Place Post: Enchanted Rock

View of Enchanted Rock from the ground. 

Photo by Author

View from the top of Enchanted Rock

Photo by Author

Another view from the top of Enchanted Rock

Photo by Author

This was a great opportunity for me and my friends to finally visit enchanted rock. We have all been talking about going for a while and so this assignment finally made us take the time to go. It was a long drive, Enchanted Rock State Natural Area is 15 miles north of Fredericksburg, Texas and 15 miles south of Llano, Texas. It took us about 2 hours to drive there but the scenery was beautiful.

When we arrived we decided to do the most popular trail first, the Summit Trail. Although the climb was short to get to the top it was extremely tiring because of the heat and the steep incline. Once we were at the top of the huge rock formation, the view was great. We could see all the land around covered in trees. It was a beautiful landscape that looked almost untouched by humans. It was really nice to get away from the city and out into the rural area. There were many families and groups of people out that day at Enchanted Rock. It was great to see people getting out and enjoying nature together.

The preservation of nature is also really important to the parks system there. People are asked to help preserve the natural area by not disturbing plants, animals or artifacts. The visitors seemed to stay on the path and I didn’t notice any litter there during the whole trip.

Enchanted rock is a beautiful part of our American environment which has been protected for people to enjoy. After taking this class, I would not picture enchanted rock when asked to think about American environment. Now I think more about the destruction of the environment by deforestation, fracking and mountain top removal. I think it is important to still remember that there are places being protected for us to enjoy and they are still a part of our American environment. I would definitely recommend going up there, it is well worth the drive, but I would definitely recommend going in the fall when it cools down a little. I would also like to go back and take time to do some of the other trails and visit the caves.