The high point of the East Trail — the sweeping view over the Sabinal River canyon and the rolling Texas Hill Country. (Boone's tale of the old refuge dwells here.)
You made it — now stop, turn around, and drink it in. This is the Scenic Overlook, the high point of the whole trail, and after that climb you have earned every inch of this view. Below you, the Sabinal River canyon you just walked up winds away green and deep, and in the fall it's a ribbon of fire, all those maples burning red and gold along the water. And beyond it rolls the Texas Hill Country to every horizon — wave after wave of rounded, cedar-and-oak-covered hills, pale limestone showing through, going blue and soft in the distance. This is the heart of the Hill Country, and there's no better place to see the shape of it than right here.
Find a rock, sit down, and rest those legs a good while. Have a real drink of water and a snack if you've got one; you're at the top, and it's downhill from here. Let the wind cool you and watch the vultures and hawks ride the updrafts out over the canyon at your eye level.
And take in how big and wild and empty this country still feels from up here — because it was, not so long ago, one of the rawest and most dangerous frontiers in all of America, and this canyon a refuge for people long before it was a park. Stay up here on the overlook a good while, rest, and let Boone tell you about the old, old story of this hill country, and the people who found shelter in it. You've got the climb behind you now — enjoy the reward.
Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0
