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May 12, 2012
More on the Blue Hole in Wimberley
A quick addendum to a story I wrote recently about the Blue Hole in Wimberley.
The story didn’t mention the role that Peter Way took in saving this spring-fed, cypress-shaded, cold-water oasis.
Way, a part-time resident of Wimberley who lives in Houston, was instrumental in preserving the Blue Hole for the public by purchasing and holding the property — at no personal profit — until the city acquired enough funding to buy it.
Way’s family has had a home on Cypress Creek, which forms the swimming hole, since 1945.
Thanks to reader Carol Koock, who pointed out the omission. She has known Way since the two attended first grade together in Houston.
“Many of my friends’ families, including Peter’s, owned homes in Wimberley and all of us kids spent many summer days swinging on the rope and splashing down in the cool water of Blue Hole,” Koock wrote me. “Peter still lives in Houston with his wife Mary Faye, and their children and grandchildren are enjoying the same good times at their Wimberley home that we all enjoyed 64 years ago. Peter has continued for all of these years to be a principal driving force and generous benefactor in Wimberley.”
And thanks to Way for helping to make the Blue Hole someplace where we can all escape to on a scorching summer day.
Read my original story here.
The photo above shows me at the swimming hole while researching the article.
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May 10, 2012
Plastic barriers go up where trail fatality occurred
UPDATE 10:17 a.m.
The orange-and-white water-filled plastic barriers placed along Cesar Chavez Street near the Lamar Bridge are temporary, according to Leah Fillion, public information specialist for the Austin Transportation Department.
Transportation Department engineers, along with Public Works and Parks Department officials, are reviewing the section of roadway and trail “to ensure the appropriate safety measures are in place,” Fillion said. “Pedestrian, bike and auto safety has always been our highest priority.”
They have not yet decided if a permanent barrier will be installed.
City crews have put up plastic barriers along Cesar Chavez Street near Lamar Boulevard, in the area where a motorist jumped a curb and hit two pedestrians on the hike and bike trail around Lady Bird Lake on Monday.
One of the pedestrians, an 81-year-old later died. The other, a 47-year-old woman, sustained broken bones and other non-life threatening injuries.
Thoughts?
Do we need barriers in other areas of the trail?
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April 26, 2012
Robin, your admirer is an idiot
I spotted this on my way to work this morning.
Nice sentiment. But seriously? You had to spray paint a message on the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge to try to win your girlfriend’s heart?
Robin, some advice: Run, and quickly.
Your admirer isn’t too bright.
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April 16, 2012
I met an orphan javelina baby!
This little javelina baby was just two days old when we met him (her?) at the Barton Warnock Visitor Center near Terlingua at Big Bend Ranch State Park last Thursday.
Some campers had discovered it the previous morning in a parking lot, abandoned by it mother. When they returned later that day, the orphaned piglet was still hanging out, hungry and alone. They scooped it up and delivered the bristly bundle of joy to the visitor center, where a ranger took it in, staying up all night to feed it goat milk every few hours.
The next morning, the little piglet, rejuvenated by the milk and kindness and making tiny grunty noises, had bonded with the ranger, sticking to his boot heels like a cockle burr.
By the time we returned from our three-day bike trip through the park, the ranger had arranged to have the baby transported to Shafter, where a wildlife expert who’d raised javelinas before was hoping to match it with a surrogate mother. With a little luck, the little guy will return soon to the wild.
When he gets older, he won’t be nearly as cute.
Check back in tomorrow. I’ll post a recap of my 86-mile biking trip through Big Bend Ranch State Park…
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March 12, 2012
Best of Bastrop State Park fest on Wednesday
Wonder what things are like at Bastrop State Park, which was devastated in the September 2011 wildfires?
Drop by the park from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 14 for the Best of Bastrop State Park Festival showcasing park activities, demonstrations and information.
Park staff and volunteers will offer guided hikes, geocaching, a scavenger hunt and more.
Visitors can stop by booths and take part in activities. Kids can make an animal track craft, graduates of the Texas Outdoor Family program will explain how they learned to camp, historical impersonators will explain what it was like to travel across Texas in the mid-1800s, and the YMCA will host life jacket relays and provide information about the upcoming swimming season.
Guests will even be able to meet one or two of the endangered Houston toads — residents of the Houston Zoo — that are native to the area. Afterward, they can make their way through a maze representing all the obstacles the toads face for survival.
“The park is open for business, and we want to show everyone there is still a lot to do here,” park interpreter Katie Raney said.
Representatives of the Friends of the Lost Pines State Parks will be on hand to share information about volunteer opportunities at the park.
The Best of Bastrop Fest is free after park entry fees, which are $4 for adults ages 13 and over. Kids 12 and under are free.
(Photos by Ralph Barrera, Austin American-Statesman).
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January 24, 2012
Trail bridge over Barton Creek closed for repairs
Heads up, trail users.
The bike and pedestrian bridge over Barton Creek, on the south side of the hike and bike trail around Lady Bird Lake, is closed between 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. until Feb. 6 for repairs.
This morning, workers were removing the heavy wooden timbers that pave the bridge, which spans the creek just west of Lamar Boulevard. (I love the sound those boards make when I pedal over them!)
They’ll replace the old boards with new ones.
In the meantime, hikers, runners, dog walkers, stroller pushers, cyclists and everyone else who uses the trail can head about 20 yards south, crossing Barton Creek via the Barton Springs Boulevard sidewalk.
That’s a narrow sidewalk, so pay attention!
(Top photo shows bridge from the west side, bottom shows it from the east side.)
Corrects to note the detour is via the sidewalk on Barton Springs Boulevard, not Riverside Drive.
Austin Parks and Recreation Department spokesman Victor Ovalle says it will cost $1,860 in materials for the project.
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December 31, 2011
Parks Department still asking for donations
Remember that plea from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department that went out a few weeks ago?
Officials asked for the public’s help in making up a $4.6 million revenue shortfall caused by heat, drought, wildfires and a drop in park visitation.
Since that call, $335,000 in donations has rolled in.
But park leaders have renewed their call, asking the public to donate before the end of the 2011 year. They also encouraged people to visit parks, touting cooler weather, greener landscapes and campfires, which are allowed again in almost every state park.
You can help three ways:
- Go here to make a tax-deductible, year-end donation.
- Make a donation when you renew your motor vehicle registration.
- Visit state parks often. Visitor fees pay for about half of park system operating costs.
Texas is also participating in the national First Day Hikes program. Forty-eight parks across the state will offer a hikes and nature walks on New Year’s Day. The hikes vary in difficulty and fitness levels, and range from short, leisurely nature walks to special bird watching hikes, to climbs into the mountains of the Chihuahuan Desert.
For more information go here or call state park information at 1-800-792-1112.
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December 6, 2011
Parks officials ask for public's help in making up lost revenue
A triple whammy of record heat, drought and wildfires has caused a drop in visitors — and revenue — at Texas state parks.
That from officials at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, who put out a plea Tuesday, asking the public to visit the parks and donate money to make up for the loss in income.
Uncomfortable temperatures, then lake-shrinking drought and burn bans slowed business at state parks during the summer and early fall. Three popular parks — Bastrop east of Austin, Davis Mountains in West Texas and Possum Kingdom in North Texas — suffered fire damage and were shuttered for weeks, unable to collect visitor fees.
Visitor fees fund about half the $69 million operating budget for the state park system, according to a news release from the agency.
In August, state park system revenue declined 25 percent compared to the same month last year. So far this fall revenue is down 11 percent, the release said.
“The bottom line is we have a $4.6 million gap in our 2012 park system operating budget,” Texas Parks and Wildlife Department executive director Carter Smith said in the news release. “So, we are reaching out for help. This is the amount we need to raise to help keep state parks open. We want to alert people now while there is still time to help.”
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is asking people to do three things:
- Go here to make a tax-deductible donation.
- Starting Jan. 1, make a donation when you renew your motor vehicle registration.
- Visit state parks.
- If you are interested in the ecological restoration of Bastrop State Park and want to donate to habitat restoration or research, send donations to: Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Attn: Cashiers, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, TX 78744 (On the memo line note: Bastrop Recover Project-Habitat Restoration)
- If you would like to donate your time or specialty items for both the short and long-term restoration and stewardship of the park, email your contact information and area of interest to david.riskind@tpwd.state.tx.us.
- If you have suggestions or want to comment on the restoration and stewardship effort, email your remarks to david.riskind@tpwd.state.tx.us.
- If you want to contribute to the TPWD employees who lost their homes and processions to the Bastrop Complex Fire send a check payable to Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (on the memo line please put TPW Employee Relief) or go here or here.
- Owl workshop by Rob Fergus: Two nights of Central Texas owl biology, nest box management and “owl prowl” excursions, 7-10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Oct. 8-9 at the Center for Environmental Research at Hornsby Bend, 2210 South FM 973. Cost is $60. Go here to register.
- Hornsby Bend’s 50 Years of Birding Celebration, 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, Center for Environmental Research at Hornsby Bend, 2210 South FM 973. Day-long activities include birding field trips, a “super” bird survey, educational displays and a silent auction. Public field trips with a bird expert at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m. Presentations on bird monitoring and wildlife photography, noon to 4 p.m. Program on “50 years of birds and birding at Hornsby Bend,” 7-10 p.m.
- The “Big Sit” Annual Bird Count: Sunrise to sunset Sunday, Oct. 11 at Hornsby Bend, 2210 South FM 973. Go here to register.
- Barton Creek Clean-up, Saturday, Nov. 1: The foundation needs people who know the Barton Creek Greenbelt and can lead a group of 20 or 30 volunteers along trails and in the creek to pick up and haul away trash and debris. Specifically, 25 to 30 leaders are needed for the Hill of Life, Twin Falls, Loop 360 as well as Gus Fruh, Homedale, Spyglass and the Barton Springs pool entry. About 300 to 500 volunteers are expected. The group starts and finishes at the Zilker Park Polo Fields. The cleanup is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by a private concert with Ben Kweller from 1-2 p.m. Volunteer sign-up is at http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1205/t/4029/event/index.jsp?event_KEY=45597
- Project Build A Park at Guerrero Park / Country Club Creek Trail, Saturday, Nov. 8: The foundation needs people who can led groups of 25-30 volunteers (all Austin Community College students) to perform specific tasks during two three-hour shifts (9 a.m.-noon, noon - 3 p.m.). About 250 volunteers are expected per shift. Volunteers will be spreading road base on the trail, removing invasive species and removing debris and trash in the creek bed and along the greenbelt.
- Krause Springs, 18 percent
- Enchanted Rock State Park , 16 percent
- Pedernales Falls State Park, 14 percent
- Pace Bend Park, 12 percent
- Bastrop State Park, 7 percent
- McKinney Falls State Park, 5 percent
- Emma Long Metropolitan Park, 4 percent
- Buescher State Park, 2 percent
- Red Bud Isle, 15 percent
- Zilker Park, 11 percent
- Auditorium Shores, 10 percent
- Shoal Creek Greenbelt, 4 percent
- Walnut Creek District Park, 3 percent
- Emma Long Metropolitan Park, 2 percent
- Turkey Creek Trail, 2 percent
- West Austin Park, 2 percent
- Onion Creek District Park, < 1 percent
To make online camping reservations, go here or call state park information at 1-800-792-1112.
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December 2, 2011
Parts of Bastrop State Park reopen today
Parts of Bastrop State Park reopen today, three months after wildfires blazed through the piney outpost.
Campers, picnickers and hikers are invited to what park officials are calling a soft opening.
The Piney Hill and Deer Run campgrounds, featuring newly paved roads and ADA-accessible sites, will be available for camping. Several picnic areas will be open too, along with the group barracks, the 18-hole Lost Pines golf course and newly renovated Pro Shop, Park Road 1A from the refectory to the lake and on to the scenic overlook, and 70 percent of the hiking trails inside Park Road 1A.
Much of the park will remain closed while recovery erosion control and logging continue.
Maps of closed areas are available at the park headquarters. For more information, call the park at (512) 321-2101.
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September 22, 2011
Buescher Park unscathed by fires
UPDATE: Bastrop Golf Course opened Saturday and the park road between Bastrop and Buescher state parks remains closed.
Most of Bastrop State Park may have burned in the recent wildfires, but Buescher State Park, just up the road, was unscathed.
That reminder this morning via a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department press release.
Buescher State Park, a 1,017-acre park 13 miles east of Bastrop State Park, reopened this week after being closed since Sept. 4.
Like Bastrop State Park, Buescher features loblolly pine and mixed hardwood woodlands. Its facilities, including campgrounds, cabins and picnic areas, weren’t harmed in the fires.
That’s great news. A stop at Buescher State Park is part of one of my favorite local cycling excursions. The trees are broad and shady, and you feel more like you’re in east Texas or someplace in the Colorado mountains than in Texas when you visit.
I’ve been visiting both parks for years.
“If people still want to experience the Lost Pines, they can come here and see our sizeable stand of the giant loblollies,” park superintendent Cullen Sartor said in a press release Thursday. “We also have campgrounds and a popular 25-acre lake that offers great fishing and non-motorized boating opportunities.”
Park entry is $4 for adults and free for children 12 and under.
Reservations fo rthe mini cabins (which don’t have restrooms) and campsites can be made by calling the reservations center in Austin at (512) 389-8900 or online through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department website.
Buescher State Park is located two miles northwest of Smithville, off Farm Road 153, just north of State Highway 71. For more information about the park, call (512) 237-2241 or go here.
(Statesman photo shows cyclists in BP MS 150 bike ride from Houston to Austin pedaling through Buescher State Park.)
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September 15, 2011
How to help Bastrop State Park
Texas Parks and Wildlife officials have been inundated with people who want to help Bastrop State Park, which was devastated by last week’s wildfires. They’ve offered trees, wildflowers and even wildlife.
Park Superintendent Todd McClanahan (shown in photo above) has asked that the public be patient while officials assess the damage and determine what needs to be done.
In the meantime, they’ve set up a way for you to help.
(Photos above by Austin American-Statesman)
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September 13, 2011
Bastrop State Park will close at least through October
Texas Parks and Wildlife just sent out this press release about Bastrop State Park:
Sept. 13, 2011
Cleanup efforts underway at fire-blackened Bastrop State Park
BASTROP - Bastrop State Park will be closed through at least October as Texas Parks and Wildlife Department personnel continue to douse hot spots on the mostly-burned property and begin assessing damage as well as developing a plan to get the park reopened to the public.
Tuesday, a week after the fire situation at the park reached its worst point, TPWD firefighters and other personnel were working to put out lingering hot spots from the wildfire that first began threatening the park on Sept. 4. Crews also were busy cutting and mulching additional potential fuel sources on the 6,500-acre park.
“The park will be closed at least through October,” says Todd McClanahan, superintendent of the park and nearby Buescher State Park, which so far has escaped any damage from the 34,000-acre Bastrop Complex fire, which claimed two lives and destroyed some 1,500 residences in the area. “First we are going to make the park safe, then we will concentrate on what needs to be done to get the park back open.”
Latest satellite imagery shows that the fire covered slightly less acreage than earlier believed, he said.
“Initially, we though only about 100 acres of the park were left unburned, which would be 99 percent,” McClanahan said. “But the most recent satellite data shows only 95 percent coverage and the severity of that varies.”
He said around-the-clock work by firefighters saved all of the major historic structures on the park. The red sandstone and pine structures on the park, constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression, are a National Historic Landmark district. The park is one of only six state parks in the nation with that designation.
“We did lose the wooden cover of a CCC-built scenic overlook, but a Depression-era rain shelter in the Copperas Creek camp site on the park that we had been worried about did make it,” McClanahan said. “We saved all the cabins, the refectory (large meeting hall), bath house, maintenance building and sign shop.”
Not only did stopping the fire save the park’s infrastructure, it helped keep the fire from reaching the heart of Bastrop.
“The park was a good stronghold to keep the fire from going into town,” McClanahan said. “That was very much in the back of our minds…doing anything we could to stop it in the park and keep it from getting into Bastrop. I couldn’t be more proud of our firefighters and all the others who helped.”
McClanahan said he remains concerned about the fate of the endangered Houston toad.
“Because of the drought, the last two or three years have been horrible for the Houston toad,” he said. “They require water to bred, and this spring they did not have a successful season. The overall impact on them from the fire is unknown at this point, but we are worried about them.”
Federally protected since 1972, the Houston toad once ranged over 14 counties. Loss of habitat had constricted that area to mostly Bastrop State Park.
“We ask that anyone wanting to volunteer to just give us a chance to evaluate the severity of damage and we will be calling on assistance once a plan is in place,” McClanahan said. “Otherwise, we are asking that visitors heed the closed status of the park as it is unsafe at this time.”
What the park needs most is what the rest of the state also needs - rain.
“Our best case scenario is some sustained rain to cool things down,” McClanahan said. “We need steady moisture that will soak in, not a heavy rain that will cause runoff and erosion. Worst case scenario is what’s being forecast, more of the same.”
While Bastrop State Park and nearby Buescher State Park are closed, all other area parks remain open, including nearby Palmetto State Park and Monument Hill State Historic Site.
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August 26, 2011
Big Bend Ranch State Park may add 520-acre tract
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department just sent over a press release:
AUSTIN — Texas’ largest state park, Big Bend Ranch State Park near Presidio, may soon be expanding by 520 acres along the Rio Grande.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission has given the go-ahead for TPWD to take the necessary steps to purchase roughly 520 acres in Presidio County - the last section of privately owned riverfront property on an approximately 10-mile stretch of the Rio Grande.
The Tapado Canyon tract is considered to be the most important privately owned in-holding remaining within the 310,000-acre state park that was acquired by the state in 1988. The river tract, which already has trails providing access to scenic Tapado Canyon, has considerable aesthetic and recreational value, according to TPWD staff.
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August 25, 2011
$1 million grant will spruce up Auditorium Shores
UPDATE 5:26 p.m.:
The city of Austin will match the $1 million grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife with $1 million from a 2006 voter-approved bond.
The renovation will include shifting the hike-and-bike trail away from the shore of Lady Bird Lake to avoid conflicts between dogs in the off-leash area and cyclists and pedestrians. Plans also call for new restrooms, landscaping, expanded and reconfigured parking and an improved stretching area.
Work on the project won’t begin for 12 to 16 months. Public meetings are planned before a final design is adopted and construction permits are issued.
This from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. I’ll round up more details later today:
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission has approved a $1 million grant to renovate and develop 10 acres of the Lady Bird Lake hike and bike trail at Auditorium Shores on Riverside Drive.
Plans include expansion of a parking lot, restroom and utilities, trail realignment, shoreline restoration, exercise stations, restroom, landscaping, a drinking fountain, trash cans and signs.
The grant is part of $5.6 million in competitive grants awarded for city and county parks across the state. Funding comes from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund and the state Texas Recreation and Parks Account.
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August 22, 2011
Festival hosts rain dance competition
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The searing heat, the crispy-fried lawns, the Sahara-like stock ponds…
Hopeful that a little wackiness might make rain finally fall from the sky, the folks organizing Oktoberfest 2011 in Jonestown have added a rain dance competition to their event lineup.
The Sept. 24-25 festival, in its fourth year, already features live music, food, beer, a car show and a 5K run. Now it also includes prizes for folks who come up with the best raindrop-rousing, thunder-chumming, water-luring footwork in the land.
To enter the contest, post a photo or video of yourself doing your best rain dance here.
Fans of the page will vote on favorite dances, and the one with the most ‘likes’ at end of each round wins a prize. The rounds will continue until the weekend of the festival, when a grand prize winner will be chosen from among the round winners.
Prizes include gift certificates to shops and restaurants, fitness training sessions and personal watercraft rentals. The grand prize is a two-night stay at a vacation home on Lake Travis, plus massages and musical accompaniment.
The festival will take place at Jones Brothers Park off of FM 1431 in Jonestown, on the north side of Lake Travis. For more information, go here.
Anything to quench this growing thirst.
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July 11, 2011
Erosion threatens hike and bike trail
When it rains hard, rushing water eats away at the manmade peninsula that juts into Lady Bird Lake at Shoal Creek.
City officials, worried that the erosion presents a safety issue, are now plotting ways to stabilize it.
They will present two conceptual solutions at a public meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. July 19 in Room 325 of One Texas Center, 505 Barton Springs Road.
One option calls for excavating through the existing peninsula to allow the creek to flow directly into the lake. That would require building a second pedestrian bridge near the mouth of Shoal Creek. A small pedestrian bridge already connects the tip of the peninsula to the main shoreline of the lake.
A second option would be to stabilize the shoreline using limestone boulders.
Both options include landscaping and improvements to the trail along the peninsula, which is just east of the Seaholm Power Plant on the north side of the lake.
Officials from the city of Austin’s Watershed Protection and Parks and Recreation Departments are working together on the project, which is expected to cost between $500,000 and $1 million, depending on which option is chosen.
Watershed Protection capital improvement money, which comes from drainage utility fees paid through water bills, will be used to pay for most of the project. Trail improvements would be funded by the parks department.
At one spot, the shoreline has eroded to within a few feet of the hike and bike trail.
“If someone veered off trail, they could very quickly end up in the lake,” said Morgan Byars, a civil engineer for Watershed Protection and lead engineer on the project. “It’s been a persistent problem over time. Erosion progresses with each rain event.”
Someone apparently tried to curb the problem years ago by dumping concrete along the shoreline, Byars said.
“It’s pretty unsightly and hasn’t actually held up,” Byars said. “We would break that up and replace it with a more green infrastructure approach that includes limestone boulders and native vegetation at the top of the slope.”
Crews will work to preserve view corridors across the lake, Byars said. They’ll also use native vegetation that allows a more natural shoreline and facilitates recreational uses, he said.
Construction is expected to take about six months and would begin in 2012. Construction will be phased, but will require some detouring of pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
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June 23, 2011
Matt and Riley explore protected Texas lands
First they surfaced at Southmost Preserve near Brownsville, gawking at the native sabal palms, draping themselves in pond weeds and contemplating the border fence that slices through a chunk of property protected by The Nature Conservancy.
Next Matt Vale (left in photo above) and Riley Engemoen (right) headed to Rio Grande City, where they checked out the endangered star cactus at Las Estrellas Preserve.
It’s all part of the Austin pair’s summer gig, wandering around the state, exploring Nature Conservancy preserves, writing stories and filming short documentaries for their multi-media project, “Everybody in the Wild with Matt and Riley.”
The purpose? To get younger audiences excited about nature and environmental conservation.
“A lot of these are really wild beautiful places in Texas that people just don’t know about,” Vale says. “Part of the purpose is to show people what’s out there in this diverse and wacky state. Living comfortably like we do indoors, there’s an artificial distinction between our lives and nature.”
The two 19-year-olds piled into Vale’s slightly dented Honda Pilot in May with $500 in their pockets. They plan to keep traveling through July, posting their work every two weeks or so here and on Facebook.
Already, they’ve watched an archeological dig at Independence Creek Preserve, jumped into the clear water of the Devil’s River at Dolan Falls and watched swarms of lady bugs at Davis Mountains Preserve in West Texas.
Next, the duo is headed to Love Creek Preserve near San Antonio, a bustling hot spot for endangered song birds like the golden-cheeked warbler and black-capped vireo. They’ll also visit the cypress swamps of Caddo Lake, the only natural lake in Texas.
The job’s a natural for Vale, who grew up camping, backpacking and exploring with his father. “I’ve been outside catching snakes and jumping in creeks since I could stand up. It’s the one true love of my life,” he says.
The pieces are quirky and fun, but backed with an important message: Nature is beautiful, and it’s essential to our future that we save places like these.
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March 29, 2011
Trail safety, Part II: Dogs
I got lots of response to Monday’s column about keeping Austin’s hike and bike trails safe.
Several readers told me that they’d been hit on the trail by bikes or runners, or that people they know had been hit.
Some called for banning bikes on the trails — not a good idea, in my mind. The trail isn’t just for recreation, it’s how some of us get to work.
One reader told me a Great Dane ran over her friend on the trail recently. He fell and broke his collar bone.
I’ve had a near-miss with a speeding dog while pedaling past Auditorium Shores myself.
Leashes aren’t necessarily the answer, either. Ever been “clothes lined”?
City officials have discussed moving the trail at Auditorium Shores back, separating it from the off-leash area and the water, where dogs play.
What do you think? Would that help?
Have you had a collision on the trail? What do you think about bikes on the trail? What about off-leash dogs?
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February 23, 2011
Volunteers needed for It's My Park Day on March 5
Love your parks? Spend a day helping them out.
Volunteers are still needed to plant trees, mulch, weed and build trails during It’s My Park Day on March 5.
Participants can choose from 72 projects across the city. They get a T-shirt and a shovel full of gratitude from organizers.
More than 1,180 volunteers have registered so far, but another 2,000 are needed, according to Austin Parks Foundation executive director Charlie McCabe.
Sign up here.
That landscaping around the outside of the Deep Eddy Bathhouse? I helped plant it during It’s My Park Day a few years ago.
What projects have you worked on?
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February 17, 2011
Bull Creek Park to remain on-leash only
The days of dogs romping off-leash at Bull Creek District Park are over.
Austin Parks and Recreation Department officials have designated Bull Creek as an on-leash only park.
Parks Director Sara Hensley made the decision after the Watershed Protection and Health and Human Services Departments monitored fecal contamination at the park in northwest Austin.
That study concluded that off-leash use by dogs was the most likely source of elevated fecal bacteria at the park.
Bacteria levels fell below the contact recreation standard during a test period in which dogs were only allowed on leash. Parks Department officials decided to make the designation permanent in order to protect human health and preserve the water quality, they said.
Parks and Recreation staff said they will search for another nearby site where dogs will be allowed to run off-leash.
Where do you take your dog for off-leash fun?
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December 20, 2010
Bighorn sheep headed to Big Bend Ranch State Park
I’ll be incommunicado for a few days. I’m heading west again, this time to watch the roundup of about 40 bighorn sheep that will be set loose in Big Bend Ranch State Park.
The bighorn will be herded by helicopter, captured and loaded into trailers at Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area. Then they’ll be transported to the park, where they’ll be sprung free.
It’s the latest phase of a multi-partner restoration project begun in 1954, and the first bighorn reintroduction at a Texas state park.
Look for a story later this week…
(Photo from Nevada Department of Wildlife)
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November 12, 2010
Inks Lake golf course to close
The golf course at Inks Lake State Park will close at the end of November.
The nine-hole Highland Lakes Golf Club opened in 1958 under a 50-year contract. When the lease expired in 2008, it was extended two more years.
New resort courses have opened in the area in the last 20 years and visitation at the Inks Lake course now averages 16 players a day, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife officials. The 60 acres of lakeside property it occupies could be put to better use, they say.
“Visitation to the state park continues to grow,” park superintendent Terry Rodgers said in a press release. “We are looking for better ways to use that land, perhaps for additional hiking trails, interpretive programs and additional camping. In recent years, play at the golf course has been declining, but overall park attendance has been growing.”
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department decided not to renew the contract with Michael Ocel, who has operated the course since 2008. The contract expires Nov. 30.
About 170,000 people visited Inks Lake State Park in fiscal year 2010.
The course is located on park property two miles north of the park headquarters.
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July 27, 2010
Goose (and more) on the trail
UPDATE 3:25 p.m.
I just got back from an interview at Lou Neff Point on the trail. On the way there, I spotted this nutria in Barton Creek; on the way back I spotted thong guy showering off at Auditorium Shores. (I opted not to photograph him.)
Banner day!
Anybody know this goose?
It’s been standing in the middle of the trail down below the Hyatt Regency, staring me down and making scary squawky noises.
I had to wait 3 long minutes the other day for it to stroll off the trail as I commuted to work. It looked like it wanted a beak full of calf muscle, and I didn’t feel like explaining the attack to an EMS crew.
Anyone ever have a bad goose encounter on the trail?
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July 19, 2010
Renovations at Bastrop State Park
One of my favorite area parks is getting a tuneup.
Cabins, campsites and other facilities at Bastrop State Park, 35 miles east of Austin in the Lost Pines, will be retrofitted to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to a press release from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Six of the 13 cabins and 10 of the 78 campsites at the park will close Aug. 1 and will remain closed at least until the end of the year.
The rest of the 5,926-acre park will stay open for day use and camping during construction.
The park’s swimming pool also will be renovated. It will close after Labor Day for leak repairs and resurfacing. The project should be finished by March 31, 2011, according to the release.
The electrical system in the park’s dining hall will be modernized, too, and the golf pro shop will be repaired. A temporary building will handle golf operations from Nov. 1 until the project is complete early next year.
The work is part of more than more than $2.6 million in repairs at Bastrop State Park, built in the late 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
For more information on the park, call 512-321-2101 or go here.
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June 11, 2010
State Parks Director to retire
Last November, I pedaled a mountain bike on a new trail at Big Bend Ranch State Park with Walt Dabney, state parks director for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
He left me in the dust as we wove our way up a ridge and through some sandy culverts near the park’s headquarters. Later that day, we set up camp at one of the park’s most gorgeous campsites, on a remote mesa overlooking a tumbling, cactus-studded vista. He was in his element, soaking up the outdoors, talking with friends, cooking over a campfire and scheming about the potential of that great West Texas park.
Dabney announced this week he is retiring after 11 years with the department. His last day will be Aug. 31.
Dabney, a 1969 Texas A&M graduate, came to Texas Parks and Wildlife after 30 years with the National Park Service. I’ve had the fun of hearing him and Dan Sholly, deputy director of state parks, talk about their days at Yosemite National Park.
During his tenure in Texas, Dabney, 64, worked to increase funding to a park system suffering from neglect, sagging morale and worn out facilities. In 2007 and 2009, the Texas Legislature approved new staff positions and increased park funding.
“Thanks to the Legislature, we’ve been able to build a programmatic infrastructure that supports a modern-day park system, providing natural and cultural resource management, comprehensive law enforcement and all those components that lead to a successful park system,” Dabney said in a press release from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Dabney also noted the recent implementation of a new centralized, electronic park reservation system and the revamping of interpretation, prescribed fire, natural and cultural resource management, and law enforcement programs during his tenure, according to the press release.
A nationwide search is planned to find a replacement.
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April 14, 2010
I'm heading to Caddo Lake
I’m heading to Caddo Lake today to do some canoeing and exploring.
Look out Big Foot! Look out Creature of the Black Lagoon!
I’ve never been to the park, which was the only natural lake in Texas until it was dammed in the early 1900s.
It looks sort of spooky from the photos I’ve seen — swampy and thick with bald cypress trees. I’m hoping for mist and fog, to really set the scene. (The photos here were taken by Eileen McClelland of the Houston Chronicle.)
I’m staying in one of the cabins built at the park by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. I love rustic CCC structures; I’ll take one of them over a four-star hotel any day.
I’ve got plans to canoe the sloughs, bayous and ponds at Caddo with a park ranger. I’ll hit some hiking trails, too. Maybe I’ll do some fishing.
I’ll be back Saturday night. Look for a full report in the paper in a few weeks.
For now, read more about the park here.
Have you been to Caddo Lake? What shouldn’t I miss?
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October 6, 2009
50 Years of Birding
I’m a sucker for the sound of an owl hooting, so this sounds incredible to me. Check out all the activities marking 50 years of birding at Hornsby Bend, 2210 South FM 973, this week:
The Austin Water Utility Center for Environmental Research and the Travis Audubon Society are celebrating 50 years of their birding partnership at the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Facility with four days of birding, workshops, presentations and art, October 8-11.
It’s sounds odd: A biosolids treatment plant that doubles as a prime birding location. But the environmentally-sound way that wastewater is treated there has created a popular resting spot for migrating birds and a home for many native species.
Water from the treatment process is stored in several large ponds that draw birds and other wildlife to the area, according to a press release from Austin Water Utility Center for Environmental Research.
Hornsby Bend is nationally known as one of the best birding sites in Texas — harboring over 370 species of birds and an abundance of other wildlife. It is listed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as an ecotourism destination on its Heart of Texas Wildlife Trail.
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September 17, 2009
Who the heck is Mother Neff?
Every time I drive up Interstate 35 toward Waco, I see a sign for Mother Neff State Park. This week I tossed the hiking boots in my car and headed there to see it for myself.
It turns out that Mother Neff was the mother of Texas Governor Pat Neff, who served from 1921 to 1925 and pushed for the creation of the Texas state parks system. She donated 6 acres, which became the seed of the state’s first state park.
The park is in Moody, about a 20-minute drive west of the I-35.
I stopped by park headquarters, where Park Ranger Don Ickles met me. We tramped all over the grounds - walking beneath huge pecans in the campground, exploring a rock shelter once used by native Americans, and taking in the view from a grass-covered prairie.
This park was the site of a Civilian Conservation Corps encampment in the 1930s, and the legacy of those men’s work lives on today. A stone pavilion, a recreation hall and a water tower all carry that wonderful old CCC flavor.
The park now covers 259 acres and has 3 miles of improved hiking trails. A major flood in 2007 damaged the park’s bathhouse, so for the time being camping is primitive. But crews hope to have showers, bathrooms and electricity up and running later this fall.
It’s a popular place with locals, and I immediately saw why. We met a water snake in a shady grove near the rock shelter, watched a tiny leopard frog leap alongside a pond and stopped more than once just to listen to the breeze ruffle the leaves of the old growth forest.
I’m working on a camping story for the paper. Look for it next month in the travel section.
Anyone know of other hidden gems - places you love to camp that are close to home?
And anyone know what kind of snake that is? Water snake or moccasin?
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August 21, 2009
Zilker's Great Lawn is open!
Too bad I had to put my shoes back on. It felt awfully good to patter around barefoot on the Great Lawn, which re-opened today at Zilker Park.
The place looks like a golf course! I plopped down on the ground to fully enjoy it. Moments after the ribbon cutting at 11 a.m., a bunch of dogs showed up, including one that chased around a radio-controlled plane.
The 46-acre swath of parkland has been closed for nearly a year as it underwent $2.5-million in improvements compliments of C3 Presents, which puts on the Austin City Limits music festival each year. Representatives of C3 thanked Austin’s music lovers for coming to the festival and ultimately making the park improvements possible through a public-private partnership.
A new irrigation system draws raw water from Lady Bird Lake, which city parks officials say will save the city $300,000 versus sprinkling the lawn with treated water.
The turf is resilient, and will hold up to heavy traffic, they said. It’s first test will come soon, at this year’s ACL fest Oct. 2-4.
In the meantime, get out there and enjoy!
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August 19, 2009
Austin's new front lawn!
Oh boy! Friday we’ll get our first chance to run our bare feet through that cushy soft expanse of grass at Zilker Park.
What’s being called The Great Lawn has been closed for nearly a year as crews regraded, sodded and installed an irrigation system at the park. The improvements are being funded by donations from C3 Presents, producers of the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
The new 46-acre lawn is extra heavy duty turf that should hold up better to the intense traffic it gets during the annual music festival. The irrigation system draws water from Lady Bird Lake.
An opening ceremony is planned for 11 a.m. Friday.
I’m planning to enjoy a few somersaults and cartwheels over there. Maybe I’ll flop on the ground and make snow angels, without the snow. Perhaps I’ll nibble a blade or two of grass. Imagine — no stickers, no dust!
I’ve attached a few Statesman staff photos here — one from the ACL dust bowl a few years ago, another from when they put down the sod, and one from just this week.
How will you celebrate the city’s new front lawn?
BEFORE:
A YEAR AGO:
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March 10, 2009
Are disc golfers ruining Pease Park?
I wrote about the dismal condition of Pease Park in Monday’s Fit City column.
Some park activists are calling for the closure of the disc golf course at the park along Lamar Boulevard to give the pounded-out, barren ground a chance to recover.
The story inspired a flurry of irate callers, including one from disc golfer Kurt Standiford, who told me that even if the disc golf course closes, he and others will continue to play there.
“If we are forced to stay off the course, people will go down there and play what is called object golf. Instead of throwing discs into the basket, you just hit the object. We can bring in our own baskets or we can use a tree or pole,” Standiford says.
He says trees won’t be harmed if they are hit by discs.
Standiford, who used to run a mobile pro shop at the park, also says the disc golfers drove away the criminal element that frequented the area before the disc course opened in 1989.
“We don’t want that criminal element coming back,” he says.
What will you do if the disc golf course closes? Do you think it should close?
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March 5, 2009
Mystery poles on Shoal Creek
We’ve got a mystery to solve.
Does anyone know who placed some red poles in the greenbelt near the intersection of RM 2222 and Shoal Creek Boulevard?
The head of the beautification committee in the Allandale neighborhood is trying to find out.
The poles will be removed by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department if there’s not a good reason to keep them there.
There may be a reason … we just don’t know what it is. If it’s a good one, the poles might stay.
Maybe a fitness group put them in? If you know why they’re up, post a note here and we’ll get the message out.
Thanks,
Pam
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October 29, 2008
Austin parks need your help
The great thing about volunteering for the Austin Parks Foundation is you get in a workout while you’re doing something good for your community.
The non-profit agency, which works with volunteers to maintain parkland around Austin, has two big projects coming up, and they hope you’ll pitch in to help.
If you’d like to be a leader for either of the projects, email Charlie McCabe, executive director of the Austin Parks Foundation, at cmccabe@austinparks.org. For more information about the Austin Parks Foundation, go to www.austinparks.org/member.html.
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September 25, 2008
Best place to camp
The first time I camped at Inks Lake State Park, my dad helped me bait a hook with a bit of sliced American cheese. And you know what? I caught something. A little bitty fish, smaller than the palm of my 7-year-old hand.
I’ve got fond memories of the place, which topped the A-List’s poll of favorite places to camp.
When I was a kid, we’d haul our gigantic two-wing tent out there, set up the bunk bed cots, and lounge around reading Nancy Drew books by flashlight. Heaven! During the day, we’d swim in the lake or drive to nearby Longhorn Caverns to explore the world beneath the earth’s crust. And those hotdogs over the charcoal fire? Nothing better, except maybe the s’mores we’d whip up with toasted marshmallows, graham crackers and melty chocolate.
Since then I’ve been back for many visits. I’ve participated in a triathlon there, canoed across the lake in a rental canoe from the park store, and just last fall, swum a stage of the Highland Lakes Challenge swim race there. Now some of my friends even have a piece of property on the lake, and we’ve gone out to water ski and fish off their dock.
If you’re not yet a rugged outdoorsman, it’s the perfect place to ease into the camping lifestyle (like an old man into a warm bath, as George Costanza would say). Sure, you can sleep in a tent, but if that’s going too far, you can rent a screened-in shelter. Showers and flush toilets are just a short walk away. And so is the town of Burnet, with shops and restaurants for those who just can’t manage Jiffy pop over a campfire.
And talk about a nice lake — it’s small, just the right size to paddle around in a canoe. Motor boats are allowed, but the place isn’t overrun with them. Parts of the camping area are along the water, with sites nestled in groves of trees. (The older part is more open, with campsites stacked next to one another.)
Civilized. Comfortable. Just over an hour’s drive from Austin. What more could the rookie camper need?
The competition was close, with Krause Springs, home to one of Central Texas’ lushest and most scenic spring-fed swimming holes, coming in second. Third went to Enchanted Rock State Park, a prime spot for rock climbing and exploring of a massive granite dome that Native Americans considered sacred.
Others receiving votes
Write-ins: Lost Maples
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September 24, 2008
Best place to chill with your dog
The A-List’s poll of favorite dog parks wasn’t nearly as close. Norwood Estate dog park, Riverside Drive at Interstate 35, blew the competition away.
I was going to interview a dog to get its opinion on the place, but none would go on the record.
Funny. I’ve never been inside the gates at Norwood; I’ve only peered in while jogging along the hike-and-bike trail, which runs alongside the dog park. It’s always packed, with wiener dogs and chihuahuas, labradors and terriers tearing around, tongues lolling. Even my dog, Lucy, who died two years ago, once visited the park. (I was out of town, and my friends who were babysitting her took her to the park for a visit. “She liked it a lot,” they said.)
Norwood is one of only two completely fenced-in off-leash dog parks in the city. It’s centrally located and has a wonderful sense of community.
The park, recipient of two grants from the Austin Parks Foundation, has an active volunteer group. They’ve resodded the 5-acre pocket park, built tree boxes to protect the pecan trees, and spread tons of mulch to keep down dust at the once barren property. The park is double gated, to protect dogs from escaping onto busy Riverside Drive. There’s even a small, separate area for puppies, and a human-doggie water fountain.
Others receiving votes
Write-ins: Georgetown’s Bark Park, Bull Creek Park, St. Edward’s Park
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September 10, 2008
Closing parts of Zilker Park for six months
The Zilker Dust Bowl.
That’s how I describe the scene at the Austin City Limits Music Festival three years ago, when fans clamped bandanas over their noses to keep from inhaling the reddish-brown cloud that hovered over Zilker Park. Below their feet, 42 acres of worn-out, pulverized grass.
So thank you, C3 Presents, the company that produces the annual fall music festival. Thanks for working with the city of Austin’s Parks Department and the Austin Parks Foundation to level the field, install an irrigation system and plant sod and trees. (Read the story on our front page today here: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/09/10/0910zilker.html)
Sure, it’s going to be a hassle to shut down one of our favorite places to fly a kite and romp with our dog, but if it benefits the park, I’m all for it. The timing is right, too. The park will close right after the Trail of Lights and reopen by the end of June, if all goes well. The hike-and-bike trail will remain open; so will the pool and all of the park south of Barton Springs Road.
The park has been seeing more and more use in recent years, especially for events. Between the music festival, the Trail of Lights and the annual Zilker Park Kite Festival, it’s been hard for the grass to recover. And even with pipes and an improved pumphouse to pull water out of Lady Bird Lake to water the lawn, it’s been tough to keep up. This is Texas, after all, and rain is in short supply. Because of watering restrictions, crews had to set up water cannons and move them around in the middle of the night to get full coverage.
“It’s a pain, quite honestly,” says Charlie McCabe, executive director of the Austin Parks Foundation. “It’s hard for them to get good even distribution.”
The city of Austin is fronting the $2.5 million needed for the project. C3 Presents will repay the city through donations to the foundation, a non-profit organization that works to maintain the city’s greenspace.
With the new irrigation system, the watering will be done automatically. No more late-night watering duty for city staff. And because the city is funding the project all at once, we’ll get the work out of the way instead of dragging it out over a period of years. The city has already contracted with a grass supplier; it’s buying up their entire season of grass. When it’s done, we’ll have a flatter, nicer park that won’t transform into a dust bowl as easily.
“To most people it’s going to appear to be the same, just a lot lusher and a lot greener,” McCabe says. “It will get rid of all the little riffles, cracks and crevices and areas where there’s been some erosion or not good water coverage. It will look a lot more like a park.”
The project is more than just improving our city’s most iconic park. Hopefully, it marks the start of more private and corporate involvement in maintaining our city’s greenspace. The city’s park’s budget is stretched too thin now. By teaming up, we can work together to improve our parks.
Zilker isn’t the only park that’s looking beaten down these days. Have you seen Pease Park? Seen the trash along parts of the greenbelt? Erosion and over-use are serious problems. We’ve got to get as many people involved as we can to keep our parks the refuges they should be.
“The parks department can’t do this stuff alone, and they really need the concept of public-private investment,” McCabe says.
That said, we’ll miss our park for six months. How will the closure affect you?
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