River Ranch County Park – Page 2 – NPSOT-Williamson County Chapter

November 9, 2023November 10, 2023

Field Trip: River Ranch Field Trip, Sunday, November 26, 2023

[Updated 11/10, to add estimate of distance (about a mile)]

— by Sue Wiseman

What: River Ranch County Park Field Trip
When: 2:00 PM – 4:30 PM, Sunday, November 26, 2023
Where: 2100 County Road 279, Liberty Hill, Texas
Our field trip is open to the public. There is a park entry fee: ages 13-64 @ $4 per person; over 65 @ $2 per person.

Imagine it’s the Sunday afternoon following Thanksgiving. Are you stuffed from all the food? Tired of the relatives? Well, we have just the solution — a walk in River Ranch County Park on November 26, 2023, from 2-4:30 PM.

When you arrive at the park, proceed to the parking lot at the Interpretive Center. We’ll meet at the Trailhead to walk to the Bell Oak, one of the two large Heritage Live Oaks. It’s a gentle uphill hike there and downhill on the way back. The round trip is about a mile. Please wear long pants and closed toe shoes. A hat and sunscreen are recommended. Bring your water. After our hike, which is a loop, we will head to the Interpretive Center for a tour of the facilities.

If you are coming from the Georgetown area, due to construction in Liberty Hill, we recommend taking Ronald Reagan Blvd. Take a right onto Hero Way; and then head north on Bagdad Road (CR279) to arrive at the park on your left.

If you are coming from another direction, we recommend taking any east-west thoroughfare north of RR1431 to reach Bagdad Road (CR279).

We will have a sign at the Park Entrance and a sign at the turnoff in the park by the Interpretive Center.

We look forward to getting you off the couch and away from the house.

If you have a question, click on Contact Us to send it to the Field Trip Committee.

November 27, 2020May 5, 2023

River Ranch County Park, Williamson County

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— by Sue Wiseman

River Ranch County Park is currently closed while it is under construction. It opens to the public in 2021.

This summer, in addition to filming our virtual plant walk (see it on YouTube), we also updated our River Ranch County Park Plant List. NPSOT-Wilco’s history with River Ranch County Park, Williamson County’s newest recreation area, goes back more than a decade!

The plant list for River Ranch County Park, originally called the Williams Tract, was started in late 2009. It was the idea of the first Williamson County Parks and Recreation Director, Jim Rodgers. Jim contacted me and asked if NPSOT would be willing to do a plant list for the future park.

The NPSOT Williamson County Chapter tackled the project by surveying at least once during each calendar month over a three-year period. Once we had accomplished this, with the help of Marshall Johnston, co-author of the Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas, we went on to do plant lists for each of the remaining Williamson County parks. However, our mission for River Ranch is not complete; when we started this project there were 1,011 acres in the park, we have since gained around 350 more acres, so once the park opens and Covid declines we will be able to go into the newly acquired areas to complete the project.

The Friends of River Ranch County Park are now accepting memberships. “Our mission is to advocate and support River Ranch County Park by providing information, interpretation, and assistance in the maintenance and conservation of the park.” Folks that are interested can go to The Friends of River Ranch County Park Facebook page for information.

I was able to see the Interpretive Center last week and was thrilled with the facility and to find lots of bookcases built into the new conference room. They have a long counter and sink on one wall of the meeting room. In normal times, it would fit about 30 people classroom style. When things get finished, I think everyone will be pleased with results!

P.S., The chapter’s River Ranch work helped to start the field trip committee that we know today. We did have field trips previously, but this effort inspired us to plan a trip a month through the year. Also, we sometimes did two park lists at the same time but usually stuck with one park, and then went other places during the rest of the year. These photos are of some of us at River Ranch near the end of our project in October 2010, mostly chapter members but also some Austin members.

image of group of people — River Ranch Field Trip, October 2010. Left to right: Ilse Meier, Charlie Wiseman, Sue Wiseman, Sue Anderson (Austin Chapter), Beth Blankenship, Dick Galloway, LaVerne Johnston (Austin Chapter), Kathy Galloway, Marshall Johnston (Austin Chapter).

image of person working in river — River Ranch Field Trip, October 2010. Kathy McCormack.

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November 12, 2020May 5, 2023

Enjoy a virtual walk at River Ranch County Park

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— by Sue Wiseman

* River Ranch County Park, in Williamson County, TX, is currently closed while under construction. **

Join us as Sue Wiseman, NPSOT-Wilco member, narrates this preview of the stunning River Ranch County Park located along the San Gabriel River. We are grateful to the Williamson County Parks and Recreation Department for allowing NPSOT to get an early glimpse of what’s to come and many thanks to our tour guide, Alejandra Urista.

When opened later in 2021, this beautiful 1,354 acres of meadowlands, woodlands, hills and escarpments that provide hill country vistas between Leander and Liberty Hill will offer park users the opportunity to camp, picnic, hike, bike, ride their horses, nature watch or just relax outside.

River Ranch will showcase an approximate 4,800 square foot Interpretive Center, where you can learn about the natural, cultural and historic resources that make this park so special. Group pavilions and classroom/meeting space can also be reserved for those family, church, civic, business and other group type gatherings you may have.

Click on the image earlier in this article to watch the video, or use this link. Find all NPSOT-Wilco videos on our YouTube channel.

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