Hill Country
Enchanted Rock
A billion-year-old pink granite dome north of Fredericksburg that groans at night as it cools — and rewards a 425-foot climb with the whole Hill Country.
The climb is short and honest: eight tenths of a mile of bare granite at a grade that makes conversation stop. At the top the Hill Country flattens out into blue ridgelines and the wind never quits.
The Tonkawa heard the rock creak at night and told stories about it. Geologists say it is thermal contraction. Both explanations hold up at 10 p.m. in October.
Reservations are the whole game. The park closes entry when the lot fills, which on a good spring Saturday is before nine.
Don't miss
- Summit Trail: 0.8 miles up, all of it uphill
- Vernal pools with fairy shrimp after rain
- One of the darkest skies within two hours of Austin
- Loop Trail for the view of the dome itself
Nearby reading
