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By the time we visited Stephen F. Austin State Park, we knew the drill. There would be closures in the park due to Hurricane Harvey. We were prepped for that. We adjusted our expectations prior to arrival. We were ready to embrace whatever opportunities awaited us, and with that cranial approach, our visit to SFASP was a surprisingly pleasant experience!

I say surprisingly because the river portion of the park was closed, which meant no fishing, and like I have stated before, The Manling is happiest when he can drop a line in the water. But…

After talking with the most outgoing Park Ranger we’ve encountered to date – seriously, Bryan was super enthusiastic, a lover of birds and edible plants, and just so happened to know his park backwards and forwards, so he completely hooked us up with some stellar hikes in his breathtakingly beautiful park – we headed to our first stop.

I’ll never look at trees “dripping” with something in the same romantic way. Ever again. Seriously.

The Barred Owl Trail was a compact dirt trail through towering trees draped with what The Manling thought was called Grandfather’s Beard (which he pointed out was Tick Paradise, which maybe wasn’t what I especially wanted to hear in the moment. “And it’s good as a fire starter, too.” Okay, then. That info will come in handy if we need to send smoke signals once the ticks descend upon us en masse.) Within the first five minutes on the Barred Owl Trail, we heard a massive flutter overhead. Looking up, we were shocked to see an actual Barred Owl taking flight! Owls being a favorite of The Manling, he thrilled at being able to see one so up close while my prevailing thought was What an aptly named trail! closely followed by We’re definitely not going on the Copperhead Trail then!

We continued on that wide trail to the Scenic Overlook, which was the closest we got to the Brazos River. It was both beautiful to behold and sobering to see the destructive potential that rivers bear on the areas surrounding them.

Our next stop was the Amphitheater, where we parked the car for our hike on the Opossum Loop, which sounded like a way less sinister trail than the aforementioned Copperhead Trail (which Bryan suggested would be a great hike for us to explore, but I was not having that name in the HQ, and even less so once we encountered the Barred Owl on the Barred Owl Trail). Park Ranger Bryan pointed out that the Opossum Trail featured 100′ tall cottonwood trees draped in vines that were a definite must-see, and he was right. They were magnificent and majestic and exquisite and stunning. I got a little turned around with the map and directions in general while we were on that looped trail, but thankfully I had an Eagle Scout with me so I was able to just enjoy the sights and sounds while he navigated us back to the Tiny Toyota Tardis (because the Yaris is bigger on the inside).

Look how utterly inviting the path looks as The Manling directs our steps into the blessed shade of those towering trees. Delightful!

I’m pretty sure this guy was stalking us.

Seriously the most serene, easy to follow trails through beautiful towering trees. SFASP knows how to do trails.

One more thing I want to point out is the fact that SFASP has the most adorable log cabin-type shelters in the existence of log cabin-type shelters. It totally looked like something out of pioneer America and if, by chance or plan, you find yourself in the area, I would highly recommend staying in their Log Cabin-inspired Tiny House Community. They would make such an adorable addition to your memory-making moments. Trust me.

Why We Love Stephen F. Austin State Park

Log Cabin Tiny House Village. Go back and look at the pics. Adorable, right? You can’t help but want to make those a part of your memories at SFASP.
Aptly Named Trails. How often have you hiked a trail and thought, Why’d they name the trail that? I didn’t see anything but this. Amiright? We saw a Barred Owl on the Barred Owl Trail. Which leads me to believe the Sycamore Trail has Sycamore Trees; the Opossum Trail has opossum; and that Copperhead Trail has (gulp!) copperheads. There are maybe about 6 miles of trail in the park, broken down into very doable loops or one-ways that are very well maintained. Enjoy exploring them!
Bryan. This guy has information in spades stored in his noggin. Use him. He was a wealth of information, super friendly, and he made our adventure sound like so much fun I asked him to join us! (He actually wished he could, but he was training a new recruit that day.)

Must Do’s

Stay. Tiny Log Cabin Village. How can you not?! They also have camping, RV spots, a cabin, and group barracks. I’m partial to the pioneering-type shelters, but you do you.
Hike. The trails are all manageable lengths for most anybody. The longest trail is only 1.25 miles and it’s marked as Easy. Get out there and explore, especially the Barred Owl Trail and the Opossum Loop.
Talk to Bryan. He’s your man for all things SFASP-related. And if you really want to speak his language, ask him about birds or edible plants.

We’d love to hear about your experiences at Stephen F. Austin State Park! Please share your thoughts on this magnificent park in the comments.

*In all natural areas, you are a guest. Educate yourself on what lives in the areas before your visits, always talk to the Park Rangers upon arrival and take precautions so that your experiences end as positively as ours.

We first discovered McKinney Falls State Park several summers ago when The Man and I took The Manling and Kinder Frau on a “Tour of Texas Waterholes.” It held fond memories for us, especially the wet trek down Williamson Creek while holding an impromptu rock skipping contest. We swam in the Lower Falls, and the guys fished a bit that visit, but we didn’t explore the park properly that first trip because we were on a schedule and had to get to the next waterhole.

Pay attention to this photo out of yesteryear. It will be important later during the test-taking portion of this post.

The water felt so good on that hot, hot Texas summer day. Soon we were skipping rocks and talking big and having a grand ole time until we decided to change into our swimsuits and submerge ourselves in the Lower Falls.

The second time we visited MFSP was in mid-June 2018. The weather was threatening a pretty big thunderstorm, so we weren’t sure exactly how long we’d have to explore the park before we had to take shelter. As we arrived, people were exiting because of the aforementioned thunderstorms headed our way. Exactly like Superheroes, we headed the opposite direction from the fleeing masses. Toward the danger. Into the unknown.

Okay, in reality, some people left and they may have just been tired. I can’t know everything. What I do know is that when we took this entry selfie –

Test-taking portion of the post. Find ten things that are different in this entry photo than the one out of yesteryear. (Answer at the bottom, but don’t cheat and scroll down without first really trying. That’s no way to go about life.)

– the sky behind us was blue and the sky in front of us looked pretty scary. Like, I-think-we-might-be-in-Kansas kind of scary. But we headed in anyway because, honestly, we’d bothered to drive all this way and it was not going to be for nothing. Because we’d already done some of the things in this park previously and because it was Father’s Day Weekend and The Man loves to hike, we focused primarily on hiking. Well, that and fishing because The Manling had just turned the big 1-8 and life is colorless for him unless he can drop a line in the water.

After constructing a good attack pattern with the Park Staff in the HQ (and buying a cute window sticker for the Tiny Toyota Tardis – because the Yaris in bigger on the inside), we pointed the Jeep toward the Lower Falls. Even though the park sometimes has to close due to capacity, we found a great parking spot recently vacated by a park evacuee. We headed on foot to the rock flats. We hunted for the famed “ruts” in the rock caused by wagon wheels in the days of the Old West. We stared at the people swimming in the Lower Falls. And then we began hiking the pleasant (and mostly shaded) Rock Shelter Interpretive Trail.

The vast rock flats aren’t far from the parking area and lie between that and the water of the Lower Falls. Notice the blue skies on the left, and the heavy dark clouds on the right.

We “think” this is the Rock Shelter (#4 on the Trails Map), but it was a neat spot overlooking the water even if it wasn’t.

Heading toward the Rock Shelter Interpretive Trail from the rock flats for a quickie hike.

A stop along the Rock Shelter Interpretive Trail to enjoy the view of the creek below.

A view of the creek they are enjoying in the above pic.

The Manling, longing for his rod & reel.

I love this pic because it’s not even staged! The Manling took the narrower path that followed the creek more closely while The Man led his ladies down the wider path.

At this point, I haven’t the faintest idea where we are. The trail seemed to close ahead, so we turned back after admiring the view in the next photo.

We divided and conquered after that first hike. Kinder Frau and I opted for the air conditioned Jeep while The Man and The Manling went fishing. This translated into us rating all the campsites (see below under Must Do’s) as we explored every single road in the park from the comfort of our car while the guys headed back to the Lower Falls area to do their thing.

When we met back up, we decided to explore the other side of Lower Falls in search of both the Gristmill (#9 on the Trails Map) and the McKinney Homestead (#8 on the Trails Map, and for which the park is named). Both were packed with lush foliage, and cool breezes because of the thunderstorm rolling into the area.

This was a pretty, green, well-maintained path through tall trees with lush undergrowth – and plenty of places for snakes to hide. But I was motivated. I’m a sucker for the historical stuff.

The Man admitted that once the trail narrowed this much with the lush greenery thick all around, he walked faster and kept well ahead so that I couldn’t easily engender his sympathies with my rapid breathing and force us to head back to safer grounds where rattlers weren’t waiting to wound us, thereby missing the focal point of our hike – the McKinney Homestead. I’m so thankful for him because I loved this hike and stepping back into history at the homestead.

The remains of the McKinney homestead. Well worth the panic I paid to get there.

We enjoyed a few hours pleasantly spent rediscovering a history-rich, water-filled state park located in the state’s capital with exactly no run-ins with my arch-nemesis the rattlesnake. Or a Texas summer thunderstorm. #winning

Oh, and about the test-taking portion of the post. There isn’t one. I just thought it was cool that the three of them were almost identical to the photo from years ago…before selfies were a thing and I was always behind the camera instead of in front of it. Don’t hate me. I thought it would be funny.

Why We Love McKinney Falls State Park

Water. This is an essential ingredient to enjoying any summertime activity in Texas. Wade down a creek. Swim at one of the falls. Float down the creek. Fish in the water. Trust me.
Trails. The foliage even in the heat of an oppressive Texas summer is so lush and beautiful! It’s like MFSP didn’t get the memo that it’s time for everything growing to turn brown under the summer sun. It’s beautiful with lots of shade. There’s no downside to that winning combo.
History. Pick up a Trails Map from the HQ. Pick a trail. Follow it, reading the bits about certain spots you pass along your walk. Read the signs. The place is rich with Texas history!

Must Do’s

Hike. The trails are well-maintained, marked and easily traveled. In fact, I would say the trails are more like paths than most of the hiking trails we’ve traveled at other parks. We even came across an elderly couple with their yippie dogs coming from the homestead and gristmill trails and they said it was an enjoyable walk when we asked them.
Swim. Both times we have visited MFSP, the water levels were low. But that didn’t keep anyone from enjoying either of the falls. I’m telling you, opportunities for wet fun in Texas in the summer is what you want and MFSP has it.
Camp. We were hard-pressed to find a bad camping spot. All of them were shaded and spacious and completely delightful for a weekend visit or a week-long trip. We look forward to returning and taking our own advice!
Explore. One of our fondest memories continues to be the time we explored Williamson Creek and had a rock-skipping contest. Bring your sense of adventure and have fun exploring the capital’s own State Park.

We’d love to hear about your experiences at McKinney Falls State Park! Please share your thoughts on this Texas State Capital gem in the comments.

*In all natural areas, you are a guest. Educate yourself on what lives in the areas before your visits, always talk to the Park Rangers upon arrival and take precautions so that your experiences end as positively as ours.