Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve consists of 227 acres (919,000 m²) of native

Texas Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ameri ...

habitat west of

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

in West Lake Hills. The preserve was founded in 1974 by seven women who were members of an environmentalist group called Now or Never, and it was Austin's first nature preserve. The preserve maintains 2.5 miles (4 km) of hiking trails.

Location

The entrance to the preserve is a mile north of Bee Caves Road along the east side of

Loop 360 Loop 360 is a loop route in Austin in the U.S. state of Texas. Loop 360 is a scenic highway winding through the hills of West Austin. The road is described by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) as "a 4-lane depressed median arteri ...

. The hiking trails are open every day sunrise to sunset, usually this is in between the hours of 7am-7pm. The Wild Basin Creative Research Visitor Center is open M-F, 9am-4pm. Bikes, pets, smoking and picnics are all prohibited within the preserve boundaries. The preserve serves as a gateway to the larger Balcones Canyonlands Preserve.

History

In 1974 Janet Poage, a West Lake Hills resident and prominent environmentalist, was instrumental in negotiating a developments rights agreement between the City of Austin, Travis County, and Westview Development creating the preserve. Other founders include Margaret Hessin, Lucille Stegman, Flora (Esther) McCormick, Florence Macklin, Martha Hudson, and Willa Mae Hardesty. Mrs. Poage along with Westview executive Beth Robertson, Mayor Carol McClellan and County Commissioner

Ann Richards Dorothy Ann Richards (née Willis; September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, ...

redrew the master plan of Westview's 1,300-acre Davenport Ranch residential development in order to set aside over 100 acres of the developer's land to protect the sensitive Hill Country environment including habitat for the endangered

black-capped vireo The black-capped vireo (''Vireo atricapilla'') is a small bird native to the United States and Mexico. It was listed as an endangered species in the United States in 1987. Successful conservation efforts on the U.S. Army's Fort Hood and Fort ...

and

golden-cheeked warbler The golden-cheeked warbler (''Setophaga chrysoparia'') is an endangered species of bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of ha ...

. In the deal, Westview donated the land to Wild Basin and, in return, the City gave the developer the right to relocate 100 residential units originally planned on the preserve land to its adjacent property. This transaction was one of the first transfers of development rights in the Austin area and created one of the more important environmental laboratories on the

Edwards Plateau The Edwards Plateau is a geographic region at the crossroads of Central Texas, Central, South Texas, South, and West Texas. It is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east, the Llano Uplift and the Llano Estacado to the north, and the ...

References

External links

*
St. Edward’s University Wild Basin Creative Research Center official site
Nature reserves in Texas Nature centers in Texas Parks in Austin, Texas Protected areas established in 1974 Protected areas of Travis County, Texas 1974 establishments in Texas {{Texas-protected-area-stub