June Bug Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 (edited) By Governor Abbott's executive order, many Texas state park are reopening Monday, April 20. wear a mask social distance unless in a family group no group larger than five people Edited April 27, 2020 by June Bug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
circuitbreaker Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 Texas State Parks will begin reopening for day-use only April 20 Due to limited staffing, weather conditions and continuing construction projects, some state parks will not be open at the current time. Park visitors should check the Texas State Parks Alert Map regularly for the latest information about the status of individual parks. Operational changes still in effect at parks include the suspension of all transactions at parks, equipment rentals and in-person interpretive programs. All group-use facilities, visitor and nature centers, headquarters and other enclosed spaces where people congregate will also remain closed. https://tpwd.texas.gov/?utm_campaign=spupdates&utm_medium=email&utm_source=4.20.2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
June Bug Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 Pedernales Falls is open Advance day pass reservations required: Online Phone: 512-389-8900 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
June Bug Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 (edited) Trip report: We checked out the trails at Buescher State Park since we already needed to be in Smithville for a brief errand. Reserved a day pass on-line last night for today (Monday) and I thought we'd have the park to ourselves, but all of the day passes were sold out. The trail is interesting -- I assumed it would be a wide flat completely smooth developed trail for mindless cruising, but it's actually rooty, eroded in numerous places and once you get towards the northern end, actual narrow (18" wide max) single track. We did an out and back - about 6 miles total. There is a loop option on the map, but the turnoff wasn't marked, we only had a single water bottle each, it was hot; exploring wasn't an option. I think a carsonite post with a small red arrow was the turnoff to the upper part of the loop (Roosevelt Cutoff) but nothing was labeled. There were also three or four fallen trees across the trail; they aren't keeping up with trail maintenance, but the trail wasn't particularly overgrown. With the exception of two very short trails (Owl and CCC), all trails are open to mountain bikes. Trail map Heading out on the trail, about a third of the people hiking were wearing masks. Just saw one other cyclist and passed maybe 8 people total. This isn't piney woods, it's mostly mixed oaks. The northern part of the trail goes through an area that was burned over during the Bastrop County Complex Fires in 2011. It's interesting to see how the area is recovering. For those relatively new to the Austin area, 2011 was an extreme drought year with record heat from April through October. The Bastrop fires in Sept and Oct. burned over 34,000 acres, killed four people, destroyed over 1,600 homes and dozens of commercial structures. Quite a bit of piney woods acreage in nearby Bastrop State Park was burned over. This is why these high temps this early in the Spring are concerning. If you need to get in some road miles, Park Road 1C connects Bastrop and Buescher State Parks. It's wooded, hilly, shady (unless mid day) and not too much traffic. Edited April 27, 2020 by June Bug 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cxagent Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 Tried to get a reservation for Pedernales Falls for Sunday (tomorrow). The next available date was in June. I suspect they hit the limit for the non- MTB portions of the park but the web site is not smart enough to separate usages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 55 minutes ago, cxagent said: Tried to get a reservation for Pedernales Falls for Sunday (tomorrow). The next available date was in June. I suspect they hit the limit for the non- MTB portions of the park but the web site is not smart enough to separate usages. I tried to go there on a holiday weekend once (pre-COVID), and I asked if I could park outside and use the trails and he told me no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tip Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 We went to Inks Lake yesterday. You had to have a reservation to get in which we did. They were turning drive up people away because they had "reached capacity." The strange thing is that we were just about the only people in the entire park. I would guess we saw maybe 15 campsites being used. Just for day use like us. I don't get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 Does the reservation cost money? Is is a lot of money? If there is no cost there is an incentive for people to "hoard" reservations and then not use them. I am guessing that when Texas started to open things up there was a rush to reservations and then, people get busy with haircuts, tattoos and bowling and forget about the parks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
June Bug Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 Two things. First, my impression is that state parks are limiting the number of day passes -- just as many businesses can only operate at a reduced capacity to preserve social distancing, state parks are only allowing a very reduced number of visitors each day to avoid crowding. However, when we were riding the trails at Buescher, the day passes were sold out. Overall, very few people there, but it was apparent everyone was there to use the trails. Social distancing was not observed and most people were not wearing masks. Re hoarding: State park Annual Pass holders can reserve, for example, a day pass every day for a month, and then go whenever they want, even if they use only one or two of those days. This was confirmed to us by someone who knows Annual Pass holders who live by a state park who do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cxagent Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 I never got far enough to pay. I did see the day pass was $6 per person. And my annual pass has expired... It was $75 the last time I bought one. By using the annual pass, I could fill out a form and leave it on my dash. I parked at one of the points where the trail crossed the public road and rode my MTB from there. It was approved by the park then. It might be different now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 Are there bike trails in Bastrop State Park? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tip Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 30 minutes ago, Hugh said: Are there bike trails in Bastrop State Park? We rode around on the now closed golf course paths. Scenic and interesting. There is also some other single track trail that says "no bikes" that we rode. We saw the sign when we were exiting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GFisher Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 On 5/9/2020 at 8:08 PM, AntonioGG said: I tried to go there on a holiday weekend once (pre-COVID), and I asked if I could park outside and use the trails and he told me no. Was it full/closed when you asked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throet Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 (edited) Oops - wrong thread. Edited May 11, 2020 by throet 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 Relevant https://www.texasobserver.org/is-texas-overcrowded-underfunded-state-parks-system-being-loved-to-death/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 6 hours ago, GFisher said: Was it full/closed when you asked? Yes, he said it was at full capacity. It was Memorial Day or one of those 3 day weekends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
June Bug Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 (edited) Saturday, May 23: Not a state park, but Pace Bend is already closed for the day due to the large number of visitors. Pace Bend is currently day-use only and they'll reopen tomorrow until they reach (currently limited) capacity. Edited May 23, 2020 by June Bug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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