After reading in the letters to the editor in your June 2014
edition wherein Carl Andersen writer asked that your magazine “give us all the
parks of Texas”, I decided to tell you of my experiences with Texas Parks on a recent
road trip that I took in mid April, 2014. I experienced one national park, two
city parks, two state parks, a Scenic Natural Area, and one county park.
My first Texas
overnight was in Lubbock, located
on the Llano Estacado, the largest mesa in the USA.
Only recently learning of this geographical feature, I wanted to explore the Llano
Estacado from as many aspects as possible. I drove into Lubbock
from the North-West on US 84 wearing my Billy the Kid t-shirt for a three night
stay. I stopped at the Billy the Kid gravesite and Museum near Fort
Sumner, New Mexico on my drive
from Colorado Springs.
While in Lubbock
I happened upon the Lubbock Memorial Arboretum, a city park botanic garden. As
described on its website, the “The Lubbock Memorial Arboretum is governed through a
private/public collaboration between the Lubbock Memorial Arboretum Foundation
and the City of Lubbock through its Parks and
Recreation Department.” Furthermore, “The Lubbock Memorial Arboretum is located in Clapp
Park and is an exhibit of the best trees, shrubs, vines and
other ornamental plants which can be grown in this area. The Arboretum also
offers a laboratory for studying existing plants and testing, evaluation and
experimenting with new plants, and a tranquil area with walkways, paths,
vistas, and rest sites for the pleasure and education of local citizens and
other visitors.”
I went there twice, it is indeed
a pleasant place to wander and relax.
On my second visit, the park was undergoing a thorough spring house
cleaning and the groundskeeper’s machines were quite noisy, a momentary
inconvenience that kept me moving from spot to spot.
While in Lubbock, I went
to the beautiful Texas Tech Museum, the adjacent National Ranching Heritage
Center, Buddy Holly’s Plaza and Museum, City of Lubbock Cemetery (Buddy Holly’s
grave site), and the Llano Estacado Winery. At the winery, I purchased a wine
club bottle of the High Plains Texas Malbec grown by the Newsome Vineyards
located nears Plains. It was delicious.
(I recommend the Ranch
House (breakfast) and Christakis (hamburgers and fast food) for local flavor Lubbock eateries. I used the social media web site Yelp
extensively to research dining options.)
Regarding the Llano
Estacado, the National Ranching Heritage Center featured an exhibit on Karl Friedrich
May (1842 – 1912) , a noted German novelist whose works included adventure
stories situated on the Llano Estacado even though he never visited the
area. The exhibit included several large
posters of his book covers which are as colorful as Karl May apparently was in
real life. This was an unexpected discovery.
From Lubbock, I headed to Big Bend National
Park
driving US Highway 385 along the Llano Estacado. The terrain gradual changed from flat red irrigated fields
of agro-centric industry to rolling hills with intense oil production, I could
smell oil fumes in the air at one point, before finally becoming mostly mesas
and mesquite brush. Along the way, I noticed that Terry county’s sign stating that
it was the #1 producer of cotton, peanuts and oil.
I really like the Rio
Grande Village Campground at Big
Bend. There are many tall cottonwood trees with open
grassy camp sites as well as more secluded coves hacked into the surrounding
brush and cacti. Birdsong serenades
abound. Gorgeous sunset views of the Rio Grande River shining in the foreground as the Sun sinks
behind the Chios Mountains can be seen after a short hike to a nearby view
point. I am fascinated by this desert area, it seems that the drier it is, the
bigger and more abundant the cactus and desert floral are. I also believe I saw some early small Bluebonnets
blooming along the roadside.
From Big Bend, I headed to Seminole Canyon State Park along US 90 on a blustery cold day where I
discovered a small world class museum detailing the life of early man in the
nearby canyons. Hikes along the canyon
rim lead to official TPWD geocaches.
Perhaps your magazine may consider publishing a feature on geocaching
in the Texas State Parks. (Maybe you already have, I have only subscribed for
about a year.) The free Wii-Fii at the Texas State Parks supports this endeavor
very nicely as one is able to easily determine what geocaches are nearby. The
officially sanctioned TPWD geocaches also support for activity as do the official
contests. The individualized path-tags available at the gift shops are also
nice collectibles. Such an article may introduce more people to geocaching and give
them additional reasons to visit Texas State Parks.
(The free Wii-Fii did not support my email. I wondered if this was unique to my iPad and
Samsung Galaxy S III phone or a system limitation?)
On the return from my hike along the canyon rim by way of
the park roads, I noticed a large cluster of blue flowers at an
intersection. Probably not Bluebonnets
though, they looked more like Texas-sized phlox.
With the assistance of the park rangers at the Seminole
Canyon visitor center, I was able
to arrange for a overnight at the Kickapoo
Caverns State Park,
one of the newest and smallest of the Texas State Parks.
Leaving Seminole I continued East on US 90 passing through Del
Rio where I stopped at the Wal-Mart to refresh my
camping supplies. Along the way, I
passed by Amistad National
Park, a huge reservoir that straddles the US
and Mexico
borader. I did not stop, perhaps I’ll adventure there on a future trip.
Approaching Kickapoo Caverns
State Park from the South on Texas
674, the Hill Country flavor of the country side came into view. The night at Kickapoo was peaceful, the night
sky bright with stars, the morning sunny, the camping facilities new. I did not locate the authorized
Geo-cache. I was not up for a mile long
trek up the rocky country road under the bright morning sun.
I pressed onto Garner
State Park via Texas
674, 335, 337 and was awed by the dramatic green rolling hills scenery along
the way. Garner State
Park was quite a contrast to Kickapoo as I went
from one of the smallest, newest, and least visited to the largest, oldest and
most visited. To deal with the crowds,
Garner incorporates a “take a number” system to facilitate registering in air
conditioned comfort. I arrived on a week day before the Easter weekend so the
park was not yet overwhelmed. I camped
with view of the Rio Frio and waded across it searching for a Geo-cach that I
did not find. I found others in the area
though including the largest one I ever encountered – it was a startling piece
of camo’d PVC pipe four inches diameter and two feet long nestled in the crotch
of a cedar tree.
I headed off the next morning on Texas
1050 heading to Lost Maples S.N.A passing through Utopia along the way. I admit to chuckling at the name. The previous evening, I saw a small ad on the
back of the Garner State
Park map for a golf course in Utopia that offered
special rates for seniors. Thinking I
might play a round, I kept my eye out for the place as I passed through Utopia
but saw no signs. I discovered later that the golf course at Utopia is famous
in its own right being the subject of a book and movie. I recall seeing the
Lost Maple Café as I passed through which was prominently featured in the
movie. Perhaps I’ll try harder to find
the place next time.
Lost Maples was a pleasant camping, birding, and Geo-caching
experience. In addition to finding the
authorized Geo-caches, I headed up the long East Trail in search of a Geo-cache
near the top and eventually found it.
This trail is posted as being steep and difficult and indeed lives up to
the billing. The changing countryside
and open views are worth it. I’m not
sure about the distinction between a State Natural Area and a State Park. They
both seem to offer the same facilities.
My next stop was near Fredericksburg
at the Lady Bird
Johnson Municipal
Park. The occasion was the Annual
VW Classic. Coinciding with the Easter
weekend this year, this gathering features all types of Volks Wagon vehicles. I
decided to show up in my ‘95 VW Eurovan Camper; not considered quite as cool as
a VW Westfalia Camper, but highly functional.
There were hot rodded VW Bugs, dune buggies, campers from all eras
including both pristine, restored and rat rod vintages. Lots of VW parts for sale as well. The campground rules appeared to be suspended
for the weekend highlighted by what sounded like a diesel generator that roared
throughout my sleepless night. I also drove and walked the main drag of Fredericksburg
proper and found it overwhelmingly crowded and busy on this Easter Good Friday.
Geez, I would have loved to have seen the place fifty years ago.
My driving motivation often seems to be “Can’t wait to get
there and can’t wait to leave” so I left a day earlier than planned and was
committed to driving on Easter Saturday with the likelihood of finding another
camp site being absolutely nil. I headed
for what seemed like the most remote State Park imaginable, that being
Balmorhea, a mere 310 miles West on I-10 more or less. I spent this Easter
Saturday doing what I like best, road tripping.
Along the way, I stopped to view the statue of Davy Crockett at Ozona.
Exiting the Interstate, I found myself thumping along a well maintained
concrete slab street bordered by Mac Mansions of the day that appeared to be at
least 50 years old, each one unique. The
statue of Davy Crockett was one of the focal points of the grassy tree shaded
town square. Little changed in 50 years or so I surmised.
When I finally arrived at Balmorhea
State Park, I found the campground
full. The ranger mentioned other camping possibilities nearby including nearby Lake
Balmorhea for which I had noticed
signage. I was forewarned that it was
noisy there, no quiet hours. Before
leaving I went for a swim with the fishes in the world’s largest natural spring
fed swimming pool.
I headed to Lake
Balmorhea, a county park according
to my web site searches. There are some
primitive camp sites, in general its $5 to camp and fish wherever you want
along, including the shoreline. A
friendly non uniformed entrance guard took plenty of time to explain all the
possibilities. There were large groups
of RVs and 5th wheels clustered close together. I opted for a spot
below the dam which proved fortunate as it offered some shelter from the wind
when a severe evening squall blew through soon after I parked. It was severe enough to knock down some trees
in the Balmorhea town and send a lot of campers home early Saturday night. A
steady stream of pickup trucks loaded up their grills and exited the park late
into the darkening night. Turns out there was a severe storm advisory for that
night.
Easter Morning at Balmorhea
Lake dawned with low hanging dark
clouds overhead, a band of misty light on the horizon beneath the cloud
bank. I moved to a lakeside spot and
fixed some breakfast. The place suited
me just fine, quietly serene and picturesque with its own trashy style. I’ll definitely keep Lake
Balmorhea in mind as a camping
possibility when I venture through this part of Texas
again.
That’s all the camping in Texas
for this road trip. I passed though Pecos later in the
day and discovered another Judge Roy
Bean Salon and Museum. The fellow had
quite a range.
And, discovered another interesting site in New Mexico;
that being the UFO Museum
in Roswell, New Mexico. Posed for a picture with the Aliens, ha!
.JPG)
