Camping (Austin, Canyon, Fredericksburg: live, to move, horseback)

[SL1966]

Not bad, I'll be saving BB for one of my weeklong trips.

Now the next thing in order is Hiking. Again anywhere in Texas is great but my intention is to keep it to day hikes so something close to Austin is prefered. A 2 hour drive to get there is doable too.

[CptnRn]

Barton Creek Greenbelt
McKinney Fall State Park TPWD: McKinney Falls State Park Videos
Reimer Ranch Park Reimers Ranch Park, Travis County, Texas
Pedernales State Park TPWD: Pedernales Falls State Park Videos
Palmetto State Park TPWD: Palmetto State Park Videos

[nicosterling]

Fort Davis is really great and you can go have a nice lunch and walk around Marfa or go have a swim at Balmorhea during the day! The Fort is a great tour as well--little known site of Buffalo Soldiers.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by SL1966

No worries about the distance. I've always wanted to go to Big Bend, now I'll be living close enough to make it happen.

Car camping depends on the park and their dog policies. If they don't allow for dogs then it's car camping.

If they do, it's on!


No sense in me carrying her food and stuff when she's got 2 more legs than I do.

Dog hiking boots, what a great idea. We once took a long hike in Colorado with a great dane. Poor girl wore the pads off her feet as she was constantly running ahead then back to us then running ahead again. She probably traveled 4 miles for every 1 mile that we hiked. She spent most of her daily life on suburban lawns and indoor carpet, the granite gravel hiking trails were hard on her feet.

[SL1966]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Dog hiking boots, what a great idea.

Tbh. I first thought they were a stupid idea. But after our first hike together she'd worn her pads very badly. She spent way too much time indoors leading a pampered life. We've changed that though and she only wears them on the uber long hikes we do.

[Bulldawg82]

Colorado Bend State Park. I first went camping at Gorman Falls back in 1971 (when I was in 1st grade) and kept it up until I graduated High School in 1982. I haven't been back since, but now its a state park. The waterfall is very nice and the cave is great!! We went so far back in that cave (back about 1980) that we saw a piece of old graffiti that read: "** Jones, 1903" I can't remember the first name. Great camping facilities if you look on line!

[egreenetx]

Also, go check out Palo Duro Canyon, wonderul place to go camp, but if you're looking for more seclusion try over by Garner State Park, tons of trees, a wonderful river to tube when there is more water. Lots of places to hike. I would recommend not staying at Garner but look at some of the camp grounds around that vicinity (as Garner itself is a hot spot).

[xsloane]

For a nice day hike Mother Neff is nice, or at least it was last year when we were there in Spring, it was so green! Beautiful! Not a very long hike though, but I am sure there more trails than the one we took, we had children so it was perfect the way we did it. Their picnic spots are very nice too.
BTW my little ones laughed so much seeing your dog's picture... Too cute!

[SL1966]

Thanks ... what do you consider a short hike xsloane? I'm used to 5-10 mile hikes (round trip).

[xsloane]

Originally Posted by SL1966

Thanks ... what do you consider a short hike xsloane? I'm used to 5-10 mile hikes (round trip).

I call short to a maybe 2 mile round trip hike, too short for me, but long enough for little kids (6 and under) to start complaining and, in very Winnie the Pooh fashion, franticly start looking for a perfect spot for a picnic.