Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, Texas, United States

4SawyerHicks 5:00 PM Mar 10, 2020

5 miles of hiking from Doeskin Ranch
I parked at Doeskin Ranch off of 1174. Truthfully, I found it kind of difficult to figure out which hikes were where when I was doing my research. Doeskin Ranch has 5 trails but three of them are quite short. I did all of them, which totaled about 5 miles, and found it be a worthwhile trip from Austin (about a 50-minute drive). None of the trails are particularly difficult, but one early section of the Rimrock trail (if you take a right from the parking lot) is somewhat steep and rocky, but small children could manage it. They do controlled burns in the area in an effort to restore the natural prairie grasses, so the first half mile or so has a pleasant (IMO), subtle smoky smell. Presumably, the trail is closed when the fires are burning. Once you get to the Indiangrass trail, the scenery opens up and is quite enjoyable, even if there are no particular "wow" spots. I only saw a few birds, but I went for the hike anyways.

4Kathy L 5:00 PM Jan 15, 2020

Great views from Sunset Deck
We stopped at the visitor's center and spoke with a docent and grabbed a map. She was very helpful in guiding us to walking trails within our abilities and recommending we visit Sunset Deck and drive the Cow Creek Road. We did the short .4 mile trail near the visitors center and then drove up to Sunset Deck. The views are so special. The road up to Sunset is partially paved and then dirt, but it is ADA accessible to the deck. The trails, not so much. We did get great views of Lake Travis and the valley. We plan to drive Cow Creek Road next week and try some of the other easy trails. Parking is available at all trailheads and is free. There are some restrooms available. Great restrooms and a water fountain in the visitor's center.