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.

Nature takes a surprising turn in the heart of Texas. The flat Gulf Coastal Plains, which become the fertile Blackland Prairies in Central Texas, end abruptly at the Balcones Escarpment, one of the state’s most dramatic geological features, and the rolling, more sparsely vegetated Hill Country begins. The animal life varies as dramatically as the land. More than 400 species of birds alone, nearly three-fourths of all Texas birds, can be spotted in the region. This handbook offers a concise natural history of Central Texas and a complete checklist of all native and naturalized vertebrate animals, including birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, as well as invertebrates that include butterflies and land snails. The listings cite both scientific and common names for each species, relative abundance in the region, and preferred habitats. A distinguishing feature of the handbook is its list of parks and recreational areas in the region, which includes the counties of Bastrop, Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Burleson, Burnet, Caldwell, Comal, Fayette, Gillespie, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Hays, Kendall, Lee, Llano, Milam, Travis, and Williamson. The authors describe the recreational facilities available in each park and list the animal species likely to be encountered there. For birdwatchers, naturalists, visitors, and residents alike, this popular handbook will be the essential "where-to-find-it" reference.

The most comprehensive, map-packed guide available for Texas walkers, hikers, and backpackers.

* All trails within driving distance of Austin, San Antonio, and Houston * Terrain that's hazard-free and easy on the dog paws * Guidebook includes what to pack for your dog - the Ten Canine Essentials and the Doggy First-Aid Kit A native of Texas, Melissa Gaskill has spent more than 20 years hiking and camping with her dogs all over the Lonestar State. In this guidebook, she shares her favorite hikes in the Hill Country and Coast areas that are sure to delight both you and your dog. The trails in range from short jaunts to longer, challenging hikes. Discover everything from rugged hills with limestone cliffs and rolling terrain, to wide-open areas with brush and cactus, to the coastal plain with its grasslands and pine forests. For each hike, leash regulations and availability of water are noted, along with any trail concerns pertinent for your dog. Advice is given on topics such as proper canine trail etiquette, wildlife encounters, and weather concerns. There's alsoa handy Trail Finder chart that lists hikes by length, terrain, difficulty for dogs, and more.

From the High Plains of the Panhandle to the tropics of the south, Texas is great for car camping weekends. In a modern world often dominated by big cities, big concrete, and little computer screens, Best Tent Camping: Texas by Wendel Withrow is not only a guidebook, but it's also an escape manual for all nature lovers who dare to dream of a different existence. This book will help the reader navigate the back roads of Texas to find those special locales that will give the overworked, overstressed city dweller 50 special places to recharge his or her head, heart, and soul. This fully updated and now full color guidebook provides detailed campground maps, key information (such as facility details, fees, restrictions), driving directions, a rating system (subjective, of course), and, most importantly, firsthand information about which sites provide the best tent camping experience to avoid the R.V. scene as much as possible. To help make the perfect campground easy to find, the guide is divided into the major geographical areas of Texas and provides cross-referencing for parks that emphasize certain activities. Traveling thousands of miles across the huge expanse of Texas, Wendel visited each campground to report up-to-date and accurate information for the next tent camper who is looking for that special place of solitude and comfort. Based on more than 30 years of following the little-known back roads of Texas, the individual park and site descriptions will give you a head start on where to put down those tent stakes for a night or a week (if you are lucky enough to really slow down the hectic pace that most of us seem forced to keep). The book also contains local history, local attractions, camping tips, and recommended reading material to enhance your knowledge of the area or expand your understanding of Texas's natural features.

The essential guide to Texas’s state parks and historic sites. Updated with a new park, Palo Pinto Mountains State Park west of Forth Worth; new historic sites; and scores of beautiful new photographs, the Official Guide to Texas State Parks has all the essential information organized by geographical regions to help you plan your great Texas adventure. The only complete resource of its kind on Texas, Laurence Parent’s Official Guide to Texas State Parks is the trusted source, with more than sixty-five thousand copies sold over the past thirty years. Praise for Previous Editions “Texas state-park fans should be thrilled. . . . Official Guide to Texas State Parks is the ultimate book detailing Texas’s state parks.”—Dallas Morning News “This book will make you want to hit the road to visit the natural splendor of Texas.”—Houston Chronicle “It’s good enough for a coffee table or a campfire. The Official Guide to Texas State Parks gives you sleek photography, maps, narratives, and loads of information.”—Southern Living “The newly updated Official Guide to Texas State Parks and Historic Sites . . . has beautiful color photographs and insights on camping, fishing, horseback riding, and other recreational opportunities around the state.”—Texas Journey

Best Easy Day Hikes Austin includes concise descriptions of the best short hikes in the area, with detailed maps of the routes. The 20 hikes in this guide are generally short, easy to follow, and guaranteed to please.

Formerly a part of the popular Lone Star Guide to the Texas Hill Country, Central Texas now gets its own treatment in this up-to-date guide that includes history, folklore, and geography; detailed listings of lodgings, restaurants, and entertainment; major attractions, including state parks, museums, and historic places; directions, days and hours of operation, addresses, and phone numbers; and maps and calendar of events. Five tours take you from the Balcones Escarpment to "Central Texas Stew," a region of the state largely settled by Czechs and Germans in the early twentieth century.