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Interpretive Guide of Enchanted Rock State Natural Area (SNA) in Texas. Published by Texas Parks & Wildlife.
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INTERPRETIVE GUIDE
DO YOUR PART!
A SENSE OF WONDER SURROUNDS
THE PINK GRANITE DOMES OF
ENCHANTED
ROCK
STATE
NATURAL AREA. IF YOU CLIMB TO
THE TOP OF THE ROCK, RISING
425 FEET, YOU’LL BE TREATED TO
A PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE
TEXAS HILL COUNTRY. YET IF
YOU PEER CLOSER, YOU’LL FIND A
LIVING WORLD OF LICHENS,
FAIRY SHRIMP, AND MOSS
BENEATH YOUR FEET. LIKE THE
PEOPLE BEFORE US, YOU TOO
Thousands of people flock to Enchanted Rock each year
for adventure. It takes all of us to care for this place and
we need your help! Do your part by following Leave No
Trace® principles when you visit:
• Hike only on designated trails and bare granite rock.
Stay out of closed areas.
• Pets are permitted only on the Loop Trail and in the
camping and day use picnic areas.
• Keep your park clean by picking up your trash and
recycling when possible.
• Preserve the park for future generations by leaving
plants, animals, artifacts, and fossils where you find
them.
Join the Friends of Enchanted Rock State Natural Area,
a non-profit group that supports the park through donations, service, programs, and park store merchandise.
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area
16710 Ranch Rd. 965, Fredericksburg, TX 78624
(830) 685-3636 • www.tpwd.texas.gov/enchantedrock/
CAN EXPLORE AND FIND THE
EVER-CHANGING MAGIC HERE.
© 2021 TPWD. PWD BR P4507-0119T (7/21)
TPWD receives funds from the USFWS. TPWD prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, disability, age, and gender,
pursuant to state and federal law. To request an accommodation or obtain information in an alternative format, please contact TPWD on a Text Telephone
(TTY) at (512) 389-8915 or by Relay Texas at 7-1-1 or (800) 735-2989 or by email at accessibility@tpwd.texas.gov. If you believe you have been discriminated against by TPWD, please contact TPWD, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, TX 78744, or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office for Diversity and
Workforce Management, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041.
ENCHANTED
ROCK
S TAT E N ATU R A L A REA
E N C H A N T E D
R O C K
S T A T E
N A T U R A L
A R E A
ISLANDS OF LIFE IN A SEA OF ROCK
Weathering and erosion not only change the rock—these forces
also create tiny habitats. Water gathers in shallow craters in
the granite called vernal pools or weathering pits. Even though
they might look like just puddles, these pools are filled with life.
GRANITE DOMES AND LAYERS
At first glance, Enchanted Rock looks solid and durable.
The rock and surrounding domes are made of
Town Mountain granite, a hard, igneous rock.
But forces of change are active here and nothing
is permanent. Weathering and erosion created
the landscape you see today, and it’s still changing!
One billion years ago, this granite was part of a large pool
of magma, or hot liquid rock, perhaps seven miles below
the earth’s surface. It pushed up into the rock above in
some places, then cooled and hardened very slowly, turning
into granite. Over time, the surface rock and soil wore away.
Those pushed-up areas are the domes you see in the park:
Enchanted Rock, Little Rock, Turkey Peak and others.
Enchanted Rock and the other domes are exfoliation
domes. They have layers like an onion. After the rock and
soil on top wear away, the granite expands ever so slightly
because there is less weight bearing down on it. That
expansion causes the dome to split into curved sections.
As the outer layer of rock breaks into smaller pieces and
slides off, the next layer begins to peel away from the
dome. This is a process that continues today.
Each vernal pool begins as a depression in the rock where
water, soil, and other debris collect. This creates a place for
algae spores to germinate. Algae are a food source for microscopic animals called zooplankton. As the seasonal pools dry
out, the algae and zooplankton die or go dormant. This adds
organic matter to the bottom of the pools—making it possible
for larger plants and animals to live there.
You might see
vegetation, like
bluestem grass,
yucca, or even
live oak trees
thriving in
vernal pools.
Some plants,
like rock
quillwort and
granite flatsedge, don’t grow anywhere else in the natural area.
Wildlife rely on the pools, too. Fairy shrimp are tiny freshwater
crustaceans that live in vernal pools. Their eggs can survive hot
summers on the rock surface, even when the water dries up!
On Enchanted Rock and the other domes, you can discover vernal
pools in every part of the life cycle, from shallow depressions to
thriving wetlands to islands of vegetations in a sea of granite. Life
is fragile here—one step into a pool can negatively impact it forever.
WONDERFUL WATER SNAKES
If you like fishing, you have something in common with plain-bellied water snakes. These
non-venomous reptiles like to congregate in and near Sandy Creek. Extra-sharp teeth help
them grasp slippery fish, a main part of their diet. Because plain-bellied water snakes are
dark colored and live near water, many folks confuse them for the venomous cottonmouth.
No matter the snake species, it’s always best to study them from a distance. Look for plainbellied water snakes during the day, either in the creek or on nearby rocks or sandbars.
TAPESTRY OF STARS
D
o you ever gaze up at the night sky and wonder
if other people see it the same way? The dark
night sky here has been the nighttime backdrop
for people stretching back 12,000 years. The prehistoric
people who traveled through this area used the stars for
navigation and storytelling, like we still do today.
The stars aren’t timeless, though. Because of a wobble in
Earth’s axis, the star we see as the North Star was different for people who lived here thousands of years ago.
Right now, our axis is aligned with Polaris, a star in the
constellation Ursa Minor. As recently as 3,000 years ago,
our north pole pointed toward Thuban, in the constellation Draco. Other stars have exploded, formed, faded, or
brightened over the centuries. Just like Enchanted Rock
itself, the sky above us is always changing.
Native American groups saw the sky in its natural, undiluted state. Even with the advent of electricity and the
growth of lighted cities, the settlers who came later would
have still seen a dark sky, though it would not have been
quite as pristine. Now, our night sky is dark but it’s
getting brighter as cities and towns grow more quickly.
Enchanted Rock works to protect the night sky as an
International Dark Sky Park. This means that our view
of the stars, nebulae, clusters, and planets is better here
than in surroundings areas. We protect the darkness by
removing unnecessary lights and using lighting fixtures
that are warm-toned and point toward the ground.