Garner State Park Trails

Description:

• For anyone interested in viewing the scenic flora, fauna and geology of the Garner state Park, there is 0.6 miles of surfaced road area for bike riding and day hiking, plus 5.5 miles of unpaved trails for hiking. These trails provide access to the park.

  The park has an abundance of White-tailed and Axis deer, Rio Grande Turkey, Morning Dove, Eastern Bluebirds, Golden-cheeked Warblers, Black Rocks Squirrels, Fox Squirrels, Raccoons, and many other animal species.

  There is also an abundance of trees such as Mesquite, Texas Red Bud, Bald Cypress, Western Ash Juniper, Spanish Oak, Lacey Oak, Texas Madrone, Cedar Elm, and Pecan, as well as Mountain Laurel and Agarita shrubs.

  Deep canyons, crystal-clear streams, high mesas, and carved limestone cliffs are the brush strokes in the geologic painting of this intriguing terrain. Many back country paved roads wind through canyons along streams here, offering the traveler a different pace from the freeway rush.

  The rock formations in this area are early Cretaceous in age, deposited over millions of years in warm, shallow seas that once covered Texas. The Glen Rose formation, a collection of limestone, shale, marl, and siltstone beds, was deposited along the shifting margins of the sea where dinosaurs roamed in great numbers, leaving their footprints in the sands. The Cretaceous Sea then spread over Texas, depositing the Edwards Formation (limestone), over the Glen Rose beds. This sequence of strata, Glen Rose below, Edwards above, is found throughout this area.