Kickapoo Cavern State Park welcomes you deep into the Hill Country of Texas, where the land transitions from flat grassland to endless hills and peaks blanketed with bedrock limestone and sparse green shrubs. On an evening drive from Fort Worth, I entered Kinney County, Texas, passing through steep and curving roads with the occasional cattle guard and lonesome longhorn munching on the shoulder. The area is beautiful, rocky, and dry. The last bodies of water you'll see are the shallow, fast-rolling North and South Llano rivers, where an old cowboy was putting in his kayak as I drove on by.
On entering the park, I followed the main road that takes you from one end to the other with a quiet campground in the middle. The campsites offer hookups, group sites, and small family tent sites with water. My site was on the corner, hidden away from the rest of the campers by thickets of oak and persimmon trees. Though not a registered "Dark Sky Park", the night offered a black sky with great views of the Milky Way and constellations.
The following day, awakened by a cardinal's chirps in the shrubs, I felt restless from a seven-hour drive the day before. Near the campground is Seargent Memorial Trail. A moderate 0.7-mile hike up one of many peaks in the area. The trail offers an accessible overlook great for welcoming a sunrise early in the morning and sunset as the day winds down. The overlook presents a plaque detailing Tommy Seargent and the Seargent family, who owned the land as a ranch before giving it to the state in the 1980s. I descended the hill and came across cultural resources left behind by the operation. You can see parts of the old fencing and a goat dunk tank where goats were submerged in a watery solution to ward off pests.
After breakfast, I checked in at the ranger station just off the campground and was told about the trail systems and caves that made Kickapoo famous. Only one cave is accessible to the public by a reserved tour. The cave tour happens on Saturdays with ten spots open at ten dollars a person. The ranger told me the spots fill up months in advance before placing me on a standby list with five other visitors.
Though the cave did not work out for me this time, there are miles of trail systems through the rocky chaparral hills of the park great for hiking and mountain biking. I drove down the park's main road till it dead-ended and I jumped on the Indigo Creek Connection trail. The trail is exposed with few large trees giving shade. I went in late September where temperatures in the area exceeded one hundred degrees. With a lot of water on hand, I walked the trail coming across multiple washouts where dried-up river and creek channels left behind smooth white limestone rock. The open channels provide unobstructed views of the hills and rolling landscape in the distance.
Late September offers several plants in bloom. A type of senna adds color to the bright white limestone landscape with its yellow buttercup-shaped flowers. A sage-like shrub called a cenizo is easy to spot with its numerous pink blossoms that attract bees and butterflies, providing life to an arid place.
Texas persimmons and prickly pear cacti dot the landscape with fully ripe fruit. Prickly pear with its large deep purple fruits and the shiny black fruits of the persimmon can be seen throughout the campsite and park. The oaks are showing off their acorns, still green but at full size, and the ash juniper with its tiny blue cones speckle against the dark green foliage on these hikes.
The walk offers more cultural resources with original barbed wire fencing and a concrete water trough for previous ranch animals still holding water.
When I returned back to my car in the early afternoon with the sun high and heat very noticeable, I took a break at the campsite, sitting in the shade and eating a snack. Once I felt better, I drove to the other side of the park near Stuart Bat Cave and began a hike on the cutoff trail. The trail offered more shade with thicker brush all around me. Doves are common with an occasional squirrel running from tree limb to tree limb at eye level. The hectic screeching of scrub jays will definitely startle you on this hike.
I felt my feet getting heavier, a slight headache coming on, and the light reflecting from the limestone intensifying. The heat was finally getting to me, even under the shade from the trail. I took a rest in a little washout under some sort of conifer on surprisingly green grass. A little tick crawled into my sock before I flicked it off and I sat drinking the rest of what was left in my water bottle.
After some time recovering from the heat, I returned to the campsite and took a quick nap in the tent before waking up and making dinner. The sun was starting to set and I was beginning to feel better after a long rest and food, so I hiked back to Sergeant's trail, where I watched the sun fall behind the hills on the overlook. Ming, one of only two people I saw on the trails, rested on the overlook, sharing with me his day and the other hill country state parks he recommended. He told me to head to Stuart's bat cave, where I would see the Mexican free-tailed bats leaving for the night.
I drove to the spot Ming mentioned, where a readily accessible paved ramp takes you to see the bats. A pipe rail fence separates you from the cave's opening, where a million bats fly free every night during the year's warm months. A constant wave of fluttering dark-bodied creatures pour out of the cave into the sky just yards from where you stand. Most follow a pathway out into the hills, while others veer off in multiple directions, including yours. It was wild to see bats fly towards your face and veer off at the last second, leaving a whooshing sound as they pass by. The light dims and all you are left with is the sound of flapping and whooshing all around you. I felt like Christian Bale in "Batman Begins" as the bats flock around him. I am being dramatic of course. The experience is not that intense, but still an amazing one that I'd recommend.
The drive back to camp involved a jackrabbit running directly ahead of the car for about a mile and the pew whillip sounds of common poorwhills in the shrubs. Tired, I threw my shirt on the picnic table and crawled into the tent without brushing my teeth. I closed my eyes and slept till the first sign of light seeped into the tent the following morning.
After an early morning hike to the overlook to catch the sunrise, it was time to pack up. I traveled light with just a one person tent, portable camping stove, and a few belongings that needed put up.
I drove out of Kinney County, seeing the hills in the gentle morning light. Coming out of Kickapoo, you won't see much town life until reaching Rocksprings, then Junction. Hunger was setting in so I stopped by the first resemblance of a restaurant I could find at Isaack Restaurant. A large pink sign off the side of the road is easy to see with a building and indoor atmosphere that identifies as a Texas country diner. The place has plenty of comfortable seating, walls adorned with mounts, including a jackalope, merchandise, and a salad bar in a bathtub. On the wall is a plaque for being one of the top forty best cafes given by "Texas Monthly." After a giant cheeseburger with a sweet bun and onion rings, I headed home, leaving behind a part of Texas I never knew existed. The drive is long for most Texans, but if given the opportunity, make sure you make the journey into one of the most remote and beautiful places the state has to offer.
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