With intriguing domes of pinkish granite surrounded by a sea of Hill Country limestone, Enchanted Rock State Natural Area attracts over 300,000 visitors every year who come to the park to hike, rock climb, spelunk, camp, picnic, and observe birds and wildflowers. Geologists from around the world come to Enchanted Rock to examine landforms that were shaped by forces on ancient continents of Earth more than one billion years ago! All of these visitors, however, are only the latest comers in a line of human history that stretches back 13,000 years to early Native Americans and includes Spanish explorers, Mexican and German settlers, and thirteen private and public owners up to the current owner, the state of Texas. Surprisingly, given the area's wealth of unusual geology, native plants and animals, and human history, no comprehensive guide to Enchanted Rock has been published before now. In Enchanted Rock, you'll find everything you need to fully appreciate this unique place. Lance Allred draws on the work of specialists in many fields to offer a popular account of the park's history, geology, weather, flora, and fauna. Whether you want to know more about how Enchanted Rock was formed, identify a wildflower or butterfly, or learn more about plant communities along the hiking trails, you'll find accurate information here, presented in an inviting style. Over a thousand color photographs illustrate the enjoyable text.

Since it was first published in 1996, Official Guide to Texas State Parks and Historic Sites has become Texans' one-stop source for information on great places to view scenic landscapes, tour historical sites, camp, fish, hike, backpack, swim, ride horseback, go rock climbing, and enjoy almost any other outdoor recreation. This revised edition includes five new state parks and historical sites, completely updated information for every park, and many beautiful new photographs. The book is organized by geographical regions to help you plan your trips around the state. For every park, Laurence Parent provides all of the essential information: The natural or historical attractions of the park Types of recreation offered Camping and lodging facilities Addresses and phone numbers A locator map Magnificent color photographs So if you want to watch the sun set over Enchanted Rock, fish in the surf on the beach at Galveston, or listen for a ghostly bugle among the ruins of Fort Lancaster, let this book be your complete guide. Don't take a trip in Texas without it.

The Earth Beneath My Feet is the first of two books that describe an epic 7,000-mile wilderness walk across an entire continent. Like millions of people, Andrew Terrill grew up on the edge of a big city. But for Terrill, suburban life felt predictable and crowded - the days lacked purpose and meaning. What he craved was a life of freedom, adventure and simplicity, and after nearly dying in the Swiss Alps that was the life he chose. In May 1997 he left his London home and travelled to the southernmost point of Calabria, Italy. Once there, he turned north and began walking, headed for Norway's North Cape. Leaving civilisation behind, Terrill journeyed deep into the 'other Europe', the hidden wilderness Europe that still exists beyond road's end. Hiking from the Apennine mountain range - a wild side of Italy few outsiders ever know - to the vast northern wildernesses of Arctic Norway, Terrill immersed himself in the natural world, forever seeking a deeper connection with it. The 18-month journey became a voyage of discovery, unveiling the secrets and treasures of Europe's least-known places. The miles brought hardships and struggles, pushed Terrill to his limits, but ultimately led to unimaginable rewards. The Earth Beneath My Feet covers the journey's first eight months, taking readers the entire length of Italy during a searing-hot summer, and across Austria into the depths of an Alpine winter. It is a compelling tale of adventure told with freshness, optimism, wonder and youthful enthusiasm - an inspiring true story of a young man who chose to embrace life and live it to the full.

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area is a Texas Parks and Wildlife park in the Hill Country of Texas with a rich history of Rock Climbing. The Dome Drivers Manual is a climbing guidebook that includes historical references and descriptions of the climbing in the park.

McKinney Falls State Park, which lies across the Colorado River from Austin, is the 672-acre center of a 40,000 acre tract where Texas pioneer Thomas Freeman McKinney established his ranch. This carefully researched and well-written history relates the fascinating life story of the influential frontiersman and entrepreneur who lived and ranched at McKinney Falls. Born in Kentucky in 1801, McKinney led an adventuresome life on the early Texas frontier. In 1823, he and his cousin Phil Sublett left Missouri with a Santa Fe caravan. Finding the market there glutted, they took their goods on south to Chihuahua, Mexico. Returning through Saltillo and San Antonio, they stopped long enough in Stephen F. Austin's fledgling Texas colony for McKinney to claim a league of land. En route home, the men stopped in Nacogdoches where both young men settled and married. McKinney became a successful trader, eventually moving to the Brazos River valley, a jumping off point for his pack trains of cotton to Saltillo. Handy with a Kentucky rifle and fluent in Spanish, he traveled in Texas and Mexico as a businessman and made valuable contacts for the commission business he founded at the mouth of the Brazos in 1834. His firm of McKinney and Williams prospered and helped supply the Texas revolution in 1835-36. In 1837, McKinney and others founded the Galveston City Company. When he moved the McKinney & Williams commission house there, he became one of the wealthiest leaders of the new Republic. He was a power behind the political scenes, supporting Sam Houston, among others. After statehood, he served in the Texas House of Representatives. A Unionist like Houston in 1860, McKinney opposed secession, but when Texas left the Union, he reluctantly helped the struggling Confederacy. Eventually Confederate mismanagement and corruption ruined McKinney and he lost his fortune. When he died at McKinney Falls in 1871, after years of ranching and raising thoroughbred horses, Thomas F. McKinney had lived an eventful and influential life that spanned the entire early history of Texas.

Situated in the center of a state renowned for its abundant and varied birdlife, the Texas Hill Country provides habitat for 420 resident and migratory species, including the endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo. Mark Lockwood, a biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife, has monitored these and other bird populations throughout the Hill Country for many years. In this book, he offers a complete, up-to-date guide to the status and distribution of every bird species reliably reported on the Edwards Plateau. The species accounts focus on four key characteristics of each bird: relative abundance, distribution within the region, habitat, and timing of occurrence. In addition, Lockwood discusses species that have been reported, but not documented, in the Hill Country, as well as those that might be expected to occur. For birders and ornithologists less familiar with the region, Lockwood also gives a general introduction to the ecology of the Edwards Plateau and to the flora and birdlife found in eighteen parks and birding areas.

A river is a thread, embroidering our world. This non-fiction picture book brings attention to the rivers that stitch and thread our world together.