Pilot Knob

[WillowBend56]

Watch out, Austin! Better sacrifice a few hippies or state bureaucrats to the gods lest their wrath come in the form of this revived ancient volcano:

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM63VP

[px4man]

Thia ia right across from the new F1 Track. Not really much to see in the area of a volcano once being there. I have a retired friend who goes camping at McKinney Falls State park often, and she says it is a beautiful park.

[luciaphile]

When Pilot Knob was last active, Austin was teeming with mosasaurs and these creatures:

... which I post because I think it's the most beautiful fossil. It's from Bouldin Creek.

McKinney Falls SP: though a half-mile or so from TPWD's bunker-like headquarters, it's not exactly a jewel of the park system. A ranger mentioned that they can't do much upkeep or try to combat invasive plants (I'm looking at you, privet) until they have a "management plan" in place, which will evidently be the work of years. A Friends group tries to make up the gap. The falls are quite dramatic when Onion Creek is full. There are two interesting structures, the ruin of the home of Thomas McKinney, a sort of forgotten figure, a trader who financed the Texas Revolution among other things; and the "earth-sheltered" (there was a lot of that going around, apparently) visitors' center, which I've never found open and which seems to be going the way of the homestead. It's a pretty place to walk your dog and kids will like that it has a frozen novelty vending machine, but I recommend going on to Pedernales Falls to camp -- it is a really well-managed park, and a much better place to swim.

That said, in further evidence that Austin has stepped through the looking glass, all 85 campsites and six screened shelters at McKinney Falls are booked for the race weekend.