This could be another urban hiking entry, but Blanco is so small it is not really urban but a country town. In 1933 residents of Blanco Texas sold the state 104 acres of land to build a park. The 177 men of Company 854 arrived and worked for eleven months creating the park. At 104 acres this is one of Texas’ smallest parks but there is a lot packed into it.
This is much like the linear parks in North Carolina in that the majority of the park extends just a few yards on each side of the river.
The Blanco River is very beautiful. I parked at the pavilion and started out on the Caswell Nature Trail one of only two trails in the park.
I walked down the CCC built stairs to the first dam of the day
I am not sure exactly what the concrete box was for at the far end. It overflowed creating a waterfall. It may have been the wash pond that many of these parks have.
The easy Caswell Trail took me to the second dam built by the CCC downstream about a mile.
Past the dam as the trail looped around to head back it dropped into the small canyon that this river has.
After returning to the parking area, I walked the road across the low water crossing to do the other trail, the Pumphouse Trail. Here I found the remains of the CCC pump house
This trail led to a disappointing overlook as it was overgrown. But I found a lower trail along the river that led me to a third dam.
When I returned to the parking area, I decided to drive to the other picnic area I saw from across the river while on the Pump House Trail. I was glad I did. There were CCC built picnic tables and benches.
I put off coming here because of its small size. I was heading for Guadalupe River this morning but found out most of the trails were closed so I ended up here. It was a surprising, nice visit and another park checked off the list.
Old Man Wandering 