Colorado Bend State Park

Colorado Bend State Park is a 5,328.3-acre (2,156 ha) state park in the U.S. state of Texas, located in the Texas Hill Country region. It was purchased by the state in 1984 and opened to the public in 1987. It is representative of the karst features typically seen in the Hill Country, with many sinkholes, caves, and springs.

Base of the Gorman Fall
Beneath the Gorman Fall

Hiking trails
View of Spicewood Springs taken along the Spicewood Springs trail

The Spicewood Springs trail is one of the hiking trails in the park with numerous creek crossings. The trail is 2.5-mile (4.0 km) one way, but hikers can take a slightly different hike back. It has numerous spring-fed swimming holes found along the trail.

The Gorman Creek trail is divided into a blue-marker loop and a yellow-marker loop, with dry chaparral terrain. The highlights of the park trails are a travertine creek on the east, and a large waterfall with caves on the west. A protected portion of the park is open by guided tour only. The Gorman Spring and a couple of other springs feed Gorman Creek, which then descends a spectacular 65 feet (20 m) feet forming what is known as Gorman Falls. The tour is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) round trip trail leading to the spectacular waterfall, which is formed by fern covered Travertine. The self-guided Gorman Spring trail and the trail to the waterfall is now open to the public during regular park hours. There are also many wild cave tour opportunities, ranging in difficulties from walking to crawling.

Flora

A variety of flowers could be found in Colorado Bend State Park.

  • Castilleja indivisa
    Indian Paintbrush, taken along Gorman Creek Trail
  • Asclepias asperula
    Antelope Horns, taken along Gorman Creek Trail

See also

References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.