1 post tagged “enchanted rock”
This past week Ms. Carolyn, our son Joe, and I skipped a day of work and headed over to Enchanted Rock in Llano County.
For those who haven’t made the roughly hour-long drive, I recommend it to you.
The site, which was in private hands until 1978, when it was purchased by the Nature Conservancy from the Moss family, has been operated as a state park since 1984.
I am old enough to remember visits to the park when it was still in private hands. In those days there were fewer regulations and as a boy I camped at the top of the rock with a group from my church. I remember, too, we boys building a huge fire at the top, near the mouth of the ‘caves,’ something that one could never do now, nor should have done then.
The visit this week also brought home other changes since the site became a state park: though we arrived before noon, the park was jammed with people. Three or four cars behind us were the last to get into the park that day: all others were turned away. Once the park reaches “capacity,” the gates are shut and no additional visitors are allowed in.
So, if you want to do more than see the giant pink dome from the highway, it’s usually a good idea to call ahead to see if the park is closed for the rest of the day; generally on weekends and holiday weeks (like this week, Spring Break) the park closes early. However, even during these times arriving early at the park (around 10 am), or going on a weekday helps your chances of gaining admittance.
We’ve gotten in the habit of hiking around the domes on the Loop Trail, starting at the southwest end of the park and traveling around the two major domes in a counter-clockwise direction. This week the park was especially beautiful because of the recent heavy rains. Flowers were in bloom and there were hundreds, if not thousands, of small waterfalls and rivulets of running water. I have never seen so much water at the park.
Even the old Moss Lake on the far side of the park, behind the granite batholiths, was nicely filled, and the fish were jumping. It was enough to make me wish for my fly rod, though it was a long climb and walk away, too far for this old man.
According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife website, “[Enchanted] Rock is a huge, pink granite exfoliation dome, that rises 425 feet above ground, 1825 feet above sea level, and covers 640 acres. It is one of the largest batholiths (underground rock formation uncovered by erosion) in the United States.”
The park covers 1643.5 acres on Big Sandy Creek and has become one of the most popular parks in the Texas Hill Country.
After our walk around ‘Little Rock,’ Joe and I went back up ‘Enchanted Rock’ to explore the caves on the rock’s northern slope. These caves are little more than gaps in the tumble of rocks, and with the recent rains were a slick mess inside. The air felt cold and thick as we went deeper into the caves, and looking back at Joe I could see steam rising from his arms and head. We found running water several places along the way, with cold black pools to slosh through. I hadn’t been through the caves since I was much, much younger and found trying to squeeze through, scramble over and clamber down the tossed boulders much harder than I remembered. To hang on to a water-slick rock, in the dark, while stretching one’s leg into the abyss below, hoping to find a ledge with one’s toe – well, I soon found myself hoping for a glimmer of sunlight, an escape from the narrowing passage.
The first shaft of light provided no escape; the walls were too steep to safely climb. I admit I looked at the wispy clouds above with some longing. With reluctance we continued down, down, down into the darkness, heading in what seemed the exactly wrong direction. Finally a small bit of sunlight was visible in the distance and, after some of the trickiest passages of the entire cave, we found a small opening in the rocks.
We wriggled out, tired and largely silent, and sat atop the northern cliff, looking into the distance. I felt reborn coming back into the light. We had been beneath the boulders for only an hour.
The park is 18 miles north of Fredericksburg on Ranch Road 965, and charges $6.00 per person admission. It’s worth a visit.
Until next week, all the best.
Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who is not as young as he thinks he is.
