Trip #5e McKinney Falls State Park, TX (4-10 Mar 2018)

 

This park is a 13 mile drive to downtown Austin and adjacent to the Texas state park HQ. I was pretty interested in what it would be like camping, so close to a metropolitan area (Austin is now over 1M). We were also there during the Austin Film Festival and South-by-Southwest Music Festival. Another pretty cool aspect of the park was that one of my favorite drama series "The Leftover" had been filmed there.

McKinney Falls State Park is at the confluence of Onion Creek and Williamson Creek. It is administered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The park opened on April 15, 1976 and is named after Thomas F. McKinney, a businessman, race horse breeder and rancher, who owned and lived on the land in the mid-to-late 19th century. The park is part of the El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail.

The park offers camping, hiking, mountain or road biking, geocaching go bouldering, and picnic. You can also fish and swim in Onion Creek.

Upper Falls

 
 

Lower Falls

 

Mountain Biking on the Homestead Trail



 

Played a round of DISC Golf at Searight Park (second busiest course in the US). This has become a fun option if there is a course near out campsite. We count pars versus getting too depressed with an overall score. Also, we never really have to count very high.

 

Enjoying carry out from the Austin's Famous BQ Joint "Salt Lick"



I wanted to get more exposure to hill country, so we decided to spend the day at Pedernales Falls State Park near Johnson City about 40 miles away. A nice low key drive through the outskirts/ subdivision of the Austin area, and then then country side. There is so much history in the area which includes LBJ and Lady Bird. I think most Texan's are sort-of proud their exe-presidents. Pedernales Falls another lovely park with many trails along the river. Mickie got to see her first live Armadillo.
We hiked the following trail Pedernales Falls Overlook, Hackenburg Loop, Swimming Area, and Twin Falls trails.

 

Pedernales Falls Overllok and Hackenburg Loop Trails

 

Swimming Area Trail



Twin Falls Trail

  

Trip #5d Martin Dies, Jr. State Park, TX (1-5 Mar 2018)

 

Martin Dies became our first camping location in Texas. This trip is giving us a sense of just how big and diverse Texas is. This state park in located in the east corner of the state  in a region called the Prairies and Lakes. Two rivers meet here on the eastern edge of Texas, creating wild and diverse habitats. The park focus is to explore the lake, sloughs and forest trails of this very special place at the edge of the Big Thicket.

The state park had received some of the same rains and flood as Tickfaw had. We were worried that the park might close and we would be scampering for new reservations. The park posted that most campsites were open, but all trail would be closed for our entire stay.

An advantage to staying in a Texas park is that they allow free fishing from the shore of any body of water in the park. I have been interested in trying a little fishing during retirement, so with our campsite right on the lake this was the perfect chance.

 

Hitting the road for one of our camping trips with trailer tow requires a pretty extensive phase of pre-planning stating with picking a general route; then researching and selecting camping locations. Some of this is driven by my personality, but out there is also the reality of booking well in-advance so you can stay across a weekend. We also do a lot of internet searches for things to do in the area.

However, planned activities get modifies once you arrive at a locations. For this stop, we had planned to hike and bike on the trail, but that was not an option. So, we drove to the small town of Kountze to try their DISC golf location in their city park. The DISC golf was a bit of a disaster as they park had flooding issues with crayfish or mud bug mounds all over the course, these mounds were a first for me.



We talked with a couple from the area for a restaurant recommended. They suggested going to Mama Jack's where I ate my first boudin balls, pretty good.



On the return trip from Kountze, we stopped at the Big Thicket National Preserve visitor center for ideas of an un-flooded trail to hike. We ended up hiking Kirby Nature Trail. Our planned hike got cut short as we had to start wading deeper-and-deeper water.

 

Next Stop about a 250-mile drive to McKinney Falls State Park near Austin in the Texas Hill Country.

Trip #5b Tickfaw State Park, LA (26 Feb - 1 Mar 2018)

 

Enjoyed are staying at Blackwater, but our two weeks were up with the next destination being Louisiana’s Tickfaw State Park. The 250-mile drive from Balckwater to Tickfaw was mostly on I-10 and I-12 with little traffic and well-maintained roads. A good travel day!

Tickfaw State Park, located 7 mi (11 km) west of Springfield, in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, opened in May 1999. Trails and more than 1 mi (1.6 km) of boardwalks.Four ecosystems within the park: cypress-tupelo swamp, bottomland hardwood forest, mixed pine hardwood forest, and the Tickfaw River.

This area had received heavy rain the past week before we arrived. Therefore, we got to experience periodic flooding first hand. We arrived to mostly clear skies with no rain for the entire stay. We walked the trails not flooded and took great advantage of the boardwalks to experience the river and swamp. During our entire stay the river and swamp area continued to raise.


 


Photos from our short hikes on the trails and broadwalks

 
 

Walking out to the fishing pond saw a cool tree and alligator