Hiking in the Hill Country: Grelle Recreation Area

After staying at home for many weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic, we decided to explore a bit of the hill country and visited the Lower Colorado River Authority's Grelle Recreation Area. 

The park encompasses 276 acres on the south side of Lake Travis on the eastern end of Burnet County, a 45 minute drive from downtown Austin and a 20 minute drive from Marble Falls.

We arrived early on a Monday morning, used the honesty box for our entry credentials, and parked in a small but empty lot near the camping and picnic areas. With no one else around we didn't have to worry about social distancing.

At the trailhead we picked up a free map and off we went, winding through stands of ashe juniper,

live oaks and cedar elms.

The trails are well signed, though we chuckled about the possibly Freudian bit of confusion over the name of one of them. Is it "Bridal Pass?" 

or "Bridle Pass?" 

As you would expect, Overlook Trail offers fine panoramic views.

The open fields were lovely too, with lemon mint flowers standing out amid the green and gold grasses.

Grelle is also a nice spot for swimming, kayaking, and horseback riding. 

Now that it is full on summer here and temperatures reach the high nineties and 100s every afternoon, I would highly recommend a morning excursion.