Geographic region of Central and South Texas, considered the border between the American Southeast and Southwest and is notable for its karst topography and tall rugged hills of limestone or granite
Places to See in Texas Hill Country
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Enchanted Rock State Natural Area
Largest pink granite monadnock in the United States covers roughly 640 acres and rises around 425 feet above the surrounding terrain to an elevation of 1,825 feet
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Fredericksburg, TX
Park whose centerpiece is a 64-ft.-tall fountain circulating 11,000 gallons of water every minute
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Garner State Park
Old-fashioned waterfront amusement area with rides for all ages, games of skill & boardwalk eats
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Gruene, TX
5,212-acre state park situated along the banks of the Pedernales River in Blanco County, Texas
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Guadalupe River State Park
Texas state park located on a section of the Guadalupe River with four miles of river frontage for canoeing, fishing, swimming and tubing
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Hamilton Pool Preserve
Natural pool featuring a jade green pool into which a 50-foot (15 m) waterfall flows with water temperatures reaching 50 degrees Fahrenheit
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Jacobs Well
Popular local swimming spot where from the opening in the creek bed descends vertically for about 30 feet, then continues downward finally reaching an average depth of 120 feet
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Krause Springs
115-acre (0.47 km2) property has 32 springs, and several feed the man-made pool and the natural pool which flow into Lake Travis
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Lost Maples State Natural Area
Large, pristine area of beautiful hills and canyons on the upper Sabinal River in the Edwards Plateau Region of Texas
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New Braunfels, TX
City known for its German Texan heritage and situated along the Balcones Fault, where the Texas Hill Country meets rolling prairie land
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Pedernales State Park
5,212-acre state park situated along the banks of the Pedernales River in Blanco County, Texas
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San Marcos, TX
Founded on the banks of the San Marcos River, the area is thought to be among the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the Americas
The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the American Southeast and Southwest. The region represents the very remote countryside of Central Texas but also is home to growing suburban neighborhoods and affluent retirement communities.
The region is notable for its karst topography and tall rugged hills of limestone or granite. Many of the hills rise to a height of 400-500 feet (120-150 m) above the surrounding plains and valleys, with Packsaddle Mountain rising to a height of 800 feet (240 m) above the Llano River in Kingsland. The Hill Country also includes the Llano Uplift and the second-largest granite dome in the United States, Enchanted Rock. The terrain throughout the region is punctuated by a thin layer of topsoil and many exposed rocks and boulders, making the region very dry and prone to flash flooding. Native vegetation in the region includes various yucca, prickly pear cactus, desert spoon, and wildflowers in the Llano Uplift. The predominant trees in the region are ashe juniper and Texas live oak.
Bound on the east by the Balcones Escarpment, the Hill Country reaches into the far northern portions of San Antonio and the western portions of Austin. As a result of springs discharging water stored in the Edwards Aquifer, several cities such as Austin, San Marcos, and New Braunfels were settled at the base of the Balcones Escarpment. The region's economy is one of the fastest growing in the United States.
Because of its karst topography, the area also features a number of caverns, such as Inner Space Caverns, Natural Bridge Caverns, Bracken Cave, Longhorn Cavern State Park, Cascade Caverns, Caverns of Sonora and Cave Without a Name. The deeper caverns of the area form several aquifers which serve as a source of drinking water for the residents of the area. Wonder Cave in San Marcos was formed by an earthquake along the Balcones Fault.
Several tributaries of the Colorado River of Texas — including the Llano and Pedernales rivers, which cross the region west to east and join the Colorado as it cuts across the region to the southeast - drain a large portion of the Hill Country. The Guadalupe, San Antonio, Frio, Medina, and Nueces rivers originate in the Hill Country.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Texas Hill Country", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0