Old Tunnel State Park is a railroad tunnel of the

Fredericksburg and Northern Railway The Fredericksburg and Northern Railway was a connector line between Fredericksburg, Texas, and the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway. It operated under that name from 1917 until 1942. From 1913 to 1917, it was operated as the San Antonio, Frede ...

, which ceased operations in 1942. The property came under the care of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and was officially made a state park in 2012. It is located halfway between Fredericksburg and

Comfort Comfort (or being comfortable'')'' is a sense of physical or psychological ease, often characterized as a lack of hardship. Persons who are lacking in comfort are uncomfortable, or experiencing discomfort. A degree of psychological comfort c ...

on Old San Antonio Road. Since the shut down of the railway, the tunnel has become a bat cave, hosting over 3 million

Mexican free-tailed bat The Mexican free-tailed bat or Brazilian free-tailed bat (''Tadarida brasiliensis'') is a medium-sized bat native to the Americas, so named because its tail can be almost half its total length and is not attached to its uropatagium. It has been ...

s and 3000

Cave myotis The cave myotis (''Myotis velifer'') is a species of vesper bat (''Vespertilionidae'') in the genus ''Mouse-eared bat, Myotis''. Description It is larger than most other bats in the ''Myotis'' group, with a forearm of . The bat is brown with sh ...

bats. The bats emerge at sunset during the months of May through October, and viewing is open to the public. At 16.1 acres, it is the smallest state park in Texas.

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Official Site
Texas state historic sites Protected areas of Gillespie County, Texas Protected areas of Kendall County, Texas Protected areas established in 2012 Bat conservation Bats of the United States {{Texas-protected-area-stub

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