How far to the nearest mountain range from Austin? (El Paso: live in, garden)

[Trainwreck20]

Some of the canyons are less rough than others, and it varies greatly with the time of year. Some you definitely cannot take a canoe down.

[another_hot-day]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Heh, that webcam is sure dark at night .

They should point the camera up so you can see all the stars.

[twange]

Originally Posted by another_hot-day

They should point the camera up so you can see all the stars.

Speaking of stars, anyone here every visited the McDonald Observatory? That's really got my interest

McDonald Observatory

[love roses]

I know people that have gone, and they really enjoyed it, but I personally have not been, so couldn't tell you on a personal basis.

[Trainwreck20]

If you want to do anything other than a walk through, you have to make some kind of reservations I think. The drive up there is quite entertaining...very steep and narrow .

[StuckInTexas]

I stayed in Fort Davis near the Observatory but we had to cancel going because it was too cloudy and raining and they had to close it. Yes, you do need to make reservations unless they have a special public event going on. You just have to call them regardless and watch the weather.

If you like telescopes, I'm sure you'd be impressed as it is one of the best star views accessible to the public.

If you go to the observatory, also keep driving down the apline loop road past the observatory to see the best scenery in Texas (about 20 miles farther). Observatory scenery is ok too, but it gets even better farther down the alpine loop, it starts looking like Colorado briefly at parts (as I discussed in a previous post), and there is some scenery just past the observatory that will make you wonder if you are still in Texas...

[Mike78613]

Here is the biggest mountain range I been to (in Texas) about 2 weeks ago...
about 2 hr drive from Austin.

[twange]

That's Enchanted Rock. Not really a mountain range per say, but a giant dome of granite in a state of limestone!

[StuckInTexas]

There are places hillier than the pics you posted that are even closer to Austin. Although enchanted rock is a big rock, the immediate area around it isn't all that rugged.

The hilliest / most scenic places near Austin are:

620 to Lake Travis
1431 between Cedar Park and Lago Vista
Areas around dripping springs
Areas on Loop 360 to the West of Highway 183

Farther Out
--------------
Wimberly
New Braunfels around the river
Willow City Loop (there is a hill near here that rises about 800 feet from the base, but you can't see it from the road)
Canyon Lake near San Antonio (Devil's ridge is pretty cool)
Kerrvile / Medina
Just south of Llano near an airport (probably biggest hill in hill country)

[another_hot-day]

Ahh, Enchanted Rock! Did you find the cave?
We did when we went and had fun crawling through the cave.