Wolf Mountain Trail
The Texas Hill Country, a cave-riddled limestone
uplift overlain by oak and juniper woodlands
also known as the Edwards Plateau, provides the
setting for Pedernales Falls State Park. This scenic
region of Texas has traditionally been favored
by both ranchers and biologists for its terraced,
grass-covered landscape and abundant springfed
creeks and rivers. While the Texas Hill Country
is splendid any time of year, it really stands
out during springtime wildflower blooms when
millions of bluebonnets, paintbrush, bee balm,
and firewheels blanket the countryside like woven
tapestries.
Early German settlers and botanists were
drawn to the region for its wealth of resources
and sheer beauty. They identified plant species
and built rock-solid homes, barns, and courthouses
from native limestone that will stand for
centuries. Unlike much of the western edge of
the Edwards Plateau, this central region of the
Hill Country escaped the extreme degradation of
overgrazing that occurred during the early and
mid-1900s, a calamity brought on by drought,
goats and sheep, and poor land management
practices. Thus, a good portion of its character
and its biology has been well conserved.
The Wolf Mountain Trail leads hikers through
portions of the parkâ€™s woodland habitat where
dry creek crossings and an occasional vista into
deep, aqua-colored water holes alternate with
stretches of oak and juniper stands. The trail layout
requires hikers to traverse the same 1.8-mile
portion at the beginning and end of the hike in
order to access the more remote interior. You can
hike through some of the finest Texas Hill Country
in the state, then travel to another section of
the park and take a dip in the clear, spring-fed
Pedernales River.
The trail begins off the park road just below
the headquarters. The trail is actually an old
jeep road and accommodates mountain bikers
as well as hikers. After crossing Mescal
Creek, turn left and you reach the primitive
camping area, about 1.8 miles from the
trailhead. The camping area sits above the
Pedernales River where steep and abrupt limestone
bluffs drop into the sloping drainage,
a heavily wooded terrace of pecan, walnut,
sycamore, and elm. While the river can be heard
from atop the bluffs, the dense canopy, at eye
level from the campsite, blocks the view. The
trailâ€™s namesake Wolf Mountain can be seen
above and behind the camping area.
The next crosses Tobacco Creek, then traveling
between the Pedernales River and Tobacco
Mountain. It makes a turn at Jones Spring
and circles back around the back side of Wolf
Mountain, then rejoins the same route taken from
the trailhead at the Mescal Creek crossing.
While there is no swimming allowed along the
Pedernales Falls section of the river, after completing
the hike you may want to drive across the
park to see the falls and swim at the river beach
near the main camping area. Pedernales Falls is
actually a smooth, limestone terrace where the
elevation of the river drops almost 50 feet. Youâ€™ll
obtain a better understanding of the sheer force
of the water flowing down the Pedernales once
you see its hydrodynamics in action. The limestone
riverbed carries a tremendous amount of
clear, fresh water along its course, and the entire
region is prone to sudden and life-threatening
flash floods. This, of course, is no different along
any other waterway, but the Pedernales, in
particular, is fierceâ€”an incredibly beautiful but
dangerously unpredictable river.
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