Back in June we headed to Houston to see an Astros game and check out a couple of Houston area parks. Truly one of the highlights was the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site and Monument. This should be on every Texan’s bucket list. (summary of battle)
The elevator ride to the top is $4 and is probably a “do it once just to say you did it” kind of thing. The views are nice though.
August 13, 2013 – All water in the park is currently off Monday through Thursday. Restrooms, showers and all potable water sources are currently closed during this time due to the drought related water shortage. Weekday camping is only available in the Turkey Sink, water and electric, campground and portable toilets are available to park visitors.
Full water service will be available for weekend Camping (Friday through Sunday) in the Turkey Sink, water and electric , campground and Cedar Sage, water only, campground. Wagon Ford campground will remain closed and the day use area restroom will remain out of service, however portable toilets area available to park visitors in the day use area. Call the park for the most up to date information.
Might be a good time to visit the park to see it in the summer without tubers and campers. (silver lining right?)
After Washington on the Brazos, we went 17 miles to the east to Anderson, TX to see Fanthorp Inn SHS.
This old inn is worth the drive as are the stories told by its volunteer innkeeper. The inn is only open on Saturday. There is no funding for the inn itself. The volunteer gives tours and sees to the upkeep. The electricity is paid for by Washington on the Brazos. I think after you hear the stories from the volunteer you’ll want to visit the donation box at the entrance. Entry to the inn is free, but a suggested donation of a few dollars each is asked.
There were some great old firearms in the inn. All of which are original.
You’ll want to take a peek into the cellar at the end of the dining room. There’s a surprise at the bottom of the stairs.
Part of the tour is a visit to the old stagecoach out in the yard. Believe it or not that was a 17-seater. 9 on the inside. The stagecoach started as a mail carrier on the La Bahia. Mr. Fanthorp built his house on the La Bahia and then added on when he saw how much traffic there was on the road. As you’ll see from the size of the place he was quite successful.
Today we visited Washington-on-the-Brazos SHS. The birthplace of Texas.
Be sure to visit the gift shop. It’s one of the largest I’ve seen at a state park.
Every hour on the hour there is a guided tour of Independence Hall.
The guide gives a great explanation of the history of Washington, TX and the story of Texas’ independence.
From there head outside and stop by the obelisk just outside independence hall.
The inscription on one side reads: “The necessity of self preservation therefore now decrees our eternal political separation.”
From there head down the La Bahia road to the Brazos River. The La Bahia was an old highway hundreds of years ago. It’s estimated that people have traveled that east-to-west road for over 300 years.
At the end of this path you’ll see the old fairy crossing at the Brazos.
Turn right at the fairy crossing and you’ll see the La Bahia Pecan Tree. This type of pecan is normally found in Mexico. It is believed to be 190 years old.
There was a great amount of history to this park, but not much in the way of trails. There are picnic areas, an amphitheater, and a pavilion.
This past Saturday I made it out to Pedernales Falls SP again. This time I brought the fishing gear with me and headed to the Pedernales Falls overlook area.
The spot I chose was just North of this spot though I won’t give away the exact spot. Where’s the fun in that?
Here’s the first giant I caught. No laughs. I was in it for the sport and not to find dinner.
And the biggest catch of the day…
It was a lot of fun until the families with untrained children showed up and thought it was a good idea to throws rocks into the water. I wish I had the camera out to get a shot of the fish throwing up the peace sign and disappearing never to be seen again.
By the way, “Harassment of Hunters, Trappers, or Anglers (Sportsmen’s Rights Act) is punishable by a fine of $200 to $2000 and/or 180 days in jail.”
Until that point it was a wonderful day out on the river. There were some bigger fish in this spot, but they weren’t interested in the bait I tried. Maybe next time.
*No fish were harmed in the production of this blog post.
After the storms on Monday, I headed out the Perd to see if the rains had any impact on the water level. While out there I remembered that there’s plenty about this park that I haven’t experienced yet. One of those things is the bird blind at the park.
My expectations were really low because I thought “low budget and state park must mean bench and tree = bird blind.” Boy was I wrong.
If you haven’t had the pleasure, put it at the top of your list for your next visit to the park.
From the park store, head towards the main falls. Keep an eye out on the left side of the road for the parking area for the blind. It is well-marked and should be easily found.
To get the most out of your visit and to be respectful of others at the blind:
There are two large bird blinds once you enter. The first one on the right, pictured below, has a few hummingbird feeders.
I saw several different species in just a short time in this blind.
There is another blind in this area that has a special visitor right now.
I was lucky to get there around feeding time. The volunteer, Mr. Strickland, said that the baby fox, pictured below, shows up every day around 5pm and stays about an hour.
According to Mr. Strickland, there is a mother and a couple of other young foxes. However he had not seen them in a few days and the worry is that something might have happened to them. Hopefully this little guy is not on his own so young.
The park is in the middle of a large project at the blind/surrounding area. They are building a large star gazing area. Mr. Strickland said that there would be a telescope and accompanying facility. I look forward to visiting this facility when it opens.
I made it out to Pedernales on Monday after the heavy rains. Got some great pictures with the old camera I dug out of the closet. Easy to say that this park is my favorite so far. Every time I visit I see something I haven’t seen before.
The creek trail starts at the information
kiosk near the restrooms* and follows the old homestead (no longer there), school (mid to late 1800’s structure), and then continues along the creek until it meets back up with the main trail (rimrock trail).
The old school building provides a small picture of what living on the ranch must have been like.
Even though the creek trail is only a half mile from the ponds and prairies trail the landscape is completely different. You’ll also see lots of grasshoppers along this trail. Watch for snakes (depending on time of year) and keep an eye out for the many birds and butterflies. The creek will have water in it if there has been a recent rain. Otherwise you can explore the old creek bed.
The old trees on this trail also provide plenty of photo opportunities. This was one of my favorite from today.
I haven’t been out to one of my favorite hiking spots in Central Texas in quite some time. I headed out to Doeskin Ranch today to check out the end of a hot June at Doeskin Ranch.
This is a great protected park with plenty of opportunities for wildlife viewing. For the grasshopper lovers out there Doeskin must be paradise. You easily lose count of the different grasshoppers and crickets you come across on just a short hike at this park.
Take the ponds and prairies trail
(near the restrooms*) for a 0.4 mile walk among the flat, open area of the park. The grass has really grown up in this area and the grasshoppers are plentiful. Because of the abundance of grasshoppers, there’s also many grasshopper sparrows out at the park. These birds have wonderful coloration and fly around at chest height providing good opportunity to see them up close as they fly by hopper hunting.
*restrooms are compost restrooms and provide minimal facilities
Got a nice surprise in the mail from the folks at Colorado Bend State Park.
They were out of path tags when we visited the park. They were nice enough to mail some to us.
Exploring Texas State Parks 