Old Tunnel State Park

One of the newest state parks in Texas is the Old Tunnel State Park. The main attraction here is the bat emergence nightly from May to October.

Open year-round from sunrise to sunset for general use.

Bat viewing nightly May through October. The trail to the lower viewing area is closed each evening. Monday through Wednesday evenings the trail and lower viewing area are not open to the public. On Thursday through Sunday evenings, the trail will only be open to those visitors who pay admission to view the bats at the lower viewing area.

For the most up-to-date emergence information, call the toll-free information line at (866) 978-2287.”

Plan your visit ahead of time and find a place for dinner close by. It is a bit out of the way and “out in the middle of nowhere” off of Old Fred Road and Old San Antonio Road. If you spot Old Fred that’s just a bonus.

 

Guadalupe River State Park

Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway

On our way home from Houston (Battleship Texas and San Jacinto Monument) we stopped by Lake Somerville State Park.

The park has an office on both sides of the lake. The reason for this is that the lake is very long. It does take some time to drive from one office to the other so if you plan on visiting both offices (path tags at both) make sure you allow for about 45 minutes to get from one to the other. The other key piece of info is that the Birch Creek Unit Office closes at 4:45 pm. We arrived at 4:55 and were unable to get our path tag.

The park and lake are very beautiful. Some trails do need some maintenance. It doesn’t look like they cut some of them back much. Make sure to wear jeans/boots on the more hairy trails as there are some poisonous snakes out and about especially around the shore.

This was one of the trails that looked safer.

It turned out to be the one we saw a rather large water moccasin cross right in front of us.

Again, the lake was beautiful and there were lots of people out enjoying the water.

lake somerville

lake somerville

Plan to spend a weekend at this park to enjoy the lake. Be sure to check the TPWD site for good directions and updates on the water level.

A Friend Hikes the John Muir Trail

A college friend of mine is hiking the John Muir Trail for his birthday. It should make for a great blog to follow as he posts about his adventure. He’s also an amazing photographer and should provide some unbelievable photos. Good luck to him and his sister. I look forward to hearing about their hike.

Follow along here

Pedernales Falls State Park Bird Blind

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:

  1. Turn your radio off before you turn into the parking area.
  2. No talking unless you are able to whisper (not all people are able to in my experience)
  3. When you park, try to park at the far end of the lot away from the entrance to the blind.
  4. Close the door to your car as quietly as possible
  5. Don’t set your alarm. Lock your doors, but no honking of the horn to set the alarm.
  6. Enter the blind quietly (don’t let the gate slam)

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.

Pedernales Falls (again)

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.

picture of rocks at state park

limestone cave at state park

old tree at state park

Doeskin Ranch – Creek Trail

map of park

The creek trail starts at the informationschool at Doeskin 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.

old tree at ranch

McKinney Falls State Park Video

I found another great video on one of the parks I’ve visited a few times now. Watch the video and check out my posts on McKinney Falls State Park.

TPWD Sheldon Lake Video

Great short video on Sheldon Lake State Park and Environmental Learning Center.

Sheldon Lake State Park

Park #17 on our Texas State Parks adventures was Sheldon Lake State Park. This park is just East of Houston about 20 minutes from downtown.

We almost missed the turnoff to get into the park because the entrance was blocked by a passing train.

entrance to sheldon lake state park

The park office was closed because they don’t want to be open on the weekends when people may visit. Just kidding of course, but it did seem odd. There was no entrance fee so that was nice.

There were plenty of picture opportunities at this park. The front of the park has several ponds with lilies and other blooming flowers around.

pond at sheldon lake state park

Each pond had it’s own personality. Some looked calm.

sheldon lake state park
The detail in the full size is pretty decent for an iphone. Click the image to see the full-size image.

And others looked like “several things in there could kill me.”

pond at sheldon lake state park with many tree stumps
No distortion here by the way. That’s just an optical illusion from how the stumps and leaves are naturally arranged. Very interesting result from a quick point and shoot with the iPhone.

 

We saw some wildlife along the trail.

rabbit on trail

And were warned of some others.

A recent picture of an alligator spotted at Sheldon Lake State Park can be found at another blog. The picture there was taken by Sandy over at “What Shall I Make Today?” Click the image for her alligator pic.

Between the smaller ponds at the front and Sheldon Lake is a great observation tower. The elevator is powered by solar panels. (Elevator currently undergoing maintenance. Call ahead to check availability).

observation tower

sheldon lake

the bent pine tree

Be careful at the Bent Pine Tree. While standing and reading the sign we noticed our feet were quickly covered in ants. They weren’t fire ants, but still annoying.

Overall a nice park with much to offer for visitors of all ages.