XL Cover Story: Off the beaten trail

Forget Zilker. The Austin area boasts many tucked-away parks and nature preserves. Don't restrict yourself to the popular few; take a hike

By Pamela LeBlanc | Photos by Sung Park
May 26, 2005

The stars get all the attention: Zilker Park, Barton Creek Greenbelt and Emma Long Metropolitan Park. But who says they're the best places to get out of the fray and kick back?

We're lucky in Austin. Within an hour or so of downtown, we can hike through the swampy palm-studded wonderland of Palmetto State Park, camp beneath the piney canopies of Buescher State Park or point our mountain bikes down the rocky trails around Lake Georgetown. And if we don't have that much time, we can disappear into the wilds of any of dozens of parks tucked in all corners of our city.

When it comes to parks, sometimes all it takes is a patch of green and an eagerness to explore. With this in mind, we forged into the great outdoors, looking for places you might not know. Of the hundreds of parks and nature preserves in and around Austin, we've scouted a few you should get acquainted with.

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Blunn Creek Nature Preserve	Bright Leaf State Natural Area
Buescher State Park	Goodwater Trail
Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Park	Palmetto State Park
St. Edward's Park	Stillhouse Hollow Nature Preserve
Walnut Creek Nature Preserve	Williamson County Regional Park
MAPS: Off the beaten trail

Blunn Creek Nature Preserve

Size: 40 acres
Address: 1200 St. Edwards Drive
Cost: Free
Phone: None
Activities/amenities: Hiking trails, interpretive signs

If it wasn't for the soft whir of traffic in the background, you'd never realize this urban escape lay just a block from one of the busiest interstates in the state.

The Lost Pines, thought to be a remnant of a pine-oak forest that used to cover most of Central Texas, also wind through Buescher State Park.

It does, and it's also within steps of an ancient volcano, which left its fingerprints behind in the form of red-hued dirt. (There are plaques that explain that geologic history.)

I parked at the trail head on St. Edward's Drive and blazed into the thickly wooded patch. I noticed: the flash of a cardinal ducking into the underbrush, the heavy scent of honeysuckle, a few lingering bluebonnets and a wicked-looking mess of prickly pear cactus. I crossed the creek, where moss had formed a layer of green velvet on the rocks, and paused to admire a giant old oak. Then I followed the trail as it wrapped around and up a hill.

From here, the view sweeps across a shallow valley. To the left, the red-roofed buildings of St. Edward's University looked almost European. To the right, the Golden Arches and a billboard ("Earn your high school diploma!") decidedly did not.

Most of the preserve is clean and green, but the northeast corner (closest to Travis High School) holds the detritus of teenybopper freedom: crumpled homework papers (biology), empty cigarette packs, a single serving milk carton.

A turtle peered at me from a rock in the creek as I made my way back to my car.

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Bright Leaf State Natural Area

Size: 216 acres
Address: Creek Mountain Road off RM 2222
Cost: Free
Phone: 459-7269
Activities/amenities: Hiking trails

Georgia Lucas turned away eager developers for years, hanging onto this hilly, 216-acre chunk of land south of RM 2222 and west of MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) for years before giving it to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department when she died in 1994.

Lucky for us, the eccentric cat-lover also stipulated that the land remain in its natural state. Now, there's not much more than a paved parking lot, a trail head and a Porta Potti to greet visitors.

We met Nancy Woolley, a member of Friends of Bright Leaf State Natural Area, for a quick tour. A squadron of bright blue dragonflies was poised for takeoff as we trotted past Dry Creek. We climbed a few minutes, until we reached the top of a 30-foot bluff, and paused to soak in the scenery.

"It's in the middle of the city and you come out and think this could be miles and miles away," Woolley said as she led us farther up a rock-strewn path.

There's 200 feet in elevation gain from the creek up to the highest point on Mount Lucas, which is taller than nearby Mount Bonnell. In between are a canyon, an old rock quarry and evidence that American Indians once lived here.

We watched turkey buzzards ride the thermals. The juniper-studded landscape is also home to golden-cheeked warblers, owls, hawks and woodpeckers. As we crossed the creek again, Woolley pointed out the mossy, cup-shaped nest of a white-eyed vireo.

Long-term plans call for a visitors center, rest rooms and a few rustic bridges, but nothing more. "She (Lucas) specifically wanted it used as a natural area, a place to learn about nature in a meditative state," Woolley said.

The park is open only to guided tours, which start at 8:30 a.m. the second Saturday and Sunday of the month during the summer. Hikes are 4 miles long and last about 2 hours.

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Buescher State Park

   » More photos of Buescher State Park

Size: 1,016.7 acres
Address: 2 miles north of Smithville off Texas 71
Cost: $3 adults, children 12 and under free
Phone: (512) 237-2241
Activities/amenities: Camping, cabins, 7.8-mile hiking trail, playground, picnic tables, fishing

Buescher State Park.

I was 5 when my family moved from Michigan, where trees grow as high as cell phone towers, to Texas, where they're more giraffe-sized. We loved to picnic and camp, and soon discovered the Lost Pines area around Bastrop and Smithville. I guess it felt a little like home. (This was also where my dad tried to cook his first brisket, tossing it on a hibachi for 45 minutes and calling it done. It was not.)

I hadn't been to Bastrop or Buescher State parks for years until I pedaled through on my bike during the MS 150 from Houston to Austin last month. Breathing in that spicy pine scent sent me back to those days of sliding down pine-needle-covered hillocks. I needed another fix.

And so I did, packing a picnic lunch and my dog. Buescher isn't quite as piney as Bastrop State Park, but it's got its own fishing lake, cabins and trails to explore. There's also that fabulous 12-mile winding scenic drive that links the two parks. It's even better by bike. Another highlight? The group shelter at Buescher, built of native stone by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

To reach the park, take Texas 71 east past Smithville. Turn left on FM 153, and right onto Park Road 1.

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Goodwater Trail between Jim Hogg and Russell parks

   » Photos of Goodwater Trail

Size: 4.25 miles each way
Address: Trailhead at Russell Park, off Williams Drive on County Road 262 in Williamson County
Cost: Free
Phone: (512) 930-5253
Activities/amenities: Hiking, biking

The bruises have finally faded from my derriere. I earned them on the newest section of rocky singletrack that connects Russell and Jim Hogg parks on the north side of Lake Georgetown.

The woman working the gate at Jim Hogg Park was skeptical when I told her where I wanted to ride my mountain bike. "My husband and I walked part way down that trail," she said. "We couldn't figure out how a bike could get through there."

Trust me when I tell you, it can. And it's great fun, too. Expect winding terrain, a creek crossing, some switchbacks, lots of cactus, lots of rocks and a few ledges.

It's a bit tricky finding the trailhead. Drive as if you were going to Russell Park. Stop before you get to the gate attendant. You can park in the paved cove to the right. The trail is located on the left side of the first paved road on your left as you head toward the park entrance.

I'm not an aggressive mountain biker, and it took me more than an hour to make the one-way trip. I had to keep stopping to get off my bike and pick my way over the rocky path. The return trip was faster; I decided it took too long to keep stopping, so I just pushed myself through the rough stuff. I still can't believe I didn't get a flat tire.

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Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Park

Size: 363 acres
Address: 8200 Grove Drive
Cost: Free
Phone: None
Activities/amenities: Baseball and softball diamonds, volleyball court, 2.4-mile out-and-back hiking path, picnic tables, restrooms

Right now the paths are clear at St. Edward's Park, and the flowers, such as Indian blankets, are abloom waiting for visitors.

Get past the softball diamonds and you can walk for 20 minutes along a path through overgrown farmland at Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Park. Chances are, all you'll hear is the scrunching of gravel underfoot and the chirp of birds.

It's easy to imagine old tractors growling through this acreage, tilling the soil. Now it's thick with vegetation -- hackberries and American elms, lantana and evening primrose. Hike all the way to the park's northern fringes and you can stand on the high, cement-covered bank and peer down into the Colorado River, just east of Longhorn Dam. I did, and I wondered about the water -- how far it had traveled, where it was headed.

The park is named for Roy G. Guerrero, known as "Mr. Recreation," who worked for Austin's Parks and Recreation Department. So far, it's only 25 percent developed. The good news? The area between the gravel road and the river is a designated nature area that will never be developed. Plans call for a children's area and amphitheater on remaining lands.

Today, the Keepers of Roy Guerrero Colorado River Park offer free guided tours for community groups. To arrange one, e-mail Daniel Llanes at dllanesrb@earthlink.net or call 389-1512.

"It's unique because it's on the Colorado River and it's mostly undeveloped," Llanes says. "And we in the neighborhoods want to keep it that way. It's the perfect platform for educating people about urban pollution."

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Palmetto State Park

   » More photos of Palmetto State Park

Size: 270.3 acres
Address: 78 S. Park Road 11, Gonzales
Cost: $2 adults, $1 seniors , children under 12 free
Phone: (830) 672-3266
Activities/amenities: Camping, hiking, swimming, fishing, pedal-boat rentals, playgrounds, picnicking

Named for the dwarf palmettos which line its trails and swamp, Palmetto State Park has an exotic feel.

This park is a jewel, dropped like some kind of tropical nature bomb into the rolling hills southeast of Luling. You know you've stumbled onto something special as soon as you turn off the highway. Driving the 2 miles down Park Road 11, you feel like you're traveling through a leafy tunnel. To the right looms a spooky-looking swamp.

It takes a little more than an hour to get to Palmetto from Austin via U.S. 183. After stopping at park headquarters, I parked near the 4-acre oxbow lake. Lucy (my beagle) and I hiked the perimeter. Moments after noticing a sign that read "Watch for Snakes," I saw a slithering black-and-orange serpent near the dock.

The San Marcos River slices through the park farther south. There, I was quickly enveloped in the exotic feel of the place. (Or was that the spider webs I kept walking through?)

Be sure to hike the short Palmetto Trail, which will leave you feeling as if you've been magically transported to Louisiana. It's crowded with the namesake dwarf palmetto and lots of trees dripping in Spanish moss. The water in some of the ponds along the trail looks like steeped tea. Other ponds look like puddles of guacamole until you get close and discover it's more like a layer of green sesame seeds is floating on top. You'll wonder if an alligator is lurking nearby. Look for the old metal wheel that's been there so long it's imbedded in a tree. And the site of the old "mud boil," which signs say quit percolating in the 1970s.

The park opened in 1936, and features stone buildings constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. (The dining hall once was thatched in palmetto fronds!)

The river is cool and swimmable -- I waded across the low-water crossing, perching on the edge and dangling my legs into the swiftly passing river. There's a shady campground, pedal-boat and canoe rentals, places to fish and miles of trails to explore.

Lucy appreciated Palmetto, too. This swampy wonderland is a beagle smell-fest.

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St. Edward's Park

   » More photos of St Edward's Park

Size: 80 acres
Address: 7301 Spicewood Springs Road
Cost: Free
Phone: None
Activities/amenities: Hiking, biking

Part park, part nature preserve, the 80-acre St. Edward's Park sits two miles west of Capital of Texas Highway (Loop 360). Hikers can enjoy two trails: one snakes along Bull Creek, and the other winds up to the highest point in the park.

What sets St. Edward's Park apart is its diversity. You can hike along Bull Creek, where water seeps from moss-carpeted limestone bluffs to form emerald green wading pools, or climb onto the rocky terrain beyond, where a myriad of ravines and gullies is just waiting to be explored. All this, just 2 miles west of Capital of Texas Highway (Loop 360).

I started my tour by walking from the parking area toward Bull Creek, where I forged an old cement spillway. (Wear shoes you don't mind getting wet.) I dodged butterscotch-colored butterflies as I scampered up the opposite bank and kept climbing the hillside. Eventually, the park abuts the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. (No dogs past this point.)

On the way down, I encountered a sweat-covered guy trudging the other way. "I still haven't made it all the way to the top," he called as he passed, as if apologizing for the fact that he's walking and not running.

At the bottom of the hill, I came to a different -- apparently impassable -- stretch of the creek. I tried balancing on rocks and logs to get back across, but finally gave up, slipping off my shoes and wading into the knee-deep water. I was glad I did.

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Stillhouse Hollow Nature Preserve

Size: 20 acres
Address: 7810 Sterling Drive
Cost: Free
Phone: None
Activities: Hiking

Two white-tailed deer bolted as I started down the paved pathway that leads into this tiny pocket of greenery just a few blocks from the house where my dad and his wife live in Northwest Hills.

First thing you notice is the cedar (beware, cedar fever sufferers). Then the back porches of the apartment complex on the other side. But stay the course down the 0.31 mile path and you'll be rewarded as you twist away from civilization and find yourself on a wooden deck perched on a hillside. Here, at treetop level, you can inspect a huge, decaying old oak tree, listen to the water trickle from a spring far below or spy on deer (which no doubt have gotten fat nibbling on neighborhood gardens.)

With the buzz of lawn mowers creating a droning backdrop, I passed a couple of women out for a stroll, and a guy who brought his dog (against nature preserve rules).

The trail, which is mostly flat, curves along the top of a ravine. Down below are karst sink holes and hidden springs.

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Walnut Creek Nature Preserve

Size: 46 acres
Address: South of Old Manor Road and north of Loyola Lane, along Walnut Creek
Cost: Free
Phone: None
Activities/amenities: Hiking

Don't expect fancy amenities. Actually, don't expect any amenities. Do expect thickets of woods and a creek that's great for exploring -- if you don't mind getting a little wet and dirty.

I've lived in Austin on and off since 1969 and never knew such a big chunk of leafy, undeveloped, creek-crossed land existed so close to the heart of our city. (Other than Zilker and the Barton Creek watershed, anyway.)

Walnut Creek Nature Preserve is part of the larger Walnut Creek Greenway system, which stretches from Old Manor Road to U.S. 290. City parks officials do not encourage people to visit the area, yet, because there is no parking and no marked trails. "It's pretty much just raw land that has been landbanked," said spokesman Butch Smith.

Encompassing 1016.7 acres, Buescher State Park boasts Park Lake, which is prime for fishing, and several campsites and screened shelters.

But the land is public property, and it's not against regulations to explore the west side of the creek.

In one spot, I barely choked back the urge to twirl and sing, "Sound Of Music"-style. Get down into the creekbed, and you can hunt for turtles, skip stones or count varieties of plants.

There's nothing else to do here but ponder nature, so enjoy. No dogs allowed.

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Williamson County Regional Park

Size: 800 acres total, 100 acres currently developed
Address: 3005 County Road 175
Cost: Free
Phone: None
Activities/amenities: Soccer, softball, football, basketball, hiking, track, picnicking, playground

If you live in Williamson County, you probably know about this park. But if you live in Austin, you might not, since the first phase just opened two years ago. It's big, and it's packed with amenities.

I used it as a staging area for a bike ride along some of the country roads north and west of the park. The park itself is nestled among groves of cedar and oak trees and is situated about midway between Round Rock, Georgetown and Cedar Park, northeast of the intersection of FM 1431 and County Road 175.

There's more to come, too: a veloway, equestrian center, hillside theater, skateboard park, swimming pool and an 18-hole golf course.

Some of it will stay natural -- some 200 acres have been designated as a preserve for endangered cave bugs. (Thank goodness for bugs!)

If you're into running, two trails here offer 3 miles of snaking pathways through fields and into some of that cave-bug habitat.

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Unearth more hidden parks

Need some more help finding parks?

Check out the City of Austin's Parks and Recreation Department map and guide. For more information, call the administration office, 200 S. Lamar Blvd., at 974-6700.

The Active Austin Guide is produced by Walk Texas-Austin Chapter and Austin/Travis County Health & Human Services. For more information, call the Austin in Motion office at 974-2250.

For more park information, go to www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/, www.ci.austin.tx.us/preserves/ or www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/.

For a comprehensive guide of state parks, see "Official Guide to Texas State Parks" by Laurence Parent.

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