Seminole Canyon State Park, TX…

What an unexpected surprise Fort Clark Springs was but it was time to move to our next adventure. Next up, Seminole Canyon State Park, a park we had never been to before but were looking forward to exploring.

The only big negative about staying at this park is there is little to no WIFI or cell service if you have Verizon like we do. Nevertheless we were willing to make the sacrifice for two nights in order to experience this state park in Texas.

While our site was nothing special it did provide spectacular views to the east and west which was perfect for sunrises and sunsets.While it was cloudy a lot during our stay there were still some peeks of color for us to enjoy.

Our first day there we made it in time to set up and to sign up for the Fate Bell Tour which is a guided hike led by a ranger/volunteer. The only way one can see the caves or enter Seminole Canyon is by tour only. The tours cost $8.00 each but we thought the tour was well worth the admission.

Before heading of to our tour we spent some time at the visitor’s center. There was a really nice exhibit at the center worthy of a lengthy visit to get a better feel of what life might have been like when the Native Indians ruled the canyon.

Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and provided some keen insight as to what we were seeing and what might have happened years ago in Seminole Canyon. The Fate Bell tour is a short, less than 2 hour, hike that took us from the visitor’s center down to the Fate Bell overhang with numerous petroglyphs.

The petroglyphs shown are unique in that the style of them are only found along a fifty mile stretch of this canyon. They are colorful, larger and more interesting than the many we have seen throughout the southwest. Walking in the canyon was also delightful as we encountered numerous ephemeral ponds in the canyon complete with frogs, an unexpected sight in the deserts of west Texas.

We thought the tour was great but we wanted to see more so we planned a hike of less than 3 miles along the Pressa Canyon rim. While we didn’t see any more petroglyphs we saw some amazing scenery and lots of wildflowers we didn’t expect to see in December.

While Sharon was working out one afternoon I hopped on my mountain bike and made a 6 mile trek along a dirt and rocky trail down to where Seminole Canyon meets up with the Rio Grande River. Why? Because there is a well known petroglyph in an overhand just before I got to the Rio Grande.

This petroglyph is something special as it is a depiction of a panther and can only be seen with binoculars since it is on the other side of the canyon. A panther you say, what is so special about that? Well this panther is 9 feet wide making this one heck of huge petroglyph and certainly one of the most interesting ones I’ve ever encountered.

Our two days went by fast. While we didn’t have any internet or cell service we did escape the park one night to head back into the town of Comstock where we stopped into the J & L Bar and Café for a cold beverage and some internet signal. But this fun too will end as it will be time to move on once again in the morning.