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Field Trip: Museo Benini and Middleton Ranch Hike, Saturday, April 27, 2024

[4/14 directions updated. Left on FM 2147; 4/12, option to park inside Middleton Ranch gate added]

image of museum entrance

— by Cindy Chrisler

  • What:   Museo Benini and Middleton Ranch Field Trip
  • When:  Saturday, April 27, 2024
    • 10:30 AM-11:30AM – Museo Benini
    • (optional) 11:30 AM – Middleton Ranch hike
  • Where: 
    • Museo Benini, 3440 FM2147, Marble Falls, TX 78654.
      • Directions: From FM 1431, take 281 south for about 2.5 miles to FM 2147.  Turn left on FM 2147 and proceed 3.2 miles to Museo Benini.
    • Middleton Ranch directions will be provided at the field trip
  • Our field trip is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required.

Meet at Museo Benini at 10:30 AM to tour the site and view their wildflowers.  Optionally you may enter the museum and visit the artwork (free admission).

At 11:30, those who wish to continue to the Middleton Ranch will be given directions and a waiver to sign.  It takes about 20 minutes to get from the museum to the Middleton Ranch.  The ranch roads are one-way gravel, and there are some ruts and steep hills, but you do not need high clearance. (My husband’s MG can handle the road!)  You are invited to bring a picnic lunch and eat in the shade of live oak trees.  Bring lawn chairs and your picnic lunch.  The chapter will provide a dessert and water.  Bathrooms are available.  After lunch, Cindy Chrisler will lead a guided hike around the property, and you may wander after that until 5:00 p.m., although you may leave earlier if you like.

If you are uncomfortable driving your vehicle on the ranch roads, you may park inside the gate and we will transport you to the property and back to the gate.

Wear clothing appropriate for the weather, including closed toed shoes and long pants if you plan to go on the guided hike at the Middleton Ranch.  Participants may also want to use insect repellent. 

The Middleton Ranch is a working cattle ranch and cattle roam freely.  Some terrain is uneven, steep, and rocky in places. The guided hike will mostly be on flat areas, but there are some spots that are steep and rocky and we will cross a shallow creek twice.

image of milkweed
image of blooming wildflower
image of blooming wildflower

Above: flowers at the Middleton Ranch

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See photos from other field trips ==>

Field Trip Photo Album
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Meeting Reminder: April 11, “Drought-Tolerant Native Plants: Nothing Works Like Natives” with Randy Pensabene + handout link

[4/14 handout updated, replaced handout link]

Join NPSOT-Williamson County on Thursday, April 11, 2024, when our featured topic will be “Drought-Tolerant Native Plants: Nothing Works Like Natives” with Randy Pensabene.  Free and open to the public. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM.  Our guest speaker’s presentation begins after a short business meeting.

Randy has provided a handout ==> (link replaced Apr 14) click this link to download the handout.

Read the full meeting announcement here.

==> This month, if you attend in person, we’re at the Georgetown Public Library, 2nd floor, 402 West 8th St, Georgetown, TX 78626. Come early (6:30 PM) for expert advice, to check out the seed swap board, or just to visit.

==> To attend via Zoom register at https://npsot-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcpcu2grz8jGdfflwPsKx6VTsZgWNdwZbDm#/registration

At every meeting, we give away a book — about native plants or the meeting topic — to one randomly chosen in-person attendee!

Have an idea for a speaker?  Let Program Leader Susie Hickman know via  email to wilco-chapter@npsot.org.

NPSOT-Williamson County meetings are free and open to the public. We hope you attend!  Meetings may be in person, virtual, or both, so be sure to check details in the meeting announcement. Meetings are announced on our website, our calendar and Facebook. See upcoming topics on our page Wilco Home or on our Calendar.

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Plant availability list updated for April 6 native plant sale

Check out the final draft of our plant sale availability list!  We have some cool rarely offered-for-sale plant species on our updated list.  This includes Nyctaginia capitata (Scarlet Muskflower),  Giliastrum rigidulum (Bluebowls), and Nolina texana (Texas Beargrass).  

Items on the list with strikethrough lines are plants that were deemed unable to make the sale. 

Hope to see you this Saturday, April 6, at Champion Park! Click here for the list, hours, location, and all other plant sale info ==> 2024 Spring Native Plant Sale.

We sell only Texas Native Plants!