Nice pine forest, but trail gets a bit monontous
Bastrop State Park - Lost Pines Trail
- 12/1/2007
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Distance: 8.50 Miles
Duration: 2 hours, 45 minutes
This is a nice place to go near Austin if you want to hike in the pine forest. The Lost Pines are quite beautiful, and the terrain is very different than other places within a reasonable driving distance of Austin. The soil is sandy, and the terrain is mostly gently rolling. The nice thing about this hike is its one of the longer loop hikes near Austin. When I was there, I only saw two other groups of hikers on the LPHK, but it wasn't exactly the nicest day to be outdoors. The only negative thing I have to say about Bastrop State Park, and the LPHK is that it gets a bit monontous. The scenery is great, but it doesn't really change at all throughout the hike - other than a few muddy ponds. The small lake is a nice place, but there were quite a few people there.
Overall, not bad...
Nice Surprise Near Waco
Lacy Point Nature Area
- 11/20/2007
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Rating:
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Distance: 7.50 Miles
Duration: 2 hours, 45 minutes
THere is actually quite a bit more trail mileage than is listed here. When you enter the park near the boat ramp, the main trail/jeep track goes about 1 mile toward the lake, where it splits off. If you go right, there is about a 3 mile loop around Lacy Point. If you go left, the trail goes about 2-3 miles past a cultivated hay field to the mouth of Reynolds Creek. Near the end of this trail, there is a nice new 4 mile loop, which the Corp of Engineers is calling "Paradise Loop." It goes up Reynolds creek (through some nice old woods) and loops back through some cedar grassland. There are several other side trails totalling at least 2 miles - probably more, so there is a good 11 miles of trails to explore here.
The nicest trail I have seen is the Paradise Loop. As you enter the loop, there is some nice old bottom land woods with native trees. Unfortunately, a lot of this is dying out since the lake has been raised 7 feet and this area floods quite often for extended periods, but there are still some nice old trees. Upstream, Reynolds Creek becomes a true creek, and is quite nice. There are at least 2 springs feeding the creek and some nice places to stop and enjoy the sound of the water.
There is a ton of wildlife at this park. Both times I have been, I saw 10 or more deer, including a 10 point and a 12 point buck. I actually saw a bobcat in the woods near the mouth of the creek, so that was exciting!
Overall, this is a pretty nice, quiet place to go near Waco, and there aren't many of those! In the two times I went, I have only seen one person on the trail, and he was going in to fish on the bank near the boat ramp. I didn't give a 5 for solitude only because there tends to be a lot of fishermen in loud bassboats near the mouth of Reynolds Creek. Having said that, the fishing (both crappie and bass) is quite good around there, so take your pole if you want to try to catch something...
Nice loop in North End of Park
Cameron Park
- 9/22/2007
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Distance: 3.50 Miles
Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
I'm from Waco, and I've never understood why most people in town are scared to go to Cameron Park. Its really funny. There's a beautiful park on the Brazos River, with a really nice trail system that meanders along the river and up into the bluffs overlooking the river. The upside is a really nice park right in the heart of old Waco with very little traffic - other than the occasional mountainbiker.
For a really nice ~3 mile hike with some elevation (and scenery) change, try the following:
Start at the parking area near Lover's Leap and the Baseball Fields. You can here by following Park Lake Drive east from N 19th St in North Waco.
Take the "Thor" trail down to the river. This trail decends through cedar upland down to lush riverbottom. From there, you can head south along the river to check out the base of Lover's Leap. This is a really nice limestone cliff (~70 ft) right on the river. Its pretty cool b/c you can see where two ecosystems converge (cedars up top to riverbottom at the base).
From there, you can continue along the river as far as you like, but for my favorite "loop" hike, backtrack to MCC trail, and go right. Follow this trail briefly ~.2 miles to Highlander Trail and take a left. I think this trail is supposed to be hikers only, but I'm not sure, and I have seen mountain bikers on it. Anyway follow Highlander trail back to the trailhead near the ball fields. Along the way, you'll meander up and down through the bluffs along the river. You'll encounter sections of bottomland, oak forest, and cedar upland reminiscent of the Hill Country, so its really quite nice for such a short in-town hike.
Overall, this hike is about 3 miles, but can be extended further downstream to visit another limestone cliff (Circle Point) similar to Lover's Leap, and the Mouth of the Bosque, where the Bosque River feeds into the Brazos. Just retrace your path back to MCC trail to complete the loop section in the north side of the park...
Trail still submerged...
Good Water Trail
- 9/9/2007
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Distance: 3.00 Miles
Duration: 1 hour
This was my first visit to Lake Georgetown, and I was impressed with what I saw. There seems to be a lot less visible development than at other nearby lakes, so that was nice. The part of the trail I was able to access was quite good, and offered a few nice views of the lake and canyon.
I tried to start my hike from Tejas Camp, but the road into to park was washed out. I drove back to Russell park and hike 1.5 miles or so towards Tejas Camp before the trail went underwater. I think this area has a lot of potential, so I'll definitely be back once the lake gets closer to normal...