Great short video on Sheldon Lake State Park and Environmental Learning Center.
Tag: outdoors
TPWD Colorado Bend Video
I found this great video of Colorado Bend State Park from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department YouTube channel and wanted to add it to the blog for that park. Enjoy!
Blanco State Park
Park #15 was Blanco State Park. Somehow I forgot to post about it, but this post will be just like the park itself. Short and sweet.
Blanco State Park is just off Highway 281 South of Johnson City, TX. You can see almost the entire park from the entrance road. There were several people fishing along the banks of the river. There were also many families enjoying the swimming area kept separate from the fishing area by the orange buoys seen in the image below. This would a good park to visit for a picnic lunch on a day outing. There are also some overnight cabins.
Stephen F Austin State Park
I made it out to my 16th Texas State Park this weekend. #16 was Stephen F Austin State Park off of I-10 just outside of Sealy, TX.
As with the other parks we’ve visited the Park Store staff were very helpful in planning our outing. We told them exactly what we had in mind for the quick trip to the park and they provided a couple of options that were just perfect.
We wanted a short hike and were directed to the overlook trail at the North end of the park. Park at the restrooms (seen below) and the trail head is on the opposite side of the park road.
There are several options from this starting point.
We went to the right at the first fork, left at the next and followed the trail along to the Brazos River Overlook. (below)
Watch for snakes (we saw one) this time of year and carry lots of water. This was a beautiful park with lots of historical as well as natural features. I’ll follow up with a post on the historical features shortly.
Path tag from SFA State Park
McKinney Falls State Park (2nd try)
My friends and I decided to give McKinney Falls another chance. Maybe February just isn’t the best time to visit the park. After some much-needed rain and a different choice in trail I gained a new appreciation for the park. The wildflowers were blooming and it was nice and green.
We parked by the Smith Visitor Center and took the trail along the river, past the visitor center, and on to the rock shelter.
This massive tree was along the trail.
As you walk under the rock shelter used by the Native Americans so long ago take notice of the nests of spiders along the roof of the cave.
If you’re brave enough and the conditions are good take the path from the cave down to the river.
It is rather steep and slick so be careful. It was worth it for us though.
I’m glad we gave this park another chance. Hopefully some of the pending increase in funding from the legislature will make it to the other sections of the park.
LBJ State Park
Nestled out in the beautiful Texas Hill Country are two parks that illustrate what life was like for our 36th President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ). I’m going to write about LBJ State Park in this post. I’ll follow up tomorrow with the National Park and the Texas White House.
The state park is west of Austin out on Highway 290 about 13 miles west of Johnson City. If you’re coming in from the East I recommend turning onto Park Road 1 and coming into the State Park from the North Entrance. It is a nice drive through the surrounding farms and sort of gets you in the mood for the park you are about to visit.
LBJ State Park is home to the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm.
This farm is a working farm operated by two volunteers. They dress, act, talk, and work the farm as if it was 1915. 1915 was a good year for the farm, but I’ll let them tell you that story.
If you have an hour or two hang out at the main house and listen to the stories. One of my favorite was when the couple explained what they do with the milk. Did I mention that the lady still milks the cow every morning? She also gets eggs from the chicken coop. Back to the milk. They have a good demonstration in the kitchen about how they don’t waste the milk. It’s used for various dairy products for the farm and they do it all by hand. Ask about the milk. You’ll thank me.
The couple uses the vegetables from the garden and the meat from the farm to feed the volunteers/park employees at lunch each day. So expect some traffic around lunch time, but it is nice to see what they are able to do with a 1915 kitchen. It really makes you think.
The pictures don’t do this park justice, but that seems to be the case with every park I visit.
Government Canyon State Natural Area
A little sneak peek on my recent trip to Government Canyon State Natural Area. (Park #14)
And yes, that’s dinosaur tracks.
Exploring Texas State Parks 