Wondering how the wild flowers look around Texas this year? Well let me tell you, they are spectacular! 2024 is one of the best displays I have seen in recent years especially in the Texas Hill Country.
Areas around Fredericksburg, Enchanted Rock, Willow City Loop, and Llano are bursting with the bluebonnets. Highway 71 and Highway 16 are particularly gorgeous.
Closer to Houston, you will find bluebonnets around Whitehall, Navasota, Industry, and Brenham. The country drives in Washington County are a treat to the eyes. If you have the time this weekend, go for a drive around Independence and Chapel Hill. You will see cattle, horses, farm equipment, and wooden cabins surrounded by beautiful bluebonnets.
Muleshoe Bend Recreation Area has been spectacular for the past 2 weeks. You will be able to see large fields of the wildflowers carpeting the shores around Lake Travis. Turkey Bend and the other LCRA parks around the Colorado River are also reporting spectacular blooms.
The fields around Ennis have also been developing really well. They still looked green 10 days ago but readers have been messaging me that the flowers have really bloomed in the past couple of days. Also Meadow View Nature Area in Ennis seems to be still closed.
An unexpected gem: Lake Buchanan! The water level is really low but that has resulted in fields full of bluebonnets around the lake. You can even see boot ramps surrounded by bluebonnets, it’s such an unexpected sight! Check out Black Rock Park on the western shores of the lake for spectacular sightings.
State parks such as Inks Lake State Park, McKinney Falls State Park, Cleburne State Park, Lake Sommerville State Park also have several flowers in full bloom. Pecan Flats trail in Inks Lake is one of our favorite spots to hike amongst the wildflowers.
This weekend is going to be really crazy traffic wise as tens of thousands of eclipse watchers from all over the world will descend on the Texas Hill Country and Central Texas. This is not the weekend to go bluebonnet hunting!! The flowers look really good and will easily last two to three more weeks in North Texas unless a severe storm occurs.
As much of Texas is busy with the upcoming total solar eclipse on Monday April 8th, the many Bluebonnet festivals are also occurring after the eclipse. Be on the lookout for an email early next week sharing the dates of the Bluebonnet festivals for 2024.
That’s all for now! Stay safe if you’re going out to watch the eclipse and hope for clear skies.