Hill Country canyon forests

Sheltered canyons in the mountains of the Hill Country contain relict forests of oaks, maples, and other hardwood trees.

The Texas Hill Country is a part of the limestone Edwards Plateau, a scenic region of rolling hills, valleys, and small mountains which becomes more rugged to the southwest of Kerrville and around Bandera and Leakey. Much of the Plateau is ranch country of grasslands with scattered live oaks and invasive juniper (locally called "cedar"), dissected by occasional canyons which contain hardwood trees such as Spanish oak, black cherry, and Texas mountainlaurel. The areas biological diversity is concentrated in the canyons, which are often small in area and vulnerable to fragmentation. Limestone bluffs shelter wildflowers and rare shrubs such as the Texas snowbells and canyon mockorange. In a few canyons in Bandera and Real counties where springs and sheltering canyon walls create unique conditions, hardwood trees such as bigtooth maple, madrone, oaks, and walnuts grow as tall as hardwood forests of the eastern United States. These cool mountain coves, best known for the lost maples which turn spectacular colors in fall, seem unbelievable so close to the flat, mesquitecovered ranches only a few miles to the south.

Many hardwood trees in the Hill Country were cut during the drought years of the 1950s and browsed destructively by goats and sheep. Today, hardwoods are overbrowsed by whitetailed deer, so that seedlings are rare, and hardwood species have become scarce except on inaccessible slopes and canyons. While there are still large ranch holdings in the western part of the region, scenic areas of the Hill Country are rapidly being covered by residential subdivisions spreading out from San Antonio and Austin. Ranches have shrunk in size, and rapidly increasing land

Madrone trees grow in rugged, less disturbed locations in the Edwards Plateau.

prices make ranching increasingly nonviable. Canyon springs on private ranches will likely be exploited as water sources by San Antonio and other cities. Only a few small areas of hardwood forest have been conserved in state parks and nature preserves. Concerned landowners and conservation groups must act quickly to keep remaining forested canyons from being lost due to increased land clearing and population growth.

Limestone bluffs in canyons of the Hill Country protect rare and endemic plants such as Texas snowbells. Springfed creeks and tall canyon walls create moist, cool conditions that allow deciduous forests to grow in central Texas

Places to see Hill Country canyons: Protected Acreage of Bigtooth Maple Forest in Central Texas: Lost Maples State Park, Vanderpool Less than 500 acres