Pierce Wanderings
Texas Hiking (and elsewhere)
Steiner Ranch Nature Trail System – Bright Sky Overlook 3/6/21
Saturday, March 6, 2021
Steiner Ranch Nature Trail System – Bright Sky Overlook
Sunny, nice, mid 60s
Ian, Biff, and Finn
5 miles
I have blogged plenty of Steiner Ranch trails before, but I found one I hadn’t fully traversed and it ended up being one of my favorites of the whole system. This trail has great lake views and also dives into a couple of canyons with water crossings. It really encompasses all the different landscapes present in this part of central Texas.
Courtney had gone to Dallas for the weekend to see her friends from grad school, so I took the pups out for a hike. We survived the deep freeze a few weeks ago (let’s not do that again) and it’s starting to feel like spring here in Texas now.
The cacti out here somehow made it through the freeze unscathed. The ones in town did not fare nearly as well.
With state parks still requiring day passes, which are freaking impossible to get, Steiner Ranch is one of the only places near Austin I can get out and hike with some solitude.
This trail is an out and back that more or less follows the river (Lake Austin) on a ridge a few hundred feet up. It delves down into a couple of canyons along the way and then turns back toward the neighborhood, popping you out on the main road of Quinlan Park.
The pups were very excited, as they haven’t been hiking much this winter either. I was glad to get out into nature again, where I belong.
The lake (river) was a gorgeous shade of blue-green on this sunny day.
My in-laws are also building a house out here and I got some good aerial views of how it’s coming along.
Hopefully I can get out to some new trails more often this spring and get the blogging ramped up again. We are headed to Colorado in a couple of weeks to look at some properties, so maybe I’ll be able to have a whole host of new trails to blog in the coming years!
Pierce Wanderings 
If you have the time, now is a great time to head up to the Wichitas! The park is still open and I guarantee you will find solitude in Charon’s Garden. You can even backpack out there and spring is the best time to go (other than during a rain storm). I would head out there right now too, if I could!
We have a few camping trips booked through May, but I might try to squeeze in the Wichitas too. I’ve never made it up there, despite you telling me about them years ago!
It is so worth it. There is nothing else like it. Between the mountains and the wildlife, it is impossible to beat anywhere 7 hours or less from Austin (should be less the 5.5).