McKinney Falls State Park - Within Austin City Limits
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The 85-mile drive from Guadalupe River State Park to McKinney Falls State Park was a delight. Despite the lack of rain, the wildflowers were blooming profusely. This is Texas Hill Country. Vast blankets of Texas bluebonnets and pink ladies adorned the roadsides and highway medians in a spectacular display. The diverse geography and climate range of Texas account for the 2700 species of native wildflowers found in the state. Evidently we’d accidentally arrived at the prime time because the show was awesome.
We arrived in late afternoon and parked in our spacious McKinney Falls campsite, set out the camp chairs under the shade of live oak trees and immediately noticed all the worms. Inchworms suspended on fine silk threads dangled from the tree branches and swayed to and fro in the gentle breeze trying to anchor themselves on something… usually the tops of our heads or shoulders. I found the jiggling and swaying maneuvers taking place about two inches from my nose most unnerving. Moving the chairs didn’t help. They were inescapable. We learned that they’re called oak leaf rollers, they’re common in the Hill Country and they’re harmless to humans. No matter… they were a bit of a nuisance.
When we ventured outside Blanche the next morning, the campsite was abloom in wildflowers. Texas bluebonnets, bright purple spiderwort, dainty Texas baby-blue-eyes, Drummond’s onion and Mexican buckeye all strutted their stuff in a rainbow pageant. And, yes, I had to use my NWF Wildflowers of North America book to identify them all. It was hard to realize that we were only minutes from downtown Austin.
Spiderwort
Texas baby-blue-eyes
Mexican buckeye
Someone had generously left their ladybug behind in the knothole of a tree. We didn’t like the worms, but the ladybug was most welcome.
We were looking for a good morning walk and the Onion Creek Trail fit the bill perfectly. Onion Creek with its fresh water and abundant food supply has been a favorite stopping place for native people for centuries. Early Spanish explorers and settlers relied on the creek as well. In 1839, Thomas McKinney purchased the land that is now the park as a homestead and ranch. The land was subsequently purchased by the James Wood Smith family and worked until 1973 when they donated it to Texas Parks and Wildlife. What a contribution!
It was cool to start, but once we got moving, we shed our sweaters and tied them to our waist packs…just our t-shirts were fine. Like the rest of the Hill Country we’ve seen recently, the wildflowers were flourishing. Blossoms of every color and size and shape were on parade along the trailside. Some were familiar, but most required some help in identifying. Our new free iNaturalist Seek app was a great help. Here’s a sampling of what we saw.
Best of all… Scarlet leather, of which we saw one plant, is endemic to this area.
The trail wandered up and down under a canopy of trees, then dipped down to the creek side. A lovely, open area along the creek was reserved for day trippers and picnickers. We headed for an area labeled Bluebonnet Meadow and true to its name, an expanse of bluebonnets welcomed us.
We dipped our toes in the Onion Creek at the Upper McKinney Falls. Huge limestone slabs, the bed of an ancient sea, provide stepping stones and sunning spots for tourists. We spotted a big turtle sunning himself as well.
Because we’d only recently made our reservations, we had to change campsites a couple of times in order to remain in the park. No matter, the moves were easily done and each campsite was just as pleasant as the last and all included an equal population of worms. We found them on our clothes when we showered and when we turned in at night. They were on the picnic table and chairs, just slowly inching along, evidently trying to get back home to Wormville and obviously not being very successful. After awhile, they didn’t seem quite as creepy though I certainly didn’t miss them when we left.
The campsites at McKinney were wonderful… except for… you know.
One of our McKinney Falls park days was spent in Austin visiting the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at UT/Austin and galavanting around on a scavenger hunt for fun murals and street art that proliferates in the city. Join us next time for a look. Teaser Alert: Willie for President!