Located an hour and a half Northwest of Austin there lies a unique 5,300 acre park with various hiking trails making this the perfect two day camping trip for Luci and me. Can you tell she was uber excited?
I’d been wanting to take Luci camping for quite some time. We were very fortunate to have such beautiful weather in March. Little heads up, beware for loose cattle when you turn left on Co Rd 442 because they run loose up until the park entrance. Drive slowly 🙂
The entrance has an automated gate that opens at 6 am and closes at 10 pm. Directly past the gate is a self pay box for daily park fees only. You may drive through the park to the office if you’ve already booked a campsite online or plan on doing so in person.
After checking in, we parked at the site and I started to set up camp (something I haven’t done in years.) I was astonished by the minimal effort needed to assemble my new REI tent. I also cheated and brought along some DuraFlame logs because I don’t know the first thing about properly starting a fire from scratch. With plenty of time left in the day, Luci and I loaded back into the Dune and drove to the Gorman Falls trail.
The majority of Colorado Bend is, as you’d imagine, desolate land in Texas- tall grass, cactus fields, wild flowers, and limestone rock trails. The trail was very easy until the last few minutes before reaching Gorman Falls which involved a challenging but short rock descent. I was worried it would be too difficult for Luci Lou but she made it down like a champ. Meanwhile, you could find me taking my sweet time holding onto the cable railing.
The Falls are not something you’d expect to find in Texas. Everything surrounding this lush greenery wall is dry and nearly brown. Although smaller than expected, this was still a pleasant surprise.
I like to think Luci was really enjoying her time…
As expected, The Gorman Falls Trail took an hour and a half and that left us a couple hours of daylight before having to head back to camp. I drove us to the Windmill Trail and we finished through on the Lively Loop. This trail led us through empty fields making it a tedious hike but I’m not gonna complain about some peace and quiet! We didn’t see a single soul while we were out there.
I spent the evening cradling Luci while drinking a beer by the fire (quite impressed with the result if you ask me!) She was so content lying in my arms. The plan was to wake up early and hike the River Trail before heading back to Austin BUT neither Luci or I could sleep. My sleeping pad deflated and Miss Luci was fixated on the armadillos running rampant outside of our tent. Around 1 am I decided this was silly and I packed everything up and we drove home, haha.
I worried I made the wrong decision but on the drive back I saw the moon like never before. It was so low to the ground that I thought it was art on the side of a barn. Of course I wasn’t able to capture any worthy photos but it was enormous and glowing burnt orange. I pulled over several times to safely enjoy the view. By the time I reached Austin it was our average moon, like it had never happened. Maybe it was just a dream.