It appeared that the tunnel kept going though. After closing its gates to visitors for three months, Chalk Ridge Falls Park is once again open and ready to welcome visitors to a little slice of beautiful. I went in about 25 feet which was as far as I could go without a flashlight. Unfortunately, the cave is loaded with beer bottles and litter (as shown in the photos below), and I don't know how far the cave goes in. You have to scramble up a steep hillside to get to the cave, but it's worth seeing, and there's some exploring to do up at the bluff. The cave is not immeditately off the trail, but it's carved into the bluff that's up the hill on your right. Picturesque doesn’t quite do justice to this beautiful area. There's a cave near the last section of the trail which you can easily miss if you're not looking for it.
#CHALK RIDGE FALLS PARK FULL#
There are huge trees bent in half all over the place (see photo below).Īnother good reason to hike the full length of this trail is to see the cave. The interesting thing about it, however, is the large number of very large fallen trees. The entire trail parallels the Lampassas River, and it's a pretty basic, flat trail. In a visit to Chalk Ridge Falls Park, we noticed that there is only one place to dispose of. The falls at the beginning are impressive, but the best ones are those at the end in my opinion, so it's really worth the hike to see them. We are doing a project on Water Conservation and Water Pollution.
#CHALK RIDGE FALLS PARK SERIES#
On the main trail there are a series of falls - at the beginning of the trail and at the end by Camp Tahuaya. You'll see water gushing from large springs in the side of the cliff wall. The farther you go upstream, the more interesting it gets. This is the best part of the park! The creek has cut deep into the limestone there, so it has made a really neat canyon that has caves and springs all over the place. If the water level is right, you can walk that creek bed for about a mile upstream. There are some steps there that will take you down to the creek bed. So, when you walk down the nicely maintainted trail you'll get to a wooden bridge/walkway that crosses a creek. However, there are limited spaces and on the weekends it may be hard to find a spot. In addition to the obvious trail that follow the river for about 2 miles, you can also make your own trail by following the creek that the walkway crosses (by the green pond). Unfortunately, the floods in 2007 took out the really neat suspension bridge, and as of November 2007 they still had not fixed it, and the trail was closed at that point. But as you go farther the trail turns into a dirt path which can get quite rugged and overgrown somtimes. It starts off on a nicely maintained path with railings, bridges, info signs, etc. This hiking trail is great because of the variety. Chalk Ridge Falls Park is just north of Salado - about a 35 minute drive out of Austin. Chalk Ridge Falls is located along the Lampasas River and features 2.5 miles of hiking trails, a suspension bridge & waterfalls. Over the years, many have claimed to see both the bodies and in many cases the spirits of children rising from the ground into the sky, as though being abducted by some extraterrestrial force. By better understanding environmental conditions that promote cyanobacteria and by being able to recognize harmful blooms, people can minimize or even eliminate the risk of exposure to these toxins.It isn't often that I can recommend a place that's north of Austin, but this is an exception. Lucy Park may well be the most bizarre place in the world when it comes to waterfalls. When blooms die the water can have a bad rotting odor. Blooms can also look like scum layers or algae mats on the water’s surface that most commonly occur near shorelines where wind and wave action accumulate them. Blooms are sometimes observed as colored bluish and/or greenish films on the water’s surface. This rapid population growth is known as a “bloom.”Ĭyanobacteria blooms typically form in warm, slow moving waters that are rich in nutrients. The owner took the dog to a veterinarian after the dog developed distress, with the suspected cause being the presence of blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria.Ī Corp statement said these are aquatic organisms that have the potential to produce toxins that can be life threatening to people and pets when the population grows rapidly to produce sufficient toxin levels in the water. The US Army Corps of Engineers is temporarily closing Chalk Ridge Falls Park at Stillhouse Hollow Lake after a dog developed respiratory problems over the weekend and had to be put down.
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