It wasn’t that long ago that Texas had few state parks, and the ones we had were woefully underfunded. The recent re-direction of the sporting goods tax is proving to be very beneficial to our park – at Enchanted Rock SNA, it is funding a re-build of our water system. The first such tax was a penny per pack of cigarettes, and it provided significant operating funds for parks, which had very little money directed to them. Read this article from Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine to find out the whole story of our park system.

This rock quarry is just outside the park, and if it weren’t for the efforts of many people, this could have been the fate of The Rock. According to Park Superintendent Doug Cochran, Enchanted Rock almost didn’t become a state park. Among those we can thank are the last private owners, Charles and Ruth Moss, and the Nature Conservancy.  The story is complicated, but when you look around from the top of The Rock, say this out loud, to no one in particular: Thank you.

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