How the Texas “Moth Man” Identified 900 Species Along the Trinity River
About 10 years ago, Stuart Marcus, refuge manager for the Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge, arrived early one morning at his office to find that a tiny visitor had stopped by. Sporting glistening spiked hair and garbed in an exotic dayglo fuchsia/tangerine/black ensemble, this emissary from the order lepidoptera might well have been saying, “I’m here to introduce you to my tribe.” Read More »
Last-Minute Weekend Plans: Milton Reimers Ranch Park
Hill Country summer favorite Hamilton Pool has been reservations-only since 2016 due to the swimming hole’s popularity. But if you’re still looking for a scenic place to cool your heels, there’s a more secluded spot five minutes away. Read More »
I Survived the Texas Water Safari
Today, three days after my finish, I feel feral. I also feel like Wonder Woman filled my lungs with magic air that makes me capable of doing almost anything I set my mind to. Read More »
Visitors from a Distant Sea Bring Tiny Treasures to Texas Beaches
Small quantities of a seaweed called sargassum wash ashore all year long. But every few years, beginning in April, the sargassum arrives en masse—a deluge of amber-colored stems, leaves, and tiny gas bladders that help the plants stay afloat (and pop when squeezed). This relatively unpredictable event seems to occur after huge blooms of sargassum in the Atlantic Ocean, some 2,000 or more miles away. While piles of sargassum might hinder swimming and sunbathing, they also provide opportunities for families and other beachcombers to find seahorses, strange shrimp, and other tiny creatures that hopped a ride to Texas. Read More »
Endangered Turtle Hatchlings Draw Crowds Along the Texas coast
PINS has a list of nest locations and projected hatch-dates— the next predicted hatch date for 2019 is June 12-16, with dates continuing through mid-July. However, hatchlings are unpredictable and emerge when they’re ready, according to the park. Read More »
Escape to the Mother Lagoon for a Quiet Coastal Getaway
There are few places in and around Texas where the visible fish—plus dolphins, peregrine falcons, and brilliant-pink roseate spoonbills—outnumber the people viewing them. The Laguna Madre is one of those places, the only body of water in the state that truly qualifies as extreme. Read More »
A Road Trip to Utopia, Complete with Wildflowers and the Rugged Wonders of the Hill Country
Garner State Park, Lost Maples State Natural Area, and the surrounding Hill Country take you away from it all in the May edition of "A Piece of Texas" video series. Read More »
Battling Snakes, Rapids, Mud, Spiders, and Heat While Training for the Texas Water Safari
I can distinctly remember telling a friend a decade ago that I’d never compete in the Texas Water Safari, a grueling 260-mile paddling race from San Marcos to the coastal Texas town of Seadrift. “Sounds horrible,” I said. Snakes, rapids, mud, spiders, heat, and sitting on a hard plastic canoe seat for two or three days? No thanks. Read More »
One Man’s Half-Century Project to Heal a Hill Country Landscape
In 1969, a San Antonio fried-chicken tycoon was struck by a life-changing idea: He would find, buy, and heal “the sorriest piece of land in the Hill Country.” Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Bamberger Ranch Preserve sprawls across 5,500 acres of grassy hills and wildflower meadows in Blanco County. When visitors arrive May 5 for the annual family day and picnic, they will repeatedly drive across a perennial stream that cascades through a series of waterfalls and d Read More »
Catch May’s Second Wave of Wildflower Blooms While You Still Can
This May, the Texas Hill Country is proving there is more than bluebonnets to revere. A second wave of blooms is eclipsing the dazzling bluebonnet crop with prolific Indian blanket, reddish-purple winecup, pinkish primrose, coreopsis, and others. The same combo of rain and sun that produced the bluebonnet displays are benefitting this second wave, as well. Read More »
Beginner’s Guide to Camping Gear
Start your camping experience off right with Texas-made products and equipment, from a sturdy cooler to a lightweight blanket Read More »
The Beginner’s Guide to Camping in Texas
I’d never understood the allure of camping. Perhaps it’s because my family was never very interested in spending time in the wilderness. We traveled quite a bit, but our destinations were always big cities with the inescapable smell of car exhaust and neon signs lighting up the night sky. In the outdoors, there were bugs, critters, and uncontrollable temperatures—and why would we voluntarily sleep on the ground when my parents worked very hard to put a roof over our heads? Whether due to nature or nurture, I knocked at the door of my 30s with no basic outdoor survival skills or knowledge. Read More »
Texas Parks & Wildlife’s Texas Outdoor Family Program Caters to Rookie Campers
Texas Parks & Wildlife ranger Immanuel Salas assists Texas Outdoor Family campers in building a fire. Photo: Tiffany Hofeldt Read More »
Balmorhea State Park is Ready for Summer Visitors
Sometimes the best summer moments are unplanned—a spontaneous road trip, a lazy day at the lake, or an impromptu backyard barbecue. But some of our state’s most memorable summer diversions require advance planning. Balmorhea State Park's star attraction, the pool, reopened March 1 after being closed nearly 10 months for repairs, and visitors are already returning in droves to cool off in the aquamarine water of the world’s largest spring-fed swimming pool. Read More »
The Daytripper’s Top 5 in Colorado Bend State Park
No need to travel “just around the bend” when the bend itself is the main attraction. From the tops of its panoramic vistas to the bottom of its darkened caves, Colorado Bend State Park offers more than 5,000 acres of pure Hill Country heaven to explore. Read More »
Tracking Elusive Mountain Lions in the Mountains of West Texas
The cat has been gone for hours by the time Bert Geary comes upon the footprint. He sees it as our utility-terrain vehicle bounces over a rough ridgeline trail, the wind gusting over golden grass, heavy and cool with incoming August rain. The tracks are perhaps 5 inches across, clear and distinct. “It’s too big to be a bobcat,” Geary says, swinging out of the vehicle to examine it. “I think that’s a mountain lion. Young one, too. Maybe 60 pounds.” Read More »
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