Reimers Ranch Park – A Travis County Park.

This was the second of the trio and I have been here once before and taken a short hike, mainly to explore the park and to see just what it might offer. That was back in the summer and the temperature was hovering around the 100 degree mark, not conducive for long hikes. This time, I was determined to do some walking and take a few pictures. I chatted to the Guard at the gate as I drove in, which by the way, is free for those 62 and older and he told me that there were a few Firemen down by the rocks on some training exercise but that I could walk there as long as I didn’t get in the way.

Reimers Ranch is very different than McKinney Roughs. For one thing, most of the vegetation of the tree variety comprises of cedars with a few Live Oaks here and there except in the first Mountain Climbing Area that has a couple of huge and probably very old Cyprus Trees growing in the valley at the bottom of the cliffs. It turns out that the firemen were training on erecting a rope bridge across the valley between the rocks, a distance of about 100 hundred feet. I wished them luck as I walked on by and told them not to count on me to make it across.

There are 3 trails that sort of run parallel to each other as they follow the flow of the Pedernales River. The middle trail is situated on the top of the bluff that overlooks the river and is a man-made gravel path that is very easy to walk on. It is designated as the Hike and Bike Trail on the map. The bottom trail runs right alongside the river and is more undeveloped and marked on the map as “primitive” and is quite tricky in a few places.

I made my way down to the riverside via a path strewn with rocks and boulders. At the bottom, there was no defined trail as I walked alongside the river. In places, it was possible to see where the trail was supposed to be but the grass was long and had covered most of it up. I pressed on and after a mile or so, saw the path led upwards  to the top of the valley as we were approaching the second of the climbing area’s. This one is known as the North Shore Climbing Area. The upward climb was pretty steep but as I reached the top, it brought me back onto the Hike and Bike trail that I talked about earlier.

I took this back to my starting point which was the first of the three parking areas on the West side of the paved road. I passed a few people on the Hike and Bike Trail and as is usual for people out taking walks and enjoying the fresh air and countryside, nearly always exchange greetings and maybe stop and chat for a bit. My own personal belief is that those of us that like to be close to nature, have a great deal of respect for our fellow-man as we have this mutual bond that we share.

I covered about 5 miles by my trusty pedometer and burned a few calories along the way. Again, I put my new camera to good use taking a lot of pictures of whatever caught my eye. On the way home, I drove through Bee Caves which incidentally, also has a Starbucks. A perfect ending to a great walk.

I plan on returning to this park and this time, I want to hike the entire Mountain Bike Trail which includes the “third trail” and looks to be pretty long if I walk the entire loop.

If you click on the first (or any) of the pictures, it will enlarge the pictures into a slide show that you can scroll along by using the side arrows. Use your escape button to get back.