I have been to Milton Reimers Ranch in SW Travis County a couple of times before and on both occasions, covered the trails alongside of the Pedernales River. This time, I wanted to walk the longer trails on the uplands which are designated for horseback riding, cyclists and hikers. Generally, this means that the trails are not as developed as the ones purely for hikers and walkers and the one I took on Thursday also proved to be the case.

As with many cyclist trails on the grassy areas, in places the actual trail worn down by the bike tires are a rut not much more than a foot or so wide and varying in depth. It is possible to walk in this narrow trail but sometimes easier to walk alongside it. Where the trails get rocky, there is always some difficulty covering that sort of terrain whether you are walking or riding.

I started out from the Mountain Bike Parking area heading east towards Johnny’s Homestead but somehow I managed to deviate and went in the complete opposite direction to what I had intended. I was planning on taking the long trail that would have taken me in a northerly direction and then back around to my original starting point. Instead, at the intersection of a couple of trails, the one I took headed south and took me around that loop instead.

The end result was the same as I still got to go on a glorious walk on trails I had never been on before covering a little over 8 miles. The upland trails are a mixture of grassland and small areas of oaks and cedars with some rocky areas in some sections of the trail. The trail winds upwards to the highest point but it is a gradual climb with no steep hills. I met one cyclist going in the opposite direction but other than that, had the trails to myself.

The recent rains had left the soil damp and I was able to photograph several different animal tracks as they either crossed or followed the trail I was on.

If I have any complaints is that the trails are not too well marked at least by some of the other Parks standards which is why I ended up going in the opposite direction than I wanted. The only reason that I knew this was the sun was on my right side instead of my left which meant I was travelling east. I will know to be a little more careful next time out. The pictures are typical winter scenes with a lot of brown with some green grass and the ever present Junipers and Oaks.

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