Leaving Austin, we headed to Carlsbad Caverns in southeastern New Mexico. In between is almost 500 miles of West Texas—a drive that can seem interminable. But our journey took us through the beautiful Hill Country at the peak of wildflower season, to interesting and art-centric San Angelo (in the middle of nowhere) and to sledding in the sand dunes at Monahans Sandhills State Park (in the middle of another nowhere). Should you find yourself traveling through this area of Texas, we highly recommend both.
Traveling Through The Hill Country Of Texas
Wildflower season in the Texas Hill Country
San Angelo State Park: San Angelo, TX
This was our second visit to San Angelo State Park, so we knew we had something to look forward to at the end of our 200-mile drive from Austin. We settled into our lovely, spacious site beneath the shade trees, and spent a couple of days enjoying the peace and quiet.
Huge, peaceful campsite at San Angelo State Park
Our only expedition was a drive into San Angelo, 15 miles away—in part for a laundry extravaganza and truck washing, but mostly to enjoy a walk along the Concho River and to see if anything was blooming in the water lily garden.
The River Walk in San Angelo is one of the prettiest we’ve seen anywhere. It meanders for four miles downtown along the Concho River, named for the freshwater mussels that contain beautifully colored freshwater pearls (concho means “shell” in Spanish). Along the banks of the river many other treasures can be found—interesting mosaics, sculptures, fountains, and a few slightly bizarre sheep statues, each one decorated by a local artist to honor San Angelo’s heritage as a wool marketing center. (Lots more sheep as well as a plethora of murals can be found in the historic downtown.)
Riverwalk along the Concho River
Mosaic VW Bug
Close by is the International Water Lily Garden, certainly not something one expects to find in West Texas. When we were there a couple of years ago in the fall, there were hundreds of various water lilies in bloom. This time, in late April, just a few were blooming. But even one water lily in bloom is a beautiful thing to behold.
San Angelo Water Lily Garden
About The Campground
There are two camping sections at San Angelo State Park. Although it’s further from town, we prefer the north (Bald Eagle) section, which has large shade trees—a good thing in West Texas. Water and electric hookups, good Verizon, $20/night plus $4 per person daily fee if you don’t have the Texas State Parks Pass. (We always buy the annual pass—it’s $70 per year, and worth it if you stay more than seven nights in Texas parks because of all of the assorted discounts.)
Monahans Sandhills State Park: Monahans, TX
Another reasonable drive of 170 miles brought us to Monahans Sandhills State Park, in the midst of a truly barren part of Texas. This place has a stark beauty and makes a fun stopover for a couple of days (as long as no high winds are forecast).
The rangers at the Visitor Center loaned us a couple of neon orange discs for sledding and we took to the dunes the afternoon we arrived and again early in the morning. Each night, the slate is wiped clean and the sand dunes are once again pristine. We discovered that early morning is the best time for sledding—when the sand is cool, there’s no friction to slow you down. We had a blast—and it’s a good workout sledding down and climbing back up the dunes.
Afternoon sledding in the dunes
Patterns in the sand
It’s a windy place, and I was curious as to why the dunes haven’t completely blown away. Displays at the interesting little Visitor Center explained why: The wind changes directions from season to season, and although the dune tops change continually, they end up in just about the same position over the course of a year. It’s described as “a constantly shifting yet balanced state of dynamic equilibrium.” Sounds almost spiritual, doesn’t it?
About The Campground
Monahan Sandhills State Park has 26 campsites at the edge of the dunes with water, electric, and a covered picnic table. Quiet, dark night skies, and magical when the moon rises over the dunes. Good Verizon. $15 per night (plus $4 per person daily fee if you don’t have the Texas State Parks Pass).
Campsite at Monahans Sandhills State Park
Love the wildflowers. We’re thinking of extending our winter stay in Texas this season. So perhaps we’ll see some blue bonnets before returning to AZ. The sand dune sledding looks fun!
Ingrid, you would love wildflower season in Texas. We spent a few days in the Hill Country a couple of years ago and it was fantastic. If you’re staying into April, maybe you could first go to High Island for the bird migration!
What a nice riverwalk with the mosaics and sculptures. Climbing the dunes can be a killer workout if you don’t pace yourself. Looks like you two had a good time on what can be a long Texas journey.
You’re right, Debbie, walking up those sand dunes (especially after the first couple of times) is a major workout! But it was soooo much fun sledding down them.
The sledding looks like so much fun!
Kathie, the sledding was a blast. It was just us and a few kids in the dunes. :-)
The wildflowers and water lilies are lovely. And sliding down those sand dunes must have awakened that child inside. Looks like great fun!
We were so happy to find some good stretches of wildflowers in Texas, LuAnn. And Eric even pulled over willingly to take photos, haha!
Love your flower pictures. I do so want to see the famed Texas Wildflowers. I’ve never heard of either of these parks and they both look like places we would love. Wish we’d had those disks when we were at the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. Looks like so much fun. Dunes are just beautiful and definitely spiritual particularly in the early morning and in the star light.
Sherry, you guys would enjoy both parks. The rangers were so generous in just giving us a couple of discs to use when we checked in. They even supplied wax for our sleds.
Wandering here and there with the whim or the wind and then to end where you started…sound familiar? Dynamic equilibrium or have we all gone dunesberry?
Sounds very familiar, Diana. We’ll be circling back to Oregon soon, to home and friends. oxox
Oh I wish we would have known you were going through S.A. TX. Next time you have to go 11 miles outside of town to Christoval TX to the Hummer House. An oasis of hummingbirds, painted buntings, and more wildlife. They track h-birds there by banding them (little bitty bands)and track their migration. You would love. And the caverns of Sonora are not too far out of your way to get to San Angelo and is one of the prettiest caves we’ve seen with lots and lots of formations and fewer people know about it.
We will see you in July.
Oh, we would have loved both of those! Thanks for the great suggestions — we’ll definitely put those on our list for next time. So glad you guys are coming to Lopez this summer!
I will have to mark these stops for a visit if we ever get to Texas. All the flowers are just beautiful, especially that hatted bluebell among the firewheels:) Haha! To be a kid again…way to go Eric! What fun, well, except for the sand in the pants!
Hatted bluebell — that’s great! :-) Pam, it’s amazing how many fun things we’ve found to do in Texas in our many cross-country journeys. We had a blast sand sledding — unfortunately Eric’s computer croaked and all of his photos are temporarily trapped there — so I have no photos to prove I was being a daredevil sledder, too, LOL!
What a contrast from the shady green grass to the bright tan sand – both so pretty! The water lilies are beautiful. Love the mosaics and the sheep :-) Knew you would have been right behind Eric on those hills, so the messed up camera answers that question :-)))
Haha, you know I couldn’t stand to be left behind, Jodee! When you guys make the journey to Texas (I know Austin is on your list) consider San Angelo. I think you would really enjoy the river walk and all of the art.
Already planning our trip to South Carolina for next year. Lots of new ideas.
Thanks
You’re welcome, Pam! We really enjoy our out-of-the-way adventures. It’s fun to mix things up.
Now you are truly in my stompin’ grounds, I was born in Monahans! Think of me as you travel through Merkel on I-20, the ranch is 15 miles from there. Now I am feeling homesick. :) So glad you like to slow down and take in the lesser known places, off-the-beaten track, as it were. West Texas can be quite beautiful. (Except Odessa. Sorry, never beautiful.)
Linda, I remember you writing about visiting the ranch — but I had no idea that you were born in Monahans! We really enjoyed our stay there — so are you an expert sand sledder? :-)
Once again love the photos, especially the sledding ones! How fun, it’s wonderful to be young at heart on an orange saucer sled! I was wondering where the pictures of you were, I’ll have to believe your story! Thanks for giving us ideas for those long drives across Texas, it actually looks like fun!
Thanks, Sue — I think you’ll enjoy both places! Really and truly, I was sledding,too! :-) We’ve still not been in a place to get Eric’s laptop repaired, so I don’t have access to his photos. It’s going to look like he’s traveling solo for the next few posts.
Hey, where is Laurel sledding in the dunes? You know, we kept saying we are not going back to Texas, yet you have shown us there are hidden gems from that country.
I would love to be in the Hill Country…some day
Love all the pics especially of that kid in the sled.
Haha, the photos of me sledding are trapped in Eric’s computer. :-) Texas is AWESOME. You just were there for a terrible month during the winter, ML. Give it another try sometime!
You guys always find the hidden treasures! Looks like fun!
It was so much fun, Loretta. We have to find treasures — we spend so much time traipsing back and forth across the country!