The Park

The 1,642-acre park was purchased by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in cooperation with the nature Conservancy in 1978. Preserved and operated as a state natural area, this park provides opportunities for hiking, climbing, backpacking, camping, picnicking, and nature study.

Because of its unusual geological features and archeological significance, Enchanted Rock was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Department of the interior in 1971, and was included in the national Register of Historic Places August 29, 1984.

To give you an idea of the size of these rocks, that tiny red circle is me sitting on the rocks that are enlarged to the left.

Facilities and Activities

Camping:

each site is intended to accommodate 8 persons or less.

Walk-in Tent Camping:

sites with tent pads, picnic tables, fire rings; a water faucet is nearby; restroom with showers (hot); camping equipment must be carried a short distance from vehicle.

Primitive Campsites:

three separate areas for backpackers along trail; composting toilets available.

Picnicking:

special areas for day-use with picnic tables, BBQ grills.

Group Facilities:

group picnic area with pavilion.

Hiking Trails:

a four mile trail winds around the granite formations and a short, steep trail leads up to the top of Enchanted Rock; foot traffic only.

Rock Climbing:

rock climbers must check in at headquarters; route maps and climbing rules available.

Natural Features: Geology

Through the eons, overlying ancient metamorphic and younger sedimentary rocks have been stripped away by erosion, thus exposing an extensive igneous feature known as the Enchanted Rock batholith. Enchanted Rock proper is but one small exposed part of this ancient batholith and is called an exfoliation dome because of the way plates of rock break away (exfoliate) from the main dome along curved joints. Geologists also call Enchanted Rock an "inselberg" - an island mountain, for obvious reasons.

Other exposed masses of igneous material both within and around the park represent outcrops of the Enchanted Rock batholith (which covers about 90 square miles) and occur as angular blocky hills. This variation is due to differences in the composition of the magma and its cooling history prior to exposure.

Weathering has produced a variety of features including small circular depressions with raised rims called rock doughnuts, shallow depressions from an inch up to 50 feet in length called gnammas or weather pits, and incised flutes and channels on the surface of the granite rock. The mushroom-shaped formation found throughout the park were formed by freeze-thaw weathering or by other processes related to chemical weathering in ancient soils which may have once covered these features.

Other features of geological interest include Enchanted Rock Fissure which developed under talus blocks along a sheeting joint. It is one of the largest known granite caves. Smaller structures called A-tent caves have also been formed by sections of exfoliated sheets.

History

Although Indians may have come to this area as early as 10,000 or 11,000 years ago, evidence for later occupations is more specific and abundant. Archaeological remains are common in the park area and indicate that the Enchanted Rock area was attractive to different groups of prehistoric peoples over a long period of time.

The first well-documented explorations of this area did not begin until 1723 when the Spanish intensified their efforts to colonize Texas. During the mid-1700s, the Spaniards made several trips to the north and northwest of San Antonio, establishing a mission and presidio on the San Saba River and carrying out limited mining on Honey Creek near the Llano River. European discovery of Enchanted Rock, however, is attributed to a group of Anglo-Texans led by Captain Henry S. Brown, who were pursuing a party of fleeing Indians.

After several owners, a league and labor containing the park site was sold to Samuel A. Maverick in 1944 who patented the land in 1851.

German immigrants colonized this area beginning in 1946 and established the town of Fredericksburg which had a population of 966 by 1847. These early pioneers suffered the privations and hardships of frontier life but enjoyed a comparatively peaceful relationship with the Indians because of a treaty with the Comanche made in 1847 by John O. Meusebach, Commissioner-General of the German Emigration Company.

Nearby Points of Interest

Lyndon B. Johnson State Historical Park and the Adjacent National Historical Park are located near Stonewall some 16 miles east of Fredricksburg and feature the LBJ Ranch, the Sauer-Beckmann living history farmstead, the Johnson Birthplace and the family cemetery where the former President is buried.

Other state parks in this scenic area include Perdenales Fall, 42 miles east of Fredericksburg; Blanco which is 37 miles southeast of Fredericksburg; Guadalupe River which is south of Blanco; and Kerrville which is 45 miles south of the park. Inks Lake and Longhorn Cavern state parks are approximately 25 miles east of Llano within an hour's drive to the northeast of Enchanted Rock.

Click here and here for more pictures from my adventures at Enchanted Rock.

Enchanted Rock Links