South Llano River State Park, Texas

South Llano River State Park, right outside the little town of Junction, is our last stop before arriving “back at the ranch”, and what a treat this has been! When we stayed here back in early March the only wildlife we saw was birds, but this visit was different. As we rolled slowly through the campground looking for our assigned site an ambitious little armadillo welcomed us. He was mining for his dinner, and completely oblivious to my cautious approach to take his photo.

All afternoon and again in the early morning light we were surrounded by grazing deer. These Texas deer aren’t very meaty compared to those we were used to in Oregon – and we can’t figure out why all the pickup trucks here have such enormous grill guards. You probably wouldn’t even get much of a dent hitting one of these little guys. They’re so dainty they look like lawn ornaments! And they are a soft gray-brown, making them almost invisible in the brush.There's a small arrow over the one looking at the camera in this photo. You can click on any of these photos for a larger version, making it easier to see the critters.

We’re quite a ways from city lights, so last night when we stepped out to check out the stars we had an amazing view of the sky that included the milkiest Milky Way I’ve ever seen. Too bad it wasn’t just a bit warmer, we would have stayed out a little longer. When we checked in the office staff mentioned the temperature had dipped down to 15 the night before, so before we went to bed we took the precaution of putting the water hose in the shower. ‘A good move, as it did go down to 28 during the night and froze the faucet.

This morning over coffee we watched a flock of wild turkey’s work their way around our site. This is a wild turkey nesting area. From October through March a large section of the park is closed off to people so the turkeys aren’t disturbed while they raise their families. There are other areas to hike, and a really cozy bird blind set up for those who want to photograph or just observe. The blind is a little wooden building with nice big windows and several theater style seats – very comfy! There are feeding stations right outside the windows, so there’s a good chance of getting close-up views of the visiting birds.


It’s a beautiful park, with the amazing Hill Country mix of red oak, mesquite, cedar and patches of prickly pear you can’t beat the contrast. The river is not only beautiful it’s a great fishing spot, so there’s something for everyone here. I know we’ll be back, probably some time in the spring when we can check out wildflowers and the spring birds. The only down-side to this area is that we have no cell/Internet access, so blog updates and phone calls have to wait until we’re back in range.