Home Care In Lampasas, TX

The park is open for day use only and offers more than 3,000 acres of rugged Central Texas landscape, with RV sites, camping and river access planned for completion by 2029.

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LAMPASAS COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — Texas' newest state park is now open, giving outdoor enthusiasts their first chance to explore more than 3,000 acres of rugged Central Texas landscape along the Colorado River.

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Post Oak Ridge — Texas' 91st state park — is now open for day use, offering the public access to two hiking trails totaling about four miles.

The state acquired about 2,000 acres in Jan. 2025 from the Van Ranch and Smith Ranch families, then added another 1,000 acres two months later. Future plans call for RV sites, primitive camping, more trails and eventually river access.

"It came onto the market and of course, it's across the river from Colorado Bend. So it is in Colorado Bend's view shed. So that was probably the first interest in it," Kacey Sloan said.

Sloan, the park superintendent, says the development ahead is no small undertaking — the equivalent of building a small city within the park's boundaries.

"We're hoping to have those water electric campsites, a headquarters, and a lot of people don't realize what it takes because if it's done well, you'll never see it, but you're building a small city," Sloan said.

The goal is to have those major amenities in place by 2029.

The park is also part of a broader statewide push to make the outdoors more accessible as Texas' population continues to grow — particularly in the region known as the Texas Triangle — fueled in part by a dedicated funding source.

"We are in that, what a lot of people talk about the Texas Triangle. We are in that area, that area in Texas where the population is growing and so we want to make the outdoors more accessible as Texas continues to grow. And so a lot of this is coming from that Centennial Fund. Which was passed in 2023 and so it just set us up in a position to be able to acquire more state parks and to be able to build state parks out," Sloan said.

Park officials say development will continue over the next several years, but they invite Texans to get an early look at what could become one of Central Texas' newest outdoor gems.

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LAMPASAS, Texas (KXXV) — Most of Central Texas is under a flood watch including Lampasas and the city and business owners are already taking precautions.

Pamela Ekizian has owned Lotus Beauty Spa and Salon for six years and has been at her current location for three. At her shop when it rains, water tends to seep in.

“It is kind of nerve-wracking sometimes as this out in here in the front floods a little bit and then it'll slowly seep up to my doors. We did have some but we do have a little bit coming in from the, the room next door, ” Ekizian said. “As long as it recedes and comes back and it's slow, but if it's consistent for the next 3 days, it's going to cause some trouble in town.”

The business next door to her closed their doors early and Ekizian tells me she has already had some cancellations, but she will watch the river and man the shop for cleanup.

“You never know how the weather in Texas is going to be. You don't know how long and how, how hard it's going to rain, and the rivers do come up pretty high. Driving from here to cove, the water is like a river going down the road instead of off to the side, so it's a little dangerous... It is just different areas of the town are low lying, so it could flood,” Ekizian said.

Because of the creek running through many parks the city decided to close them until Friday. Bailey Carter, parks and recreation specialist for the city, said it is a safety measure to protect neighbors and infrastructure.

“A lot of our parks are in lower lying areas of elevation that is lower than the creek itself, so there is going to be standing water, which is one of the issues is not only is it a safety issue,” Carter said.

The city says they will reevaluate opening the park for the weekend on Friday.

It took less than six months for an unknown buyer to take the 2,894-acre Smith Ranch off the market.

The property, which was developed into a private, turnkey hunting and fishing recreational ranch, was listed for $42 million.

The final sale price for the ranch was not disclosed, according to the Austin Business Journal. The sellers, represented by TX Real Estate partners Luke Smith and Stieler Harris, owned the property for two decades. Smith’s family, whose specific names were undisclosed by the outlet, decided to list the ranch with TX Real Estate. The only information the outlet disclosed about the buyers were their intentions: continue using the ranch recreationally and pass down the property.

The ranch sits in both Lampasas and Burnet counties, around an hour drive from Austin’s downtown area.

The massive Smith Ranch features a pair of private lakes that span eight and 12 acres apiece. 13 clay-lined ponds dot the area along with 12 miles worth of creeks. There’s also a sandy beach and picnic area on the property. The lakes don’t just offer bass fishing, as a custom-made duck blind sits on one of them.

Smith Ranch also features a private shooting complex with skeet, trap, pistol and rifle ranges for sport shooting. There’s a 4,500-square-foot entertainment barn, guest house, ranch office, facilities designed to breed deer for hunting stock and a 4,500 square foot lodge on the property. There’s also two registered, private airstrips.

Luke Smith, who spoke with the outlet, said that the sellers had taken to breeding exotic animals and white-tailed deer at the ranch. Showings were highlighted by animals originally hailing from Africa to India. An announcement from TX Real Estate says that the fully-fenced ranch supported trophy whitetail deer as well as kudu, axis, zebras, the ranch’s own breed of ram, fallow deer and gemsbok.

— Hunter Cooke

Post Oak Ridge State Park opened Sept. 24 for day use with a capacity of 40 vehicles per day, and online reservations are required. The park straddles the Burnet-Lampasas County line northwest of Naruna with the Colorado River forming part of its western boundary.

Visitors will not have river access during this phase of the park’s development, but two hiking trails and one wheelchair-accessible pathway are open to visitors.

Crews were putting the finishing touches on picnic tables last week, and there is a vault toilet but no conventional plumbing or drinking water for visitors, so hikers are encouraged to bring their own bottled water.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department purchased 3,118 acres of land for the park beginning in January 2025, and has since conducted surveys of the area’s natural and historical resources, built an administration building and added a gravel parking lot and a 2.5-mile gravel road.

Before this week, the park was open only for special occasions such as a First Day Hike on New Year’s Day and for public drawn hunts during deer season.

Day passes can be booked 30 days in advance at https://texasstateparks. reserveamerica.com/.

All 36 spots for this year’s drawn hunts are taken, and the park will close to all other visitors on the following dates that hunts are scheduled:

• from 4 p.m. Oct. 26 to 8 a.m. Oct. 30

• 4 p.m. Nov. 5 to 8 a.m. to Nov. 9

• 8 p.m. Nov. 22 to 8 a.m. to Nov. 26, and

• 8 p.m. Dec. 20 to 8 a.m. Dec. 24.

Late last year, Park Superintendent Kacey Sloan and one maintenance worker were the sole workers at the state park, but the Post Oak Ridge staff is growing to six, including an office manager and lead ranger who are expected to be hired soon.

John Bell joined the staff as assistant superintendent after previously working at Abilene State Park. James Hale oversees maintenance, and Sloan said he “has been a lifesaver, really putting in a lot of prep into those hunts.”

Hunters will bring their own blinds, and deer corn is cast by hand, so the park does not have permanent stands or deer feeders in place. Hale has been scouting deer, tracking patterns on game cameras, and Sloan hopes to have a spotlight survey of the park’s deer population conducted at some point this fall.

Each hiking trail is the out-andback type, rather than a loop. The longest, the River Overlook Trail, is 2.2 miles each way. Part of that trail has a 200-foot elevation gain within one-third of a mile, Sloan said.

While the overlook offers a view of the Colorado River and nearby bluffs, one reason swimming and fishing are not allowed is to protect a spring located near the river bottom.

“Long term, a boardwalk over the spring is planned,” Sloan said, which she hopes will allow visitors to access the river without disturbing the natural spring.

The northern part of the property, near Yancey Creek, probably will be open only to guided hikes, and that will come at a later time, Sloan said, “just because of the sensitivity of the natural resources. We really want to protect those areas.”

The Whispering Oaks Trail, 1.7 miles each way, has some twists and turns, and a portion is very rocky.

The Americans With Disabilities Actcompliant trail is less than a tenth of a mile but is in one of the shady, flatter areas of the park with abundant post oaks.

Hunting is limited to deer and feral hogs, and after this season it may be 2029 before the park offers hunts again, as the next phase of construction is likely to impact those sites, Sloan said.

The park conducted a 360-acre prescribed burn last winter, and thanks to a rainy spring, thick grass quickly refilled burned areas.

Campfires and grills are not allowed at the park, only propane stoves, and bikes are not allowed on the trails.

Sloan said a variety of wildlife live in the park, including “lots of gray foxes,” roadrunners and coyotes, which, “if you’re up early, you’ll catch them running across the road every now and then.”

“We are excited to have visitors start traveling to Post Oak Ridge State Park and seeing what makes this area so special,” Sloan said. “The park is rugged and primitive, with a unique sound environment. There aren’t human-made sounds. It is one of those rare places where you can escape urban noise and relax.”

Hours of operation are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

The park is located at 4136 County Road 105, Lampasas, TX 76550. Although it has a Lampasas address, it is a Burnet County road that leads to the park’s only public entrance. From Naruna, drivers will take Burnet County Road 104 northwest for about two miles before reaching CR 105, which continues west five miles before reaching the park gate.

Patrons will receive a gate code in their reservation confirmation email to access the property.

A QR code linking to the reservation system is posted at the gate to allow patrons to secure a day pass if they are still available.

Post Oak Ridge State Park offers an Americans With Disabilities Act-compliant trail that is not very long but is situated in a flat, shady portion of the property filled with its namesake post oak trees.