useful part is how much connects there. Fisherman's Park is a starting point for the El Camino Real Paddling Trail and for the June Hill Pape Riverwalk Trail. TPWD also uses the park as the put-in for a wide, slow-moving six-mile float. Floods can affect the downstream takeout, so paddlers should check river and access conditions after recent rain.

That makes the park a small map lesson. A family can use it as a playground stop. A paddler can start a river trip there. A walker can follow the Riverwalk toward the Old Iron Bridge and Ferry Park. The restrooms, playground, and covered pavilions make the riverfront work for people who are not there to paddle.

It is a local place with layers: boat ramp, picnic stop, river view, paddling trail, and downtown walk all touching the same stretch of water. Bastrop's river story is not hidden outside town. It is right there at the park.