Outdoor Adventures 
This Land is Your Land
From Caprock Canyons to Matagorda Island, from the piney forests to the Gulf Coast marshes, the state parks of Texas were made for you and me. What's the best way to enjoy them when the weather is perfect for an outdoor adventure? With a canoe. Or a bike. Or a tent. Or a good book. Presenting our favorite things to do in some of our favorite places on earth.
(Page 4 of 4)
Water Worlds
Canoe through paradise
INKS LAKE STATE PARK Inks Lake, the smallest and prettiest of the Highland Lakes, is also the "gneiss"-est, set as it is in the rough hills carved from this sparkly pink, granitelike rock by the Colorado River. This park—wrapped around the eastern side of the lake—is a bucolic paradise of cedar and oak forests teeming with a classic assortment of Central Texas wildlife. It offers nature walks, geology hikes, and, my choice, a canoe tour to the Devil's Waterhole, a narrow inlet at the eastern end of the lake. For two hours our little flotilla followed the ranger around while he pointed out unusual rock outcrops, wood duck nesting sites, and a blue heron rookery. On our return journey, we beached our craft and went ashore, where the stony soil was strewn with broken arrowheads. I'm told the Devil's Waterhole got its name from the land's previous owner, who was given to cursing vociferously whenever his wagon got stuck crossing the inlet. From Burnet, take Texas Highway 29 west for about nine miles, then turn left on Park Road 4; 512-793-2223; $4, senior discount, under 13 free. Canoe tours most Thursdays from 4 to 6 p.m.; $6 (includes canoe rental), reservations recommended. C.L.
Pedal in peace
LAKE MINERAL WELLS STATE PARK AND TRAILWAY The overwhelming number of options here can trigger an involuntary Goldilocks response. Rock climbing in the slot canyon called Penitentiary Hollow? Too hard. Cowboy poetry by the campfire? Too soft. Biking the 22-mile trailway? Too long. Pedal boating on Lake Mineral Wells? Just right. From the dock at the park store, a rambling stone building that evokes memories of summer camp, you can strike out for the far shores with a picnic or leisurely circle the nearby island looking for snoozing great blue herons. And since no ski boats or Jet Skis are allowed on this diminutive 646-acre lake, you needn't worry about anybody rocking your world. On U.S. 180 four miles east of Mineral Wells, 940-328-1171; $3, senior discount, under 13 free. Canoes, kayaks, pedal boats, and rowboats can be rented at the park store (940-325-7152); $10 an hour to $35 a day; open Friday through Sunday through May 31, open daily thereafter (closed Thanksgiving through February); call for hours. S.B.
Pitch a tent
SOUTH LLANO RIVER STATE PARK You'll find something for every member of the family at this compact, 520-acre Hill Country park. Kids can swim or go tubing in the river; teenagers can canoe, bike, or hike; Dad can fish for perch, catfish, and bass; the grandparents can bird-watch from the RV; and Mom can have a moment of peace strolling through the stately pecan grove that makes this lush bottomland so special. Behind the shady campground—equipped with restrooms, showers, and water and electric hookups—lies the Walter Buck Wildlife Management Area, another 2,000 acres of rough limestone, with many more miles of hike-and-bike trails to explore. From October through March, several hundred Rio Grande turkeys take up residence in the pecans, and much of the park is off-limits, though the campgrounds stay open and you can watch the turkeys strut from behind observation blinds. From Junction, head south on U.S. 377 for about five miles, then turn left on Park Road 73; 325-446-3994; $2, senior discount, under 13 free. Tube rental only ($1 a day). Camping $7 for walk-in sites, $13 for back-into sites (prices per site, 8 people maximum). C.L.
Boat the Big Thicket
VILLAGE CREEK STATE PARK These 1,050 acres of bottomland forest and mysterious swamp provide a fascinating window into the mythical Big Thicket. Because the Thicket is an absurdity of ecological convergence (where desert meets swamp meets forest meets plain), there's no telling what you may see as you canoe the murky waters of Village Creek; local flora and fauna include river otters, alligators, water moccasins, and such exotic plants as the carnivorous bladderwort. As I passed beachlike white sandbars and cypress sloughs that tempted me to explore—and overhanging limbs that put my paddling skills to the test—I fell completely under the spell of this peaceful, otherworldly place. Sixteen miles north of Beaumont on FM 3513, 409-755-7322; $2, senior discount, under 13 free. Call for information on canoe outfitters. S.H.
Skim the surface
SEA RIM STATE PARK You fully expect a dutiful park ranger to hand you a life jacket before he takes you on a boat ride, but industrial-strength earmuffs and goggles? Don't ask questions. Just put 'em on, even if they make you look like a geek, because you're about to blast off into the marshlands here aboard a waterborne rocket ship known as an airboat. As you whiz through narrow channels and across brackish lakes, keep your begoggled eyes peeled for denizens of the estuary. Alligators, caught sunbathing, slip from the banks. Veritable conventions of great blue herons graze the marsh's crustacean smorgasbord. Roseate spoonbills congregate over the early-bird special. When conditions are right (clear, shallow water), you can even spot redfish lollygagging below the surface. Twenty miles south of Port Arthur on Texas Highway 87, 409-971-2559; $2, senior discount, under 13 free. Airboat rides at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday in March, April, September, and October, and Wednesday through Sunday from May through August; $14, ages 6 through 10 $9, under 6 free; reservations required. S.B.
Urban Escapes
Ride a European cable car
WYLER AERIAL TRAMWAY Aboard this tramway, it's easy to imagine yourself high in the Alps, where every mountain sports a cable car and a ski lodge. The cosmopolitan experience starts with the road up to the base station, a smooth slalom straight out of The Italian Job. Cheerful orange cable cars—Swiss-made, bien sûr—run up to the top of Ranger Peak, two thousand feet above downtown El Paso, where the high desert wind will blow the cobwebs away. For a quarter you can take in the two-nation, three-state, five-star view through one of the high-powered binocular telescopes on the observation platform. Of course, if this were really Europe, the gift shop would be a bar, and you could toast the city with a dry martini. At the western end of McKinley Avenue in El Paso, 915-566-6622. Thursday through Monday noon to 6 p.m. (ticket sales until 5 p.m.), extended hours on weekends and holidays; $7, under 13 $4. No camping. C.L.
Get your hands dirty
BRIGHT LEAF STATE NATURAL AREA If you've ever uttered an unkind word about the state of some of Texas's parks (and you know who you are), then it's time to put your muscle where your mouth is. And there are plenty of volunteer opportunities out there to let you do so. To find out how I could lend a hand in my neck of the woods, I got in touch with Jeff Hershey, Bright Leaf's program administrator, who coordinates the volunteer efforts for this 217-acre park nestled in the heart of Austin. (Located in the hills overlooking Lake Austin, Bright Leaf was left to Parks and Wildlife by Georgia B. Lucas when she passed away, in 1994.) If I wanted to carve a trail through the pristine landscape of juniper and oak, Hershey would hook me up with the Central Texas Trail Tamers. If I showed an interest in leading interpretive hikes that would point out such local residents as golden-cheeked warblers, he would introduce me to the Friends of Bright Leaf State Natural Area (most parks have similar support groups), who would train me as a docent. In fact, it turns out I could do just about anything—except complain. 4301 Old Bull Creek Road, Austin; 512-459-7269; access by appointment only. Central Texas Trail Tamers, 512-698-4381. S.H.
Survive a single track
CEDAR HILL STATE PARK This park is like a 1,826-acre chunk of the Hill Country—complete with limestone cliffs—that broke loose, blew north, and wedged itself snugly against the Dallas 'burbs alongside Joe Pool Reservoir. You can practically smell the burgers frying at the neighboring fast-food joints, even when you're pedaling the far-flung reaches of its mountain bike trail. The scenic, single-track path is notoriously taxing: The first mile alone—up, up, and up—will quickly weed out the weak-of-lung and flabby-of-thigh. Plucky survivors then face more long uphills, steep descents through grassy prairies, and an endless series of technical trials, like tricky creek crossings and downhill zigzags around many hard, immovable trees. Afterward, as you soak your wounded body in the lake, be sure to thank (or curse) DORBA, the Dallas Off-Road Bike Association, which created this trail of torturous fun. (Note: The trail is closed when the ground is wet or even damp.) On FM 1382 (off U.S. 67), about ten miles southwest of downtown Dallas; 972-291-3900; $5, senior discount, under 13 free. S.B.
Stay in a historic cabin
BASTROP STATE PARK I want to know: Where do you buy cabin seeds? Although everyone insists that the cozy stone-and-wood cottages here were built in the thirties by the Civilian Conservation Corps, I can't shake my initial impression that they simply sprouted from the pine-needle carpet like some kind of rare architectural mushroom. The random way the rustic cabins are clustered around a tiny lake deep in the Lost Pines adds to this botanical illusion. On closer inspection, however, the CCC claim is supported by many irresistible craftsmen's touches, such as mullioned wood windows, hand-wrought iron hinges on heavy pine doors, and arched stone fireplaces on whose mantels are carved cryptic philosophies ("No man sees his shadow who faces the sun") or advice that seems especially timely today ("Mud thrown is ground lost"). One mile east of Bastrop on Texas Highway 21, 512-321-2101; $3, senior discount, under 13 free. Thirteen cabins, from $65 a night for one bedroom (two people) to $152 for four bedrooms with a screened porch (eight people), two-night minimum on weekends; to reserve a cabin, call 512-389-8900. S.B.
My Library
