No two Texas campgrounds are the same, but only one can say it has an alpine coaster—a self-controlled thrill ride built directly into the topography of a region. That bragging right is reserved for Camp Fimfo Texas Hill Country, whose Cliff Carver weaves through the Ashe junipers and live oaks just outside New Braunfels.
Camp Fimfo was named 2026’s No. 1 campground in the country by Campspot. Kendall Slowe, the resort’s general manager, attributed that success in part to one-of-a-kind attractions like the Cliff Carver.
“I’ve worked at two resorts, and this one is setting the standard for what to offer,” he says.
Camp fimfo texas hill country
520 Whitewater Way, New Braunfels. 830-743-9803; campfimfo.com/texas-hill-country
Construction on the Cliff Carver began in 2022 and was completed the following year. Since its opening, Slowe says 214,952 riders have taken the self-guided journey through the Hill Country. This year, 13,476 people have hopped into a cart, and the ages of those riders range across the board.
To ensure ride safety, the team at Camp Fimfo conducts daily pre-checks before the attraction opens and inspections twice a year. The only people Slowe says should avoid the coaster are pregnant women and those without full mobility of their hands.
On a misty April day this spring, I buckled up to experience the Cliff Carver for myself. But it takes more than a few droplets of rain to deter the alpine coaster’s operational abilities.
By pushing the levers placed on either side of my seat forward, I was rapidly whisked away up the first incline of the ride. My cart was easy to control, as the coaster’s pulley system did the heavy lifting on the way up and gravity did its job on the way down. The experience was unlike any roller coaster I’d been on. For one, I was in a single cart rather than a chain of connected units and could modulate the cart’s speed myself using the levers.
In front of me rode a father and daughter, and behind me a couple, all smiling or screaming (or both). The track took us through the trees, then up and down the hillsides provided by the landscape. Along the way, I spotted a few squirrels shimmying up the branches. Down low, the wind whisked fallen leaves past, and large droplets of rain caught themselves in my hair. After about three minutes, I saw the end of the road and pulled my levers back to keep from crashing at full-speed, which Slowe says can be as fast as 27 miles per hour.
Camp Fimfo is always looking for its next adventure. According to Slowe, the resort has an attraction under development that could surpass the Cliff Carver in intensity. “If the coaster was a real thrill for you,” he says, “this is gonna be an extreme thrill rush.”
Those eager to ride the Cliff Carver can purchase a pass for just that attraction, snag a day pass, or arrange to stay overnight. In addition to the Cliff Carver, Camp Fimfo offers a zipline—the Guadalupe Glider—a water park, two swim-up bars, and a multi-level play structure for kids, among other attractions. If you elect to sleep over, Slowe says, “all you need to bring is a change of clothes and fun.”
Rain or shine, the Cliff Carver is a must-ride. Though the drops were never steep, I found myself exhilarated and a little afraid on each descent. And, no other coaster in the world is capable of taking me on this type of thrill ride: a scenic route through the Texas Hill Country.
