Introduction to Bastrop State Park

We sort of lollygagged today - it being Valentine's Day.  After starting out with a scrumptious heart-shaped-pancake breakfast, we settled into some serious Facebooking and blogging.  By the time we raised our heads, it was lunchtime.  After a bite, we decided to head over to check out nearby Bastrop State Park.

Our first stop was the scenic overlook at the top of the park.  Over 2,000 acres for the park was donated to the state by the city of Bastrop in 1938.  The Civilian Conservation Corps built many of the park facilities between 1933 and 1939 using native stone to blend with the landscape. The facilities were designed by architect Arthur Fehr.  Here is a photo of the overlook shelter, which is a beautiful example of the CCC stonework:

A drinking fountain was built by the CCC at a spring in the park.  Here, David is trying to get a drink from the obviously dry spring:

After the overlook, we drove on to Bastrop Lake, which is a reservoir that has fish for the catching - such as crappies, sunnies, bluegill and catfish:

As we walked around the margin of the lake, we saw a Great White Egret fishing on the far bank of the lake.

In September 2011, 96% of the park was burned by the Bastrop County Complex fire, which was the most destructive wildfire in Texas history, striking areas of Bastrop County in September and October 2011. Three separate fires started on September 4, 2011, as a result of strong winds caused by nearby Tropical Storm Lee, and merged into one large blaze that burned east of the city of Bastrop.

Two people were killed by the fire, which destroyed almost 1700 homes.  A number of families that were dispossessed by the 2011 fire still haven't found replacement homes (or are building new homes) and are living in RV's in our campground.

Fire officials believed the likely cause of the blaze was sparks from electric power lines. Thirty-mile-per-hour gusts of wind on September 4th apparently toppled trees which tumbled into electrical lines at two locations, creating sparks that fell onto and ignited the dry grass and leaf litter below.

Only around 100 acres were saved. Most CCC structures were saved, including the cabins around the lake. The park was closed on September 4th due to the fire and did not reopen until December 2nd. In 2012, a campaign was begun to restore the forest within 30 years by replacing 4 million burned trees.

Here's Kathy estimating the number of growing seasons since the fire.  You can do this by counting the number of growth limbs on young pine trees.

The main feature of the park is the stands of Loblolly Pines (Pinus taeda). This pine woodland is isolated from the main body of East Texas pines by approximately 100 miles of Post Oak (Quercus stellata) woodlands giving the Bastrop State Park Loblollies the nickname the "Lost Pines of Texas."

As you can see from this photo, most of the park burned --

-- but the staff has maintained the trails and bridges, which are nevertheless interesting means of exploring the effects of the fire.

Bastrop State Park is home to the largest mating group of the endangered Houston toad on public land. The park also has White-tailed deer, rabbits, squirrels, Virginia Opossums and Nine-banded Armadillos. Northern Cardinals are one of the species of birds found in the park.  Unfortunately, we saw none of those species.  Maybe next time.