Finding "Lost Maples" in Texas (#44)

What Midwestern girl would not be intrigued by the thought of finding "lost maples" ablaze with color in Texas Hill Country? The bigtooth maple is the tree that most closely promises some of the same vibrant fall color of Michigan's glorious sugar maples. Prime time for experiencing fall color in the Texas Hill Country usually occurs near the beginning to middle of November. To commemorate my birthday we took advantage of the long Veteran's Day weekend this year and reserved a campsite at Garner State Park and headed southwest for a hiking filled weekend.

We decided to take the road a little less traveled and letterbox our way to Garner State Park. The direct route would be about three and a half hours, but there were just so many places we needed to see and food to savor! We packed up first thing Friday morning and headed up SH71 to US281 and stopped at Spicewood General Store for one of the best breakfast tacos (a central Texas food phenomena) I've ever tasted. The steam table had more that ten different items to choose from like carne guisado, charrizo, sauteed green peppers and onions besides the basic eggs, potatoes and cooked ground bacon. I topped mine off with a pico de gillo and salsa; Phil had his with cheese, both cost $5. As of 2017 there are new owners and tacos just are not what they used to be.

Our next stop was Sisterdale, reputed to have been established by German "Freethinkers" in the mid-nineteenth century. We stopped at Sister Creek Winery located in a repurposed 1885 Cotton Gin. The winery offers several choices of red and white wines and tastings for a moderate fee. As we headed north of the town center, we saw the old schoolhouse and stopped to read the RTHL marker posted on the wall. Built in 1893 the schoolhouse was constructed with huge blocks of local limestone. We turned left to continue west on RM 473 and spotted a beautiful farmstead on the rise. The entrance gate was marked Siedensticker-1855.

We continued moving southwest towards Bandera, the Cowboy Capital on scenic backroads. We made a quick stop at Camp Verde, site of U.S. War Department's 1857-69 camel experiment run by Jefferson Davis. Today all that remains is the quaint general store, in continuous business since 1857. The highly remodeled two story building holds a cafe and the mercantile store selling specialty food, gifts and a whole room devoted to modern penny candy.

After stopping in Bandera for That Genghis Guy we headed for Tarpley to have lunch at Mac and;Ernie's Roadside Eatery. Featured on the Premier episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, we asked an owner how they were picked and she shared that Guy Fieri's veterinarian hadrecommended the place to him! The place has become so popular they had to expand, but they used the old kitchen for the entry so old customers can still recognize the place. We enjoyed the recommended Cabrito Burger and French Fries, which were cooked perfectly. The eatery is only open Friday-Sunday, but it is well worth rescheduling the day and the route you take to visit this beautiful area. The lunch menu is almost exclusively limited to burgers, including an Axis (deer) burger, but dinner and Sunday are filled with gourmet faire and if you bring your own vodka they will make you a pitcher or two of some awesome Bloody Mary mix to go with your breakfast.


We soon realized that Texas does offer nice fall color in some areas. I do prefer reds and oranges. and this area has a fair amount of bigtooth maple, sycamore, red oak and persimmon. We arrived at Garner State Pair in the late afternoon and snagged a great campsite (#468) in Rio Frio; part of the new "water only" section. This site is located close to the shower building and had good tree cover to set up our tarp roof. The rest of the day was devoted to relaxing and walking along the Rio Frio and resting up for our search of the elusive lost Maples.


After a leisurely morning we headed east to Utopia and north to Lost Maples State Natural Area. We arrived around 10am to find a short lineup waiting to get into the park and one nasty policeman screaming and shaking his fingers at the cars....give this guy a chill pill, we are here to experience nature folks! Once inside the park we continued with lines...lines to park, lines to go in to get a tag (glad I am a Park Pass holder), another line to park. In defense of the park we were here peak fall color on the Saturday of a long Veteran's Day weekend. And for the amount of lines we really did not wait too terribly wrong...it just all seemed contra to being in a State Natural Area.

We parked in the first lot on the west and headed up the East Trail. We soon met what State Natural Area really meant...steep uphills with large, loose chunky gravel the size of golfballs. This 4.6 mile trail should not be attempted with flip-flops or kitten heels, yes we saw both, in fact I highly recommend good hiking shoes or boots that offer plenty of ankle support. The view from the top is well worth the effort it takes to get to get there!! We had packed a lunch and found a nice ledge to sit on and enjoy the view of the valley below. After finishing the trail with a thousand new friends, we headed out of the park and the mile long line of cars still waiting to get into the park at 3:30pm. I sure hope they don't think they can hike the East Trail before it gets dark.

On to Leakey for an early dinner at one of Texas Monthly's 40 Best Small Town Cafes. We arrived an hour before the Leakey Feed Lot reopened for dinner so we headed up to the scenic overlook (now closed) north of town on US 87 and enjoyed a Shiner Bock we had stashed in the cooler. This funky little cafe has varied hours that change with the season so I highly recommend checking their website link before you go. The article recommended the chicken fried rib eye, but all I could think was-Why ruin a perfectly good steak? So I had the rib eye sans the chicken fried with a side of bacon green beans and salad. My meal was delicious and my medium rare steak was cooked to perfection. Unfortunately Phil's chopped steak was overcooked to shoe leather and they served it on Styrofoam plates...I guess they don't want or have a dishwasher. To top it all off they brought the very tasty salads with croutons and cheese with our dinner, no mistake just the SOP. If I were to go again, which I might-the staff and owner were friendly and we loved the funky cafe decor-I would go for the food more appropriate to Styrofoam and have a beer. Another 40 Best nearby was Hicks House and Bakery east of Utopia on Lee Street in an old renovated house, next time will be a must stop.

We savored one last night around the fire. Sunday morning we broke camp at a leisurely pace, enjoying breakfast, hiking along the Rio Frio and plotting one last hike and the route back to Austin. We were glad we had chosen Garner over Lost Maples to camp. Lost Maples very limited campsites were out in the open and everyone using the trails had to pass by. Lost Maples would be fine for someone who had a recreation vehicle, but we like the peace and quiet without listening to generators running all night. We also liked the newer Rio Frio section of Garner because of the mature trees we like for setting up a tarp roof.

Our last hike was in the older section of Garner, south of our site. We took the trail to Crystal Cave (make sure to pick up a Hiking Trail Map on you way into the park). This trail is reminiscent of the East Trail from yesterday. Up,up,up we hiked over the same golfball sized gravel (did they import this stuff?). We climbed more than 1200 feet in elevation over a short 0.37 mile trail. Never so happy to see a cave entrance sign, we ventured into the small cave to see the crystals. Without a flashlight and feeling a little foolish (it did say crystal now didn't it?), we made due with the light from my camera and Phil's lighter. It was worth the effort to get there and next time we will bring our flashlight! Just before heading back down the boulder strewn trail we grabbed Baby Bear's Extreme letterbox Oh Crap, That Was Today. After all, I had made it this far, why not scramble up the hill another 20 feet...and as it turned out it was a super cute carving.

Leaving Garner we turned east to Utopia then north up RR187 past Lost Maples to SH 39 and headed easterly again. The road to Hunt weaves back and forth crossing the Guadalupe River numerous times. We rounded a curve to see several horses down in the river seeking a little refreshment. We stopped to take pictures and continued on our way. At Hunt we turned left to go to the old Stonehenge and Easter Island heads location. I had heard rumor they wanted to relocate the 7/8 size replica, but Phil had never seen it so I thought it was worth checking. The old field was empty, but a sign directed us to its new home just down the road in Ingram at the Point Theater.

Stonehenge and the Island Heads seemed happy in their new home and it was now time we headed to our old home. But I could not resist going through Fredericksburg and making one last stop at my favorite Texas brewpub for a light dinner and a few delicious brews. Fredericksburg Brewing Company is located downtown on Main Street smack dab in the middle of town and offers several staple beers like Not So Dumb Blonde, Enchanted Rock Red Ale, or Pioneer Porter. They also brew specialty batches and had a Fitztown Brown-their seasonal hoppy porter with a creamy head, this is a great transitional beer as we move into the colder winter months here in Texas. A perfect finish to the fantastic long weekend.