Enchanted Rock State Natural Area is more than doubling in size with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's January purchase of a 3,073-acre property. In September, the separate purchase of a 630-acre property increased the size of the 1,685-acre park to 2,315 acres. The most recent property acquisition will bring the size of the park to a grand total of 5,388 acres.
The park is known for the iconic pink granite dome that slopes above mesquite and grassland. It's a remnant of the Hill Country's volcanic past known as a batholith: a large igneous intrusion of granite created by the cooling and crystallization of magma beneath the Earth's surface.
The new acquisitions will complement this distinctive feature.
“I'm excited about protecting unencumbered viewsheds for people to come out here and not see houses, condominiums and lights,” said Doug Cochran, Enchanted Rock's superintendent. “Now you can see the great summit that we have from two different perspectives.”
Prior to TPWD's acquisition, the property had primarily been used for hunting and other private recreational purposes. It also features a rock formation that provides a new scenic vantage point of Enchanted Rock.
Zach Spector, TPWD's chief of land and conservation initiatives, who helped manage the transaction on the agency's behalf, said some standout features on the new property include a large stock pond with the potential to be stocked with fish, land conducive to the expansion of a backcountry trail system and the opportunity to expand public hunting.
“What makes this special is that we're more than doubling the size of what's arguably the most iconic park in the state of Texas in an area that's quickly getting hemmed in by subdivisions and development,” Spector said, adding that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, the state agency's nonprofit partner, also played a crucial role in the acquisition process. “This was an opportunity to buy over 3,000 acres on the northern boundary that will fundamentally alter the visitor experience because of the additional elbow room folks will have.”
The 630- and 3,073-acre properties are located, respectively, on the south and north ends of the original property. Prior to the recent acquisitions, the park's boundaries hardly expanded beyond the granite dome itself. According to Cochran, the expansion of the park protects more of the batholith that extends beyond original park boundaries and allows visitors to gain an enhanced perspective of the rock's place in the wider ecology and landscape of the region.
The $43 million purchase kicks off a big year for state park acquisitions. Funding for this purchase came from sales tax revenue on sporting goods and a one-time legislative appropriation. Later this year, TPWD seeks to buy its first property with use of the $1 billion, voter-approved Centennial Parks Conservation Fund that passed in fall of 2023. Rodney Franklin, TPWD's director of state parks, says the agency is especially interested acquiring new park property near what's known as the “Texas triangle” between Houston, Austin-San Antonio and the DFW metroplex so that new parkland will be easily accessible from areas with the highest density of Texans.
“What we're prioritizing are parks within 90 minutes of major metroplexes and down in the Rio Grande Valley. Of course, we're open to any property across Texas that would make a special state park,” Spector said.
Cochran, the park superintendent, is excited that the state natural area's expansion will enable it to accommodate more visitors and offer different visitor experiences. Enchanted Rock is among the most popular destinations in the Texas state park system. During the spring and summer high seasons, overnight and day passes require reservations and usually sell out. In Texas, where less than 5 percent of land is publicly owned and population has grown about 50 percent since 2000, high demand for park access can lead to long lines and closed gates.
In spite of high visitation and development in Llano County, Robert Deming, former president of the state natural area's nonprofit partner, Friends of Enchanted Rock, said the park has managed to retain the dark skies and quiet solitude that he experienced on his first visit in 1984. Enchanted Rock's unspoiled state led to its designation in 2014 as one of the first two Texas state parks designated as an International Dark Sky Parks by the International Dark-Sky Association (alongside Copper Breaks State Park in Quanah). With the new acquisitions, Deming believes TPWD has increased the likelihood of preserving those experiences for future generations.
“The possibilities are amazing,” Deming said. “I see the possibility of a multiday backpacking trail or mountain bike trail though the park. Those are rare in Texas. We don't have many opportunities for that on public land.”
News of the acquisition is good not just for park enthusiasts, but also for conservation. In fact, state natural areas like Enchanted Rock place a distinct focus on protecting valuable and sensitive habitats. Enchanted Rock provides valuable habitat for the endangered golden-cheeked warbler. The park's vernal pools, also known as soil islands, that pockmark the surface of the rock with shallow water and vegetation are also ecologically significant and severely threatened features of the state natural area. These patches of vegetation on bare rock develop in depressions formed by weathering over thousands of years. They provide habitat for an invertebrate species called the fairy shrimp and a learning opportunity for ecologists studying habitat colonization and soil development.
The park has been an attraction for millennia because of the unique geologic formation for which it's named. Over many thousands of years, clay and soil eroded away until it left behind the smooth surface of Enchanted Rock seen today. The entire batholith may cover more than 100 square miles and is composed of a series of bedrock hills, seven of which are within the original boundaries of Enchanted Rock State Natural Area: Enchanted Rock (the main dome), Turkey Peak, Little Rock, Freshman Mountain, Buzzard's Roost, and Flagpole Mountain and No Name.
More than 400 archeological sites have been discovered in the park, of which about one-quarter are state archeological landmarks, and the site earns its names from myths of the rock's supernatural properties. Some nights, it seems come to life, groaning and moaning into the twilight. Although the phenomenon has a scientific explanation (as temperatures fluctuate, particularly when the mercury drops after sundown, the thick sheets of granite contract and expand, sending low, bassy sound waves into the hills and valleys) the park still has a mystical charisma.
The dome came into public ownership after The Nature Conservancy purchased the park's original 1,640 acres from private owners in 1978. A few months later, the conservation group transferred the property to TPWD for management. After adding visitor facilities, TPWD opened Enchanted Rock State Natural Area to the public in 1984.
Similarly, it will take several years before the newly acquired property is fully open to the public, although the TPWD hopes to cut down the development timeline significantly with the Centennial Fund.
Currently, the park offers 11 miles of trails, including the 1-mile Summit Trail that offers spectacular views over the Hill Country, and the 5-mile Loop Trail that encircles the rock and offers a mouse-level perspective of the towering formation. For decades, the park has been a major attraction for rock climbers. In the fall and winter months, the state natural area hosts five drawn hunt opportunities for deer, feral hogs and exotic game animals like axis deer. This season, hunters became the first public users to experience the 630-acre property as they sat in blinds waiting for targets to peek out from the cedar brush. Hunting access through the annual drawn hunts will likely be available on both the new properties in future years while they are being developed for additional park users.
Texans who want a say in its future can make their voices heard at an upcoming TPWD Commission meeting where the agency will accept public input on land use. Head to tpwd.texas.gov/business/feedback/meetings/ for upcoming meeting dates and agendas.