East Guadalupe Loop

More Information:

Riverside Park and Athey Nature Sanctuary
CTC 027

This site is open for day use only.

Return east on FM 616 to its intersection with US 87 in Placedo. Go north on US 87 to Victoria. From the intersection of US 59 and US 87 in Victoria, go north on US 87 to Red River turn left (west), and continue to Vine. Turn right (north) on Vine and continue to the Victoria South Texas Crossroads RV Park. Park near the entrance to the Athey Nature Sanctuary (continue west on Red Guadalupe River until reaching the park entrance).

A trail has been created that connects Athey Nature Sanctuary and Riverside Park (crossing an old river channel or resaca), and a visit to Grover's and Fox's Bend may yield a surprising variety of woodland birds.

Latitude: 28.8160
Longitude: -97.0085

Cuero
CTC 028

This site is open for day use only.

Travel north from Victoria on US 87 to Cuero. Drop by the DeWitt Historical Museum (312 East Broadway) and DeWitt County Wildflower Association (located at the museum) for information about areas for viewing (and photographing) the spring wildflower displays.

The grasslands of this region are renowned (at least among birders) for winter sparrows, and roadside birding is a rule here. Venture out from Cuero onto the backroads and bird the fence and hedgerows. In the brush of Karnes County, a number of South Texas thornscrub species reach their northeastern range limit (for example, Least Grebe, Pauraque, and Olive Sparrow).

Latitude: 29.0876
Longitude: -97.2656

Palmetto State Park
CTC 029

This site is open daily, and developed camping is available at the site.
An entrance fee or donation may be required.

Continue north from Cuero on US 183 to Gonzales.

Gonzales is known as "The Cradle of Texas Independence." The first shot for Texas independence was fired here in 1835, and many artifacts from that era are displayed in local museums. The park is located 14 miles north of Gonzales within the palmetto swamps of the San Marcos River, and offers a striking change from the rather arid grass and brush country to the south. A number of eastern woodland species nest within the park, including Prothonotary and Kentucky warblers, Northern Parula, and Indigo and Painted buntings. The poultry farms in Gonzales County attract numbers of Crested Caracara, and roosting flocks of caracaras in the park and the surrounding woodlands in winter are often immense.

(830) 672-3266
www.tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/palmetto

Latitude: 29.5975
Longitude: -97.5846