By John Jefferson
Last October, this column announced a new addition to the ultra-popular Enchanted Rock State Natural Area between Fredericksburg and Llano. The addition totaled roughly six hundred acres more to be added to one of the state’s most needy parks. How needy is it? The last time I travelled the road passing Enchanted Rock’s entrance, I was appalled at the cars awaiting entrance to it. The line appeared to approach a mile!
If you know anything about hunting dogs, Enchanted Rock is almost as needy for more land as my German Shorthaired Pointer needs an assuring nap several times a day – preferably in someone’s lap. And finding appropriate land for expansion near a state park is often as futile as looking for a lost diamond ring in the lost and found in a border town!
In Enchanted Rock’s case, a State Parks employee driving by luckily spotted a For Sale sign on property adjacent to the Rock. That set a sale in motion; but that takes time.
Once a tract of land is acquired as a state park, it usually isn’t open to the public for years. Funding for infrastructure and the intricate planning and development of a public park on that unique parcel for land doesn’t happen overnight. It could take over almost a lifetime.
In 2014, the public’s outdoor trekking community was excited over the acquisition of Powderhorn Ranch as a State Park along the south coast and Matagorda Bay. Hikers and kayakers were particularly anxious. The excitement still exists, but the park is said to be opening in 2029 or 2030.
Possibly. However, several new paddling trails are already open and look extremely inviting.
Another acquisition still in development stages is the 3,814 acres that was donated to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) by the wills of Albert and Bessie Kronkosky. That tract will become a Texas State Natural Area (SNA). An SNA is defined as a tract with unique, natural, cultural, and historical features. Protecting and managing these features are the highest priorities.
The future SNA will be near Highway 46 and the town of Pipe Creek. It will offer camping, hiking, and limited mountain biking, but will probably lack some features of state parks. (Reread SNA definition, above.) No firm time for its opening has been announced.
Recently, TPWD has announced two more new acquisitions in the Hill Country. TPWD acquired 2,020 acres on the other side of the Colorado River from Colorado Bend State Park, earlier as Phase One of a new state park.
Recently, Phase Two of the plan was obtained when 1,100 acres in Burnet and Lampasas counties were purchased. That could provide additional access to the Colorado River for anglers in the springtime when white bass migrate upstream from Lake Buchanan. It’s one of my favorite places to wade into the river to cast for whites. But the park will also become popular for its scenery and topography.
These potential new parks and SNAs are recreational treasures to look forward to.
JJ
