Texas Hill Country

Our travel plan takes us from the Dallas area to San Antonio and back - an exploration of familiar areas but we are planning to visit new places and some unfamiliar backroads.

Our journey began on Wednesday September 28 - a truly beautiful day.

Starting from home - Fairview, TX - it is always such a relief to get through Dallas - then on 67 and finally on 281 - which gives the feeling of a genuine Texas country road.  The familiar Texan towns with their authenticTexas flair were there to greet us - starting with Glen Rose then Hico on to Hamilton to Lampasas where we stopped to eat at Alfredo's - a fun Mexican restaurant we have long wanted to try. It was delicious! We took a new road - 183 up to Cedar Park near Austin and turned on 1431 toward Marble Falls - following the (Texas) Colorado River. Green, beautiful hill country - ranches with some bailed grass but mostly hills and trees and open country. Love seeing it all!

Stopped at Marble Falls for the night.  Next day we traveled through Texas Hill Country where every plant seems to be defending itself. Pear cactus, gnarly live oak, sunflowers grow among craggy rocks and open grass lands with cattle grazing.

We enjoyed seeing Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. 

Enchanted Rock

Then we drove through the willkommen Germantown, Fredericksburg, a destination place we plan to return to soon. 

Next to Kerrville and then the small, windy, backwood roads that follow the Guadelope River that led us to Lost Maples State Natural area and our campsite for the night. 

Lost Maples Campsite

On Saturday, Septemer 30, a pristine fall morning, we were up early and hiked the Maple/East Trails - a  rigorous 4.6 miles up and down the mountain following stream beds filled with large boulders.

 Lost Maples Trails

We enjoyed the scenic drive out - as we drove toward Boerne, Texas.  The road was narrow and windy with  dips and climbs  We were impressed to see the "mountains" of Texas.

Wichita Mountains Oklahoma

Lee needed to find some mountains to hike in near Dallas (which is a little hard to do in the middle of the prairie) so he found a decent size mountain in Oklahoma (Mt Scott at 2464 ft) in the Wichita Mountain range.  Unfortunately, there is a road all the way to the top of Mt Scott, so not much of a hike.  However, there are other mountains in the range with no roads so he hiked Elk Mt. instead (trail was only 2 miles but substantial vertical climb).  The mountains are in a national wildlife refuge that has a bison herd, an elk herd and a long horn cattle herd.  We were very impressed with the scenery which reminded us of a mini Hayden Valley in Yellowstone, large meadows with bison surrounded by mountain peaks.  Not what we expected to find in Oklahoma.  On the drive up to the mountains we stayed one night at Waurika Lake, a Corps of Engineers lake that had a nice campground.  The second night we stayed at Doris campground in the wildlife refuge.  Overall a beautiful area and wonderful drive on backroads to and from.  One surprise was the Holy City.  Who would have thought that you'd find a stage for a reenactment of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ in the middle of the Wichita Mountains but there it is!  Every Easter the local community puts on a Passion Play for tourists. An elaborate set has been built here that includes all the major sites of the play.....definitely worth a look.

Until next time,

Lee & Liz

View from the top of Elk Mountain

Holy City in the Wichita Mountains