The World According to Stacy: Texas Hill Country Trip- Lost Maples State Park

On our trip to the Texas Hill Country, the BF had expressed that he really wanted to do some hiking. Now I had never been hiking before, but I wanted to make him happy so I thought we would try it. When I started researching areas in the Hill Country to go hiking, I realized that there were tons... But when I came across a review of the Vanderpool/Medina area near Lost Maples that described it as the "Tuscany of Texas", I knew we had to go there!!

We left Boerne and drove to Bandera (the Cowboy Capital of the World) on TX-16. It was only a 30 minute drive. Bandera is a small town and it had just one main drag. The BF and I walked into a few stores, tried on some cowboy hats, and then decided Bandera was not really that fun... But it was a good chance to stretch our legs :)

We got on RM-470 and drove to Utopia, which was about a 1 hour drive. Both the BF and I were very surprised about how pretty the drive was! It was about lunch time when we got to Utopia, and the BF doesn't ever skip a meal so we deiced on Lost Maples Cafe. Well, honestly I think this was our only option other than maybe fast food, ha! It was interesting to say the least... I went with the daily special and the BF got his usual grilled chicken. I will admit that the mac & cheese was really good. But I don't think I would say this is a "restaurant" that you have to try :)

Onward to our final destination, Lost Maples State Park! It was only like 10 minutes away from Utopia, and I was blown away when we got there! I did not even feel like we were in TX anymore!!! Even though we were there in December, it was more like November weather and we definitely got to see all the leaves changing colors...gorgeous! We decided to do the East Trial, which was 4.6 miles. I don't think the BF thought I was actually going to be able to hike it all, but I was determined! And honestly, it was so pretty that I did not even notice how far we had gone. There were some steep parts, but the views after climbing those steep parts made up for it. OMG, gorgeous. I only had my iPhone, so the pics were not the best. After we finished the hike, I was on a high...and I decided that I LOVE hiking! No one told me it was just like walking, but with nice scenery. I guess I did not expect the path to be so clearly marked and I thought we were going to be like guessing where to go...but it was not like that at all.

On our way back we took RM-337 through Medina to get back to TX-16. Wow, most beautiful drive...ever. The BF and I were stunned at how gorgeous this drive was. Little to know, we discovered later that RM-337 is on the list of like Top 10 drives in Texas or something like that. It is a must do if you are in this area.

All on all, this trip to Lost Maples was great! We left Boerne at maybe 10AM, and I think we got back around 4PM. And I found out that I love hiking! Wahoo!