March is San Angelo State Park month. We started out
at the South Shore of San Angelo Park, planning to move on to the North Shore
later.
Unfortunately, the park volunteer at the front desk
informed me that the season for rainbow trout was on it’s way out. I’d love to
catch a decent size trout and the park handout stated they do have fishing
equipment to loan out. But, since late winter isn’t the best time to catch them,
I decided not to fish. Javelina Pond is the place to fish at San Angelo State Park,
since it’s stocked on a regular basis. O.C. Fisher Lake is normally the
swimming and boating area. The lake was at 16 percent capacity during our
visit, due to lack of rain in recent years.
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| O.C. Fisher Lake above and Burkett Trail below. |
Although we only walked on the Burkett multi-use trail, there are over 50 miles of biking, walking and horse trails in the park. We saw bikers, walkers, and a jogger, but no horses. Those bringing their horses to the park can leave them at the equestrian area not far from the beginning of the path we walked along. Horses can also be tethered next to some of the campsites.
Bison and Longhorn cattle can be seen in the fenced areas of this park (if one is lucky). Both the bison and some of the Longhorn cattle are part of Official State of Texas Longhorn and Texas Bison herds given to the state in the early 1900’s. We just observed bison, but they were too far away to take a picture of since I didn’t have a telephoto lens. Lesson learned: bring along a camera with a telephoto lens if you want a picture of fenced animals.
I saw the outside of six small cabins that have
electricity, a microwave, refrigerator and sleeping space for six. There’s also
a bunkhouse–which also sleeps six. It’s roomier and has a bathroom.
Some of the trailer sites at this park are reserved
for a full month’s time rather than the usual two week limit. The decision to
open the sites for a longer period of time was useful to those who temporarily
moved into the area due to jobs in the oil fracking industry.I took a picture of burned trees and grass in the park. This burning was deliberately done to eliminate grass, cactus plants, and mesquite trees.
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| Above is a beautiful set of playground at the South Entrance and below is the tent discussed below. |
After leaving South Shore, we traveled about 9 miles
to reach the North Shore entrance. Upon arrival, there was no one at the check-in
gate. A park ranger stopped by as we wandered around the entrance and checked
our yearly park pass. If no one is at the gate, visitors are expected to put
the $4.00 entrance fee in the drop box.
We saw an unusual home while exploring this part of
San Angelo Park. A tent owner had a tarp over his/her tent and another one around
the picnic table. Perhaps for protection from wind and rain? Since no people
were seen at either the tent or the trailer in the same camping area, we were
unable to ask questions about the eye-catching large tent with a pirate flag
displayed next to the tent exterior. There was no activity around this part of
the park at all on this late winter day.
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| As usual, I picked up trash. There wasn't much: a can, a bottle and paper. |
