If you have been to the homepage of my site you have seen a picture of a nice hill by a pretty lake. That is one of the Twin Peaks at Dana Peak Park at Stillhouse Hollow Lake. This is an outstanding hiking venue. You can get an ample amount of miles, there are three hills to hike, the Twin Peaks and Dana Peak, and two miles of the trail is through prairie lands. There is also a section on the Fence Line Trail that is very desert-like.
Stillhouse Hollow Lake is the backup water supply for Round Rock and the primary supply for Harker Heights and I think the Army Base, Fort Hood, located at Killeen. The dam was constructed from 1962 to 1968 and impounds the Lampasas River.
Dana Peak Park is one of the fee areas run by the US Army Corps of Engineers, but the trailhead is outside the fee area. So hiking costs nothing.
When you start the hike at Dana Peak you can see over two miles of prairie before you, but I always take the first left on the Fence Line Trail.
The Fence Line trail can be a loop of 3.3 miles but I add the Twin Peaks Trail and the Dana Peak Trail to the mix. That gets me up to about 6 miles or so.
After about a mile and half or so of woodland hiking the trail enters the desert area for the next half mile. This is the high point of the Fenceline Trail. I descend to the Twin Peaks Trail junction.
Yes that is the handle of an air pump at the sign. Dana Peak Park is also a popular mountain bike venue although I have rarely seen many bikes on the trail.
The Twin Peaks top out at 716 Feet, small mountains but rather large for the area. I hike to the top of the saddle between the peaks.
I have been to the top of both peaks. there are no views from either one.
It is easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is from the top.
Arnold Bennett
After exploring around the Twin Peaks I descended and started the long two mile trek across the prairie to Dana Peak. This is where the best views of Dana Peak (827 ft) can be had.
Now 827 feet doesn’t seem tall but again we have to look at prominence. The surrounding lakeshore of these peaks is less then 625 feet, so it is quite a climb up these little hills.
I arrive at Dana Peak. The best views of the place are from here. This is where I got this beautiful view of the Twin Peaks and Stillhouse Hollow Lake
Old Man Wandering 