Lost Maples State Natural Area

The maples here don't belong. Not ecologically — they're relics of the last glacial period, remnants of a population that flourished when this part of Texas was cooler and wetter. They stayed when the climate shifted, surviving in the limestone canyon of the upper Sabinal River. The 2,906-acre natural area, acquired by Texas in 1973 and 1974 and opened in 1979, protects that stand — and the fall color it produces, brilliant in dry years with cold nights, more muted when the autumn runs mild and damp.