We are now over 2/3 of the way to our goal of hitting all 89 (the total number at the moment) state parks by the time Ashlyn is 18! It’s crazy to think about, but we have been chipping away at this for 7 years now and with 4 years left, it still feels achievable!

Estero Llano Grande was our second stop on Friday and was a whopping 30 minutes away from our first one. On the way, we drove a stretch of highway that was incredibly close to the border and got our first glimpse of “The Wall.” Took us a minute to realize what that structure was though!

Like Resaca de la Palma, this park is a registered world birding center and doesn’t permit vehicle traffic in it. It also boasted a grand, well landscaped entrance and headquarters. We spent some time on the patio that overlooks the wetlands and boardwalk system observing some ducks and ducklings before setting off on our quick trail to alligator lake. We’re not much on birds, but we’re definitely in on seeing some gators!

Along the way to the lake, we passed a marsh area that was incredibly lush for the time of year and interrupted an armadillo rooting around. We always love seeing those critters.

The alligator lake had 3 viewing areas along side its oblong shape, but we didn’t see anything for the 20ish minutes we spent there. But the walk was eventful enough and we had managed to go fairly deep into the park since it is quite small.

Parts of the trail were covered in blazing hot pea gravel and we pushed Sally to trot over those areas as fast as possible and would jump from shade patch to shade patch, but that poor pupper was not having a good time at this point in the day. So I pushed ahead with her back to the headquarters pavilion for a cooler rest spot while Nathan and the kids stayed at the marsh to see some more wildlife for a bit.

We only spent an hour at this park. For a birding enthusiast, this park is well maintained and offers numerous amenities for observation and exploration. But we were ready for hotel AC and enjoyed cold beverages that evening at Howling Rabbits and 5×5 breweries in McAllen. 🙂

-Lindsay