We finally checked this one off the list! Guadalupe River State Park shares a boundary line with this day-use-only-must-be-admitted-under- the-supervision-of-a-guide natural area, but when we visited the neighboring state park in August of 2021, it was on a weekday and tours only take place on the weekends. Womp Womp. Luckily, Ashlyn requested a revisit to Guadalupe for her birthday THIS year so I selfishly plugged in a “while we’re there” event. She didn’t mind too much since there would be an old farmhouse to explore as well. So about a month in advance (these things reportedly book up) I scheduled us for May 8th to tour this pristine 2,000+ acre piece of hill country.

We met our Guide/Master Naturalist/Caver/State Park Volunteer at 9am that morning along with a supervising guide and about 15 other people and started off on a 2 mile hike that they estimated would take about 2 hours.

Our main attraction of the hike would be the creek itself, but along the way, our Master Naturalist pointed out numerous plant species. He took a liking to Weston, who stepped right up to sample any plant he deemed edible.

Around half way, there were a few tables set out with bones and unique rocks that had been found in the park and the kids enjoyed the hands on experience. We also saw an Eagle Scout built Brown-headed Cowbird trap. Apparently cowbirds are negatively affecting the song bird population by parasitically laying eggs in other bird’s nests to be hatched and the inferior chicks push the original young out. That was some new, wild information! We were not able to see how the trap worked, but hopefully it is effective.

Eventually we made our way down to the creek where numerous picnic tables were available and we were invited to sit, snack and take it all in.

Our return to the starting point was a more direct ascent up the hill and we were soon back at the farmhouse and were able to explore it as well. Before the state owned the property, it was a working ranch until the 60s and owned by the Weidner Family. Luckily, the house remains preserved by the park and descendants of the family still have annual reunions there. Just gotta love the details of an old house. 🙂

Our 2 mile hike took 3 hours due to numerous stops to look at plant details….. not our favorite way to explore a park. Botany is no doubt interesting, but even Ashlyn was forcing interest towards the end. I do, however, fully understand why they protect this area so fiercely and limit human traffic. There is a war of sorts occurring between state conservationists, landowners and developers over this spring fed resource that feeds into the Guadalupe River. The spring bubbles out on private property and the creek dumps in the river on state property and neighborhood developers just keep punching wells into the water table. Lots of tensions and lots of websites available to dig into for those interested. But at the moment, it seems private landowner and conservationists are on the same side and they’re going to make sure the area stays as natural as ever.

-Lindsay