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Enchanted Rock State Park near Fredericksburg, Texas

 

Outer Loop Around Park Perimeter

 

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

 

 

Enchanted Rock State Park website with directions

 

 

I’d visited this park with my parents last year and we’d climbed the Pinnacle Trail all the way up to the top of Enchanted Rock.  It was a real quad and lung buster of a hike, especially for my dad who had lung issues but he made it!  It was very rewarding upon reaching the top too because we were granted a very far reaching view of the Texas countryside.  At that time I'd made up my mind that I wanted to hike the outer loop trail around the park sometime.  Today turned out to be the day.

 

On the way out from my parents’ place (outside of Austin on US290) I passed through Johnson City and Fredericksburg, Texas.  I really liked what I saw of the former and the latter had a super nice downtown area with many little shops and restaurants.  It also included a pioneer museum which I really wanted to visit but didn’t have the time. 

 

Also of interest was the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site which was between these 2 cities.  It apparently consists of 718 acres upon which people can enjoy many activities to include a nature trail that travels through different botanical exhibits and wildlife enclosures.  It looked to definitely be worth a stop, but once again, I didn’t have time.

 

Once in Fredericksburg, I took a right on RR ( Ranch Road) 965 which would take me on a great drive through rural Texas.  One thing about Austin is that it’s an absolute BOOM town.  That being the case, it's got disappointingly vast swaths of the hill country being taken out in the name of urban sprawl (one sign even advertised “dozing and destruction” jobs).  The landscape out here is much more natural, however, and it can be a nice change of pace from what one might normally see.  Once you see a mightily large, bald rock outcropping (on your left if you came out the way I did) that will be Enchanted Rock.

 

I pulled into the park, parked the car, and went in to pay the $6 fee (they take credit cards).  The people there didn’t seem to be in the best mood, which was a bit at odds with the beautiful environment but they did take my money - er, credit.  After paying, I veered right on the roads until I came to a little parking circle and I then headed off on the Loop Trail around the park.

 

 

This trail is a 4.1 (emphasis on .1!) mile loop around the periphery of the entire park to include both Enchanted Rock (which I’ll refer to from here on out as the “Rock”) and Freshman Mountain which lies just to the East of it.  There are many other trails as well to include a separate trail around the base of the Rock itself which seems to be part Echo Canyon Trail and part Turkey Pass Trail.  There’s also the Pinnacle Trail up to the top of the Rock, of course.  Are you a rock climber?  There are special trails for you, as well.  These are in back of the Rock and lead directly to it's face.  In fact, on the back of the map of the park you'll find a few dozen different climbing areas! 

 

Many other trails exist too although not all of these are “legal” ones.  I'd definitely bring a map so you don't lose your way, but needless to say you have your choice of trail combinations that can make your hiking day as long or short as you want.  Since I’d been waiting a while to get back here though, I ended up doing the loop trail followed by the Pinnacle Trail.  I then went down the face of the Rock and finally went around about half of Echo Canyon/Turkey Pass Trails around it before the skies began to look ominous.

 

As the loop trail began by winding and undulating along (and sometimes across) a very nearly dry Sandy Creek it became clear that this was going to be an absolutely wonderful day.  I hope it will be for you too!  :)  Incidentally, the book I used as a guide for this hike - 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles – Austin/San Antonio edition - has a picture from this section of the hike on the cover.

 

 

The first trail junction I came to was for Turkey Pass It veers to the left to take you through the terrain between the Rock and Freshman Mountain (I'd end up coming out on this path on my way back at the end of the day).  On your right here will also be a group area complete with its own pavilion and by this point I got the feeling that this trail might be the most popular besides the Pinnacle Trail.  I met quite a few people in this section.

 

Continuing along the creek bed from here, you’ll have a continuous mountain backdrop to keep you company and if you look closely you may be able to see little specks on top which will probably be people walking around up there... 

 

 

Buzzards Roost Primitive Campground will have a sign at the next trail junction but you’ll want to take a sharp left if you want to keep following the loop.  I must say, however, that at this point I was a tad disappointed.  I wanted to keep going straight!  Sandy Creek had become quite endearing!

 

One note – as I passed some trees in this section I noticed what sounded like bee swarms.  I never actually saw a swarm, but upon looking more closely I did see that they were scattered individually all around.  It sure sounded like a ton of them though, and I didn’t stick around too long to find out just how many more there were!  Just…  moseyin’…  onthrough!

 

The trail from here seems to take on the characteristics of a sandy gravel roadbed and as I continued on I passed many different kinds of blooms on the plants – including the cacti which had some of the most amazing.

 

 

 

I also noticed the Spanish moss in the live oak trees along the trail which brought back memories of the time I once lived in the state.  Meanwhile, as I looked back at the Rock from this direction it appeared as if it were cracking like an eggshell with the actual shell slowly falling down the side with the assistance of gravity!

 

 

After passing the next trail junction (I believe that this was the Turkey Pass Trail which had caught back up with the Loop Trail) I came to a tree which I just had to take a picture of!  This one has personality!  It’s the perfect Halloween Tree. 

 

 

By this point the path will have become quite flat with the views being consistently amazing.  I may have taken more pictures on this trip than on any I’ve ever taken.  The loop hike is supposed to take about 2 hours, but it took me 3 and there was one area that I found particularly picturesque.  The scene is below – a sweet little oasis!  This was one spot where I definitely saw the specks of people atop the Rock.  I wondered if they could see me too… 

 

 

 

There’s a point after this at which the trail almost bumps up against a ranch fence (farms are called ranches in Texas) and a sign here obviated the point that no trespassers were permitted.  I could hear the cattle from somewhere beyond the fence though, and the sounds of them along with the sight of the specks of people atop the Rock were the only things besides the wilderness to keep me company.  This area is so peaceful!  I’d only run into one other person the whole time and you can see for miles around you here even though you aren’t that highly elevated!

 

 

At one point the path cut sharply left and it was clear that the main path continued this way, yet I wanted to check out the Walnut Springs Primitive Campground I saw.  I thus veered right across a mown path (which eventually led right back to the loop trail) and was led down into a little ravine which bottomed at a dry streambed.  Here there were some nice looking campsites although the path didn’t seem to be that well trodden.  Well, when I eventually emerged I saw a sign indicating that the section was supposed to be closed.  Ooops!  I'd not seen a sign like this when I entered from the other direction!

 

There were some fantastic plants in here too, the likes of which I’d not seen before.  Will you look at these!?!  You might as well imagine being on another planet!  It looks like there are little gardens sectioned off for them too.

 

 

 

There was also one point at which it looked like you could go in 4 different directions, and each one was, in fact, quite inviting – so I took a picture in each direction!

 

 

When I got back to the loop trail I noticed an overlook that was closed to visitors like the Walnut Springs area had been.  I honored the sign, but I’m sure it would have been nice to see!  Meanwhile, you’ll start to spot large boulders alongside the trail at different points and some of these have little pathways leading up to them.  Some even seem to have been sculpted – by Mother Nature, of course.  :) 

 

 

 

As I came to the last section of the loop a real maze of different paths began to reveal itself due to a campground being up ahead.  This one was very nice and it was shaded by the little leaves of live oaks trees scattered about.  Interestingly, the population boom in Austin has led to water being a precious commodity and as I write this the cedar trees there have become victims.  Live oaks trees like the ones here are spared because they don’t take much water but the cedars are systematically uprooted because they take up more.  It’s sad to me and it makes me wonder if the same thing happened at this campground.

 

Anyway, by this point there were plenty of people around and the crowd could not be defined by age.  There were families with young children, seniors, and groups of what sounded like teenagers.  Hearing the last group made me think back on some of the things I did in order to seek peer approval back then and so I decided to avoid the teens – too unpredictable.  Seems we spend have our lives accumulating things and experiences and half our lives getting rid of things and trying to atone for the experiences we spoiled out of youthful ignorance.

 

The Pinnacle Trail was next.  I could not have come out here without doing it.  The views are simply amazing and the challenge would be a nice contrast to the relatively flat path I had just taken.  As mentioned before though, finding the correct path at first proved to be somewhat of a challenge given the maze of different routes.  I found myself on a couple different ones before I eventually caught up with the right trail.

 

Also as mentioned before, this hike is a real lung buster but the panoramic views atop this granite mountain are well worth it.  Once at the top, I skirted around the perimeter of the Rock in order to catch different glimpses of the loop trail I'd just taken.  You can see it in the distance. 

 

 

 

When I got to the northwest side I got a nice view of Moss Lake which I’d missed .  It looked too good to pass us so I decided to attempt a descent down this side of the Rock in order to check it out...

 

 

Very carefully I meandered down and once there I found a map of the rock trails as well as a primitive bathroom (there are a few of these around on the trails).  My time was running out, however, due to darkening skies (I would end up just missing a thunderstorm) so I wasn’t able to take the detour to the lake.  I instead chose what I guessed was a good and fairly direct way to head back – through half of the Echo Canyon/Turkey Pass loop around the base of the Rock.

 

 

I was getting a bit tired at this point too so I was about ready to get back, but my problem was that the scenery was so awesome, it seemed like I was stopping at every curve to take another picture!  In fact, my favorite part of this whole day was, I think, the section of trail that went between the Rock and the Freshman Mountain – just incredible!  You’ve got to keep a keen eye out here, however, as the path goes over rock where there aren’t any signs.

 

 

 

 

 

When I got to a little frog pond I was almost back at the first trail junction I’d come to at the beginning of the day (near that group pavilion I mentioned - it was ahead).  This was an incredible experience which I highly recommend.  If you can get out here on a weekday though it would probably be preferable since the park is very popular.  They say it often fills to capacity early on weekends.  Admission is free for seniors, by the way.

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

From the Austin area I took US290 west to Fredericksburg, and then went north (right) on RR965 until I saw the Rock (you really can’t miss it).  The guide I used mentions that it’s about 17 miles until you reach Enchanted Rock State Park.