San Angelo State Park in San Angelo TX

After spending some time in the panhandle of Texas we moved on down to a spot we've spent time at before. San Angelo State Park is a favorite stop of ours because we like the solitude of the campground and we also enjoy the town of San Angelo.

We love that the park has lots of trails to hike on and there is also a wildlife/bird blind near the campground loop we stay at .We have seen a lot of different birds there and have seen javalina on several occasions as well. While we did see a lot of birds we didn't see any javalina this time around,

Temperatures are unseasonably hot this year with highs in the mid-100’s so we hike much shorter distances than normal.One trail we took this year was new to us.We learned that the gate code given to us at check-in opens all the gates in the park, including those in parts of the park labeled closed.

There is a 2.7 mile hike where visitors can see dinosaur footprints in a creek bed. Wanting to do this hike we drove up to the north part of the lake using the gate code to get to the trailhead.It was over a hundred degrees but we did the hike anyway.

Yes it was hot and there wasn’t a lot of shade but it was a nice hike. There were still plenty of wildflowers in bloom making it as enjoyable despite sweltering temperatures.

We did a few short hikes in the park to see the lake and the buffalo herd in the park. The lake is the fullest we have ever seen it and it still is only 2.9% full.

There were grand plans when the COE built this lake including a privately developed airstrip and community. But alas, the lake was last full in 1959 and since the lake is fed by the North Concho River which has been dry for several months and even stopped running over a year ago there is little chance the lake will ever be full again.

We also hiked around the downtown area and re-visited the Lilly Gardens in town.  It’s always great to see the varieties of lilies in bloom and always fun to re-visit San Angelo Texas.