Discuss: Lost Maples State Natural Area - Wild Texas Forums: Parks, Travel & Recreation

Shannon · 11-19-2001, 07:10 PM

Share you comments or questions about Lost Maples State Natural Area, located in Vanderpool, Texas.

04-06-2002, 05:06 AM

My wife and kiddos and I have been backpacking here several times. To truly appreciate the park, backcountry is the way to go. The main campground is quite boring

. The hiking, however, is some of the best in the Hill Country, we have hiked all the trails and still can't get enough. The scenery is amazing, canyons, maples, hills full of Teaxas Mountain Laurels. For all of you backpackers out there tired of carrying a ton of water on your hikes, there are plenty of water sources in the park to filter!
Lates,
Justin
*PS- we have encountered more wildlife here than any other park except Big Bend!

04-12-2002, 07:49 PM

What kinds of wildlife have you seen at Lost Maples? I saw a group of javalinas on a ridgetop once. If you have never been to Brazos Bend, check it out for wildlife. In one day we saw raccoons. opossum. snakes, hawks, turtles, several types of wading birds, a swarm of crawdads, and of course lots of alligators!

Shannon · 10-01-2003, 09:43 PM

It's time to start watching the ol' Lost Maples SNA Fall Foliage Report -- updates are posted beginning early in October, courtesy of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD).

Keep your fingers crossed for a colorful fall!

kai · 10-03-2003, 06:50 AM

I was out at lost maples, hiking with my sister-in-law last february. it was beautiful - started out 50 degrees and misty, ended up about 75 degrees and sunny. we really enjoyed the varied terrain. at one point, we thought we heard something that sounded like a pig snort off to our left, on a hillside. any thoughts on what that might have been? (neither one of us knows anything about the wildlife down here).

the only other time I went out there, last May, it was also chilly (compared to S.A.), and misty- I'm assuming thats a frequent pattern out there?

on a side note- i really enjoy the drive to the park from san antonio...

Shannon · 10-03-2003, 01:49 PM

Yes, the drive from San Antonio up to Lost Maples is indeed gorgeous. I'm always taken aback by how beautiful it is when it's been awhile since we've made the trip up there!

That May visit to Lost Maples you speak of must have been splendid. The Hill Country, of which Vanderpool and Lost Maples SNA are included, is always slightly cooler than San Antonio, but by May the weather can be creeping into heatwave territory. One early February a couple years back, I remember driving out to Hill Country SNA only to realize it was still closed for hunting -- the temperature was over 95 degrees, and had fooled me into forgetting hunting season was (that year, at least) still in full swing!

I've experienced a couple misty, cool mornings at Lost Maples SNA like the one you describe and it does seem to experience that weather pattern fairly often...at least at certain times of year. I still need to camp there -- can't believe I haven't yet! I'm always jealous of the Boy Scout troops or backpacking couples I see when I'm there for a day hike...

Cube · 10-27-2003, 09:41 AM

Howdy all,

Our Boy Scout troop just spent the weekend at Lost Maples. The foilage will be a bit light this year as many of the Maple leaves are down. The wet and the mild seem to have hurt the turning.

Still, it was an excellent backpacking trip. The trails are challenging, but not difficult. For young men under load or younger kids without a pack, it is a fine walk. The creek beds are breathtaking at times.

I would recommend good boots or shoes as the trail is rocky and a bit loose in places.

The drive through Medina did show some great color from the Cypress trees on the river bank.

Good day all,

11-06-2003, 08:50 PM

Which primitive campsites on the West side are the best? I hiked the East Trail and C (at the Ponds) was the only one I really liked. I've only made it to D on the West trail.

Dave

Cube · 11-06-2003, 09:11 PM

Hey there,

C is a beautiful campsite, but is very crowded and the nexus of the two trails.

Our troop stayed in G and it was a good place. It had room for the 30 or so Scouts. It was a good place.

Seeya on the trail.

Turn Key · 12-07-2003, 09:33 AM

Garner & Lost Maples SP’s
Spring, 2003

While we are camping at one park, we often take the time to check out other parks in the area. Our last trip to Guadalupe River SP was no exception. We had one day that promised to be a bit cloudy and misty so we felt that this was the time to do a bit of touring. I had heard and read a lot about Garner and Lost Maples SP's but had not checked them out as yet. The following is what we found about these two parks.

Garner SP is located about 70 mile west and a little north of San Antonio. It is at the northern extreme of Uvalde County, near the town of Leaky. We found it to be a very large park with much to do, the main recreation appearing to revolve around the Frio River. There is a lot of interest in tubing and canoeing. Even though the river was nice enough, I must say that I have seen prettier in Texas. There is also other types of activities, two of them being miniature golf and bike rental. Park has a large number of camping sites set into 7 loops. All appears well cared for and clean. Camping is very "open" which is not something we like. Also, shade is at a premium.

We only spent about 30 minutes at this park. Driving in you will notice a very large and extensive "check-in" area. This will give you a clue what this park must be like during the warmer parts of the year and on weekends. Even though I can find nothing wrong with this park, it is not the type of place DW and I are likely to return to. It just does not fit our idea of camping.

On the same day we took a drive through Lost Maples SP. This park is about 20 miles northeast of Garner, near the town of Vanderpool in Bandera County. It is set in the valley of a couple of mountains (big hills?) and better fits our idea of what we like in a state park. This parks "claim to fame" appears to be about 13-14 miles of what looks like great hiking trails. I understand that these trails are well known and take you to and through some beautiful areas. According to "Mr. Ranger", this park gets a large contingent of out-of-state and even out-of-country visitors who take part in some excellent "birding". Being as we had not planned for it, DW and I were ill equipped to do much more then take a quick look. What I saw just left me wanting more.

Camping in this park is on a very small scale. There are only 30 "power & water" sites in one loop. Camping area is very "open" with little privacy and not much shade except for the covered picnic table. Best sites by our judgment were numbers 16, 17 & 30 (limited privacy due to distance from other sites) and sites 5 & 19 (limited shade). Shower house is modern and clean. There is also a very nice Interpretive Center at the main entrance.

DW and I both liked this park and are considering a "fall" trip. Most likely we will return here for a full day of hiking the next time we take one of our "long" trips to South Llano River SP.
That about raps it up for these two parks. Hope you find this info of some help.

Happy Camping!

copuswalker · 12-07-2003, 09:58 AM

Lost Maples is a gem for sure. I go through the week and escape the majority of the crowds. The hiking trails are real nice.
Garner is, as you say crowded. It has a nice but short hiking trail. We have stayed but prefer to camp below the cliffs across from the theatre. you can access the river by the shelters and avoid the majority of people. My wife and I are like you and do not like the "take a ticket" entrance or crowds.
Next time look at Hill Contry State Natural Area. Mostly for equestrian and backpacking. Beautiful scenery for hiking. It is a very primitive park though. Good luck and glad you finally signed in!

Shannon · 12-07-2003, 11:23 AM

Excellent write-up on Garner State Park and Lost Maples SNA, Turn Key! (I've got competition if you keep that up!) It echoes my sentiments exactly. Justin and I have never camped at Garner or Lost Maples, actually, and the primary reasons are those you noted: crowding at Garner (most evident in the summer and around holidays any time of year) and relatively few trails; and limited non-hike in sites at Lost Maples SNA. That said, Lost Maples is high on my list of the next place I want to camp; I just need to convince Justin to do a hike-in camping trip someday.

We spent several days and nights in Leakey at a rental home near the Real County Airport in October 2003, so we had a great time exploring both Garner SP and Lost Maples SNA. Hiked "Old Baldy" at Garner for the first time (still need to share that write-up and the photographs we took there). We also drove probably every single loop road in the park while playing around with our new Garmin GPS, resulting in some wacky GPS tracks! At Lost Maples we ended up doing just a bit of photography and not much hiking. Scouted out the developed campsites to make notes of future sites we might enjoy; I'll have to dig up my notes and see if our numbers coincide with yours -- a couple of those sound familiar, and your criteria for a desirable campsite seems to mesh with ours.

I second copuswalker's recommendation for Hill Country SNA, by the way. No developed facilities (electricity, potable water, dump station) there, but plenty of short walk-in and longer hike/backpack-in sites, LOTS of terrific trails over varied terrain and just all around a great place to escape the rat race and get back to nature. I had a wonderful time in May camping at Hill Country SNA.

Turn Key · 12-07-2003, 08:37 PM

Glad you enjoyed my review. I do these most every time we go camping and always after we check out a new park or after our longer trips. Have a number of them on disc for different parks and will copy them to the site as information is requested. The date shown after the title for each review will let the reader know when I was last there and roughly when the review was written.

I try to be honest in my reviews and won't "white wash" anything. There are enough camping directories out there that do that now. Hope every one can find some use for my ramblings.

Happy Camping!

01-18-2004, 02:10 PM

All I can say is WOW! I just got home from my weekend trip to LMSNA. I arrived at camp on Friday afternooon right at check-in time. The park seemed desserted due to the weather. I was the first one to check in so I had my pick of campsites. I chose #20 due to the wide area. I went camping with some friends so we need the extra space. I spent most of Friday afternoon setting up waiting for my friends to arrive. Everyone finally arrived late in the evening. Boy Scout troops also arrived late in the evening. I guess everyone waited until the rain stopped.
Saturday was spent hiking the East Trail. It was wonderful. The scenery was breath taking and so was the hike up the steep incline.

We did the East Trail counterclockwise starting at the Day Use area and ending in the overflow lot. The trails were pretty muddy from the rain. I soaked in as much of the scenery into memory as possible. I enjoyed every mile of the hike. It was worth it. The trails were not heavily used Saturday when I did the hike around 11am. It was very relaxing and peaceful.
A bunch of scouts finally arrived Saturday night and finally filled in the void of the campsite. We fought heavy winds that night and finally called it quits around 10pm. I left LMSNA this morning back to Houston. I will be back!

PS- For those who like to drive, TX 16 and 337 was a blast. It's very scenic.

kay1974 · 07-27-2005, 03:15 PM

Can you ride horses in Lost Maples State Natural Area? Are there trails, restrictions?