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State Parks Ideal for Enjoying Fall Colors

Trying to guess how Texas’ capricious summer and early fall weather will affect fall foliage is as fraught with chance as trying to guess in what slot the roulette ball will drop in a Las Vegas game of chance.

Summer weather saw above average rainfall to the typically dry Big Bend Country and much of east and north Texas, and brought a record-breaking drought to central and south Texas. Such vagaries in weather conditions will, no doubt, impact autumn weather in various ways. But with more than 90 state parks, rest assured that dazzling displays of crimson, gold and orange foliage will be found somewhere.

Where Texas state parks are concerned, the most celebrated fall foliage destination year in and year out is Lost Maples State Natural Area in far western Bandera County. Most years, the scenic Hill Country park’s canyons begin to light up with the showy foliage of the parks namesake bigtooth maples. Other trees, such as sycamores, Spanish oaks and Lacey oaks, put on bright foliage of their own to add to the show.

Typically, depending on, yes, the weather, the towering bigtooths will begin to show color in October and keep attracting the hordes of leaf-peepers up until almost Thanksgiving. Cool nights and sunny days last fall had the crowds showing up by mid to late October, when park superintendent John Stuart reported “breathtaking color.

This year, Stuart predicts the color won’t be quite as good due to many of the maples putting on a lot of seed, which draws energy away from the leaves, thus reducing coloration. “It could be good on the trees that did not make seed, however, so this year will probably be a mixed bag of some good color and many trees not producing much color,” Stuart said. Beginning in about October, Lost Maples will post its fall foliage reports online.

State parks in other parts of Texas also can put on notable displays of fall color. Cooper Lake, Daingerfield and Lake Bob Sandlin are just a few of the Pineywoods parks where visitors can find the reds and golds of sweet gum, oaks and other hardwoods.

Often overlooked, too, by fall foliage seekers are the towering stands of cottonwoods along creeks and rivers found in places such as Caprock Canyons and Palo Duro Canyon in the Panhandle and at higher elevations in Davis Mountains State Park in west Texas.

Coupled with cooler temperatures ideal for a campout or long hike, autumn represents one of the best times to visit a Texas state park. Call 1-800-792-1112 for more park information.