Bastrop State Park Reopens

The first day that Bastrop State Park reopened-sort of, 3 months after closure due to the Bastrop Complex wildfire. About 95% of the park was burned. Currently Park Rd 1A (the loop road) is only open to the Refectory area, although it may open to the lake this weekend. Several trails inside the loop are open, but they represent maybe 10% of the total original trail system. The area is still pretty bleak, and needs lots of volunteer TLC to help in the recovery.

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This is the re-opened Piney Hill Spur ("yellow") trail. Note the many totally burned pines and oaks, but also new growth sprouting from the base of the oaks.
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A view through part of the Piney Hill RV campground. A few trees survived in the background.
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Virginia Creeper sprouts. This will be good to prevent erosion.
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View from Piney Hill campground. You can see, much more than before the burn, the steep ravines beside the camp site.

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And one of the first plants returning is the non-native, invasive Chinaberry. Managing invasive plants will be a real challenge as the park is restored.
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Today Park Rd 1A (the loop) is still closed near the refectory because of on-going timbering of hazard trees in the area. Note the huge pile of chipped wood, which will be used as mulch and erosion control.
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Thankfully, the historic Refectory and most other CCC structures in the park were saved from the fire. It took a heroic effort on the part of the fire crews to save most of these structures.