Palmetto SP: Hike Report - Day 1

While at Palmetto State Park, we decided to hike some of the trails. I was nursing some blisters, so I did not want to walk too far, so we kept our hike to under 3 miles.

We began at the Canebreak Spur trail located between sites 9 and 11 in our campground (see map). This one-eighth mile trail soon connected us with the longer San Marcos River Trail; however, we only stayed on this trail for a brief distance before we veered off on the 1 mile Mesquite Flats Trail.

The Canebreak Spur Trail is typical of all trails in the park. All have crushed stone surface.

All trails have good signs at junctions.

This trail varies from woodland/swamp terrain to open prairie with mesquite trees; thus the name, Mesquite Flats. It should have been called Doodle Bug Flats because of the thousands of doodle bugs that were on the trail.

Wildflowers line the trail through the mesquite flats on the Mesquite Flats trail.

The open prairie of the mesquite flats quickly gives way to dense woodland.

After leaving the first stretch of open prairie, or mesquite flats, the trail plunges back into the woodlands to follow a creek, which it finally crosses on a sturdy metal bridge. All bridges we crossed were in good repair and very sound.

Metal bridge over creek that feeds into the San Marcos River. Most foot bridges in the park are wooden.

Rustic bench along the trail.

Nice wooden foot bridge. The interesting thing in this picture as far as I'm concerned is the open pasture on private property in the background. If not for this land being donated to the park service, the palmettos and other elements of this unique environment would have been cleared away.

At the end of one mile, the trail intersected with the Ottine Swamp Trail, another 1 mile long trail. This trail wound through more swampy terrain, although some of the area has dried up, a result of the prolonged drought, I suppose.

Immediately upon entering the Ottine Swamp Trail, we crossed a section of the swamp on this boardwalk.

Good example of the swamp. Notice the wooden fence post and wire near the center of the picture. I would not like to have been the person who put this fence line through here.

Near the end of this trail, it appears to lead onto a park road near a gate. However, veer sharply right and stay on the trail, which parallels the park road. It will eventually cross the road about a fourth mile farther on. When it does cross, you can see the San Marcos River and the low water crossing.

View of the San Marcos River from the place where the Ottine Swamp Trail crosses the paved park road. If you look closely, you may be able to see the low-water crossing near the top part of the river in the picture.

After about one-eighth mile, the trail comes out at the Refectory. A short 100 foot walk down a paved water runoff ramp leads to the low water crossing.

The Refectory

Low-water crossing on the San Marcos River. Only foot traffic may cross here. This crossing connects the two parts of the park.

Looking upstream from the crossing.

Looking downstream from the crossing. In the bare area where the river curves right, you can see buzzards roosting along the bank. There were buzzard roosts throughout the park.

After viewing the low-water crossing, we returned to camp. Our hike today, including walking from and to our campsite, probably totaled little more than 2½ miles. It is a good, easy hike, with no ups and downs. It would be a good trail system to ride a bicycle. We did encounter 2 lone hikers on the trail as well as a couple who were riding their bikes. Otherwise, it was peaceful and quiet.

Palmetto State Park

We arrived at Palmetto State Park on Thursday, March 21, 2012, for a 3 day visit. We had previously made a brief tour of the park about a month earlier; for more info on that visit, please see “A Tale of Two Parks”. This was our first time to actually stay in the park.

The park provides 19 camping spaces in the trailer camping area (see map). Actually, there are only 18, for a park host occupies site # 18, the only site in this area with full hookups. All other sites in this area have only water and electricity, including 50 amp service. We stayed in site #6, which is one of the longer sites. It was long enough to accommodate both our trailer and our truck, though we had to use 2 boards to level our trailer. Some sites were considerably shorter, and some sites are very uneven. And some sites are difficult to back into because of the sharp angle and the trees. The restroom facilities show their age. I would avoid using the shower facilities if possible.

Our site, #6. Very shady campground.

All sites are shaded. Each site has a rather new table on concrete foundation, and all sites have a fire ring and a grill. All sites are paved, as are interior roads. The dump station is located next to the restrooms. You actually stay on the road as you pull up to empty your tanks.

Day use area in the park. Note swings in center and restroom at end of road. Oxbow Lake is to the left. Lots of shade trees for hot, sunny days

Even though we visited in March, some folks were actually playing in the river. Fishing is available in the Oxbow Lake, though you’ll have to contend with a strong sulphur smell from the nearby artesian wells. Warm Springs, a former polio treatment center, is located next to the park, and the wells were part of the patient treatment program.

Donna on the fishing pier at the Oxbow Lake

Boats for rent at Oxbow Lake

Artesian well at former Warm Springs Polio Treatment Center next to park

Various hiking trails wind throughout the park and circle the Oxbow Lake. They are well maintained. All that we hiked were crushed stone. In fact, one morning we met a park ATV with a rake attached that was grading the trails. If you enjoy bike riding but don’t like to work too hard, these trails are mostly level and easy to ride. Please note that signs warning of snakes are prevalent along the trails.

If you like old style Texas BBQ, you can venture up the road to Luling to try the fare at City Market. Don’t ask for forks or BBQ sauce, though; they don’t have any. Gonzales to the south played an important role in the quest for Texas independence; if you like history, you might want to venture there.

Good Eats: Isaack's Restaurant, Junction, Texas

We’ve been visiting Junction for more than 20 years. During that time, we’ve eaten at most of the restaurants located there: Lum’s (BBQ), Milky Way (burgers), La Familia (Mexican), and Cooper’s (Cooper's is a chain with locations around the Hill Country; I recently reviewed the Cooper's in Llano, but I've not reviewed the location in Junction.). Surprisingly, though, we had never eaten at Isaack’s Restaurant until our most recent trip there.

Isaack’s is probably the longest running of all the eateries currently operating in Junction. In December 2008, Texas Monthly listed it as one of the top 40 small town cafes in Texas. It is located on the main highway through town. It is an old-style restaurant, offering daily specials. I enjoyed the small-town service and friendliness of the wait staff.

The menu offers most of the standard items you would expect in a small town cafe. About half the menu is devoted to breakfast items, so I’m sure they do a lively breakfast business. The special on the day of our visit was a hamburger steak, which included fried squash, mashed potatoes, desert, and soup or salad, all for $6.95.

The salad bar was limited, and salad bowls were quite small. However, all items were fresh and good quality. The hamburger steak was a good size and covered with brown gravy. It had a good char-broiled taste. Donna enjoyed her fried squash; I’m not a big squash eater, so she ended up eating most of mine. The mashed potatoes were good. The desert for the day was a fudge square. It was rich with pecans and a hint of mint.

The food was decent, and the portions fit the price. Isaack's is a good option when in Junction.

Hike Report: South Llano River SP: Walter Buck WMA Trails

March 19, 2013

Most of the hiking trails at South Llano River State Park are in the southern part of the park in the area known as the Walter Buck Wildlife Management Area. The trails are not named on maps provided by the park with the exception of the Fawn Trail (see map of park). However, on the maps that appear at strategic locations on stands throughout the parks, names are provided for a few of the trails, though not all of them.

Since this area was a working ranch once, most of the trails actually follow ranch roads, so hiking is fairly easy. There are hills, some steep, but most of the time grades are slow and gradual. Loose rock is common, so footing can be tricky, but bare earth also abounds throughout.

Trail head for Fawn Trail and other trails; located behind the park headquarters building.

We began our hike at the trail head located behind the park headquarters. For the first half mile or so, this is a single track foot path. The trail is lined with plaques with information about the plants along the trail. The plaques are flip-top. When I first saw them, I thought they were stands merely waiting for the information cards to be attached. Then I noticed the hinge and flipped one. The top merely protects the information cards. 

Flip-top information stands line the foot path

A bird blind is located near the start of the trail. There are actually 4 bird blinds in the park (that I saw). The park is popular with birders, and we saw numerous bird watchers during our stay.

This is a drift array, a device used to trap ground dwelling lizards. When lizards encounter the metal, they drift along it to the end, where they fall into a trap -- in this case, a 5 gallon bucket -- where they may later be examined and released. We saw several of these along the trails we hiked.

After about a half mile, the dirt track merges with a paved road for a short distance before giving way to a double-track trail. A bit farther on, the Fawn Trail turns sharply east at a junction where a windmill is located. We continued on in a southerly direction on what is now called the Golden Cheeked Warbler Trail. 

Fawn Trail veers left; we took the road to the right. Note windmill on left side of picture.

Juniper and other trees are pretty thick along the rolling trail. We then came to the first of what the park calls box-type house blinds. These are animal blinds located near the trails. The WMA opens up the area to hunts during the year, and these blinds are assigned to those whose names are drawn to participate in the hunt.

Sign indicates a box blind nearby. It is in the left of the picture. Can you see it?

About half a mile past the Fawn Trail cutoff, another trail veered to the west up a steep hill. This trail wraps around the perimeter of the park. That distance was too great for us, so we continued along our route, which soon passed a primitive camping area to the west. A bare wall of limestone soon appeared on our left (east), carved by years of water erosion. It’s quiet here, very peaceful and very shady. 

Exposed limestone wall carved by centuries of erosion. It's very peaceful and cool along this stretch of trail.

Near blind #10, I looked for a trail leading east, but never saw it. I don’t know if I simply missed it or that it is not a clear trail. We continued on south. After more than half a mile, we came to a marker with a “You are here” map indicating that we were on the trail I wanted to take that crosses the park to the east. I saw no trail, though. Not wanting to return on the same route we had followed out, we cut across a clearing. I saw  something ahead that might be a trail, and we soon came to our trail. Had we stayed on our southerly trail, we would have come to it, but the posted sign misled us.

This trail crosses the park to the east side, where we intersected with the trail that returns to the north and our camp. The cross trail is a very slow and gradual slope up. Once atop, we had great views, especially to the west. The landscape atop this hill is more open with fewer trees. A short half mile hike brought us to our trail junction, and we turned north for the return to camp.

Looking west from the top of the cross trail

There are few ups and downs along this trail, and even those are very slight for the most part. At one point, the trail turns west to flow around a hill. After this turn, we intersected with the trail I had failed to see on our way out. It is a clear trail, so I obviously must have been daydreaming when we passed it. We curved back east, then intersected with the perimeter trail along a fence line marking the eastern boundary of the park. After a gentle up and down and curve, we rejoined the Fawn Trail.

At the intersection of the perimeter trail, looking north.

At first, the trail looked simple, then we encountered the most challenging part of our hike. It is a steep downhill grade on loose rock. We slowed down, planted our feet sideways, and used our hiking poles to steady us as we slowly worked our way down. We slipped and slid a few times, but nothing major. We took our time and finally arrived at the bottom. 

It looks like the trail just drops off, and it actually does to some degree.

The remaining three-quarters of a mile was an easy hike through a tree-covered section, often running parallel to a dry creek bed. We then intersected with the scenic overlook trail we hiked upon our arrival at the park and worked our way back to camp.

Technically, our hike for the day was 5.3 miles. However, since we walked from and to our campsite, the total distance was probably 6.5 to 7 miles. The hike is easy to moderate, mostly easy. There are several sections with baseball and softball sized rocks where you need to watch your step. The total hike took us about 2 hours and 45 minutes. We encountered only 2 other people on the trail, bird watchers whom we passed soon after we split off the Fawn Trail near the beginning of the hike. During the entire hike, we heard only the sounds of nature with the exception of a small plane that flew over near the end of the hike. This is really a great way to spend some time.

In and Around Junction, Texas

I've always enjoyed Junction, Texas. But then, I like small towns; after all, I grew up in a small town.

I consider Junction to be on the western edge of the Hill Country, though a clear definition of the boundaries of this area differ from person to person. But it does have many of what I consider Hill Country landmarks: hilly country, limestone cliffs, spring-fed streams, a ranching culture, and lots of wildlife, among others.

The population of the town is approaching 4,000, and there are various types of accommodation available for visitors. I've always found the restaurants to be quite good -- nothing fancy, mind you, but just solid good food with BBQ, Mexican, and fast food available. Boating, swimming, and fishing are popular on both the North and South Llano Rivers, which merge in Junction, thus giving the town its name. Hunting is also a major attraction. Several major highways merge in Junction, including Interstate 10, US Highway 83, and US Highway 377.

Loop 481 bridge crossing the South Llano River on the east side of downtown Junction. Picture taken from a scenic overlook just east of the river along Loop 481.

Junction is also home to Texas Tech University at Junction. I suspect this 410 acre campus on the banks of the South Llano River was formerly the site of the Texas A&M campus where Coach Bear Bryant held his infamous training camp in 1954. The group of men be coached there became known as the "Junction Boys", and the training camp is an interesting study in former methods of training football players. A TV movie, The Junction Boys, starring Tom Berenger, was made of this incident in 2002.

Entrance to Texas Tech University at Junction

Junction has a lovely city park on both banks of the South Llano River near downtown just before it merges with the North Llano River. It's a great place to spend the day and is within walking distance of downtown and the Kimble County Historical Museum.

Dam on South Llano River near downtown Junction. Bridge in picture above is same as in first picture. Park area is on both sides of river, and downtown is in background near water tower.

If you enjoy scenic drives, take US 377 south of Junction for about 20 or 25 miles. The highway passes South Llano River State Park, then continues to parallel the river with a couple of low-water crossings where canoeists can put in for a leisurely float down the river. The highway leads to the small community of Rocksprings, then eventually to Del Rio and the Rio Grande at the crossing into Old Mexico at Ciudad Acuna.

South Llano River winds through limestone hills near a ranch.

South Llano River south of Junction

One of two low-water crossings over the South Llano River south of Junction.

South Llano River SP: Scenic Overlook, March 18, 2013

The day of our arrival at South Llano River State Park was beautiful -- the sun was out, there was a slight breeze, and the temperature was about 75. So, we were eager to get outside. Since it was already mid-afternoon, though, we did not want to venture too far, so we opted to take the short hike up to the Scenic Overlook on the east side of the park.

If you view the map of the park, you will see the Scenic Overlook at the top center of the page, which is near the eastern perimeter of the park just south of the river. We walked from our campsite to the primitive camping parking area. As soon as we entered the trail, we came across one of the 4 bird blinds in the park, the Juniper Blind.

Juniper Blind

I visited two blinds while at the park, and both were equipped with fresh water sources and bird seed for the birds in the viewing area. Inside the blinds themselves, bird books and bird cards were available to assist with identifying the birds. The park also makes available a field checklist entitled Birds of South Llano River and Walter Buck Wildlife Management Area. This checklist is available on the park's website.

After our brief stop at the bird blind, we continued on the trail. Just beyond the blind, the trail intersects with a paved road. We would be on pavement for almost the entire hike. The Fawn Trail also follows the pavement for a short distance, but soon veers south.

It's been a long, long time since this low-water crossing has seen any water.

After dipping down into a low-water crossing, the trail then begins a fairly strenuous climb; however, it is certainly easier walking on pavement rather than loose rock. As we progressed up the hill, the views began to become impressive. At the very top is a parking area; I'm not sure who can drive up there and park, though. We turned north, and after a short distance, we found ourselves on the edge of a hill. There is a green rail fence there to keep folks away from the edge.

Redbud in bloom about halfway up the scenic overlook trail; note the paved road that was our trail.

View from the top. That is our campground below. Views stretch for miles.

Those are native pecan trees, and these trees are what attract the turkeys. The river is along the far edge of the trees. The exposed limestone in the left center is where the highway is cut.

The trail down. Our trail winds off to the right and curves around the base of the hill, to the right of where the water tank is visible at the end of another road.

That is the hill we were atop of a few minutes ago.

Once back down to our starting point, we followed the Fawn Trail westward until we came out behind the park headquarters. It was then a short walk back to our campsite.

Park headquarters located in a former ranch house.

Total length for this hike, including walking from and to our campsite, was probably no more than 3 miles.