While we were staying in Georgetown, Texas we took a drive and visited Mother Neff State Park which is just south of Waco. Mother Neff State Park opened in 1937 after Isabella Neff donated some of the land in her will. Previously, her and her husband raised nine children on the land while running a farm.

This park is a smaller state park and we were able to hike all of the trails in about two hours. We purchased our ticket online and after checking in at the Headquarters, we parked near the “Wash Pond” which is a low area enclosed by rocks that creates a pool of water when it rains. It was dry when we visited.

We headed south down the Wash Pond Trail (green) and passed by the CCC Table and hopped on the Cave Trail (purple). This is one of the neatest trails in the park since it passes by a rock shelter!

We backtracked and then hiked the Tower Trail (blue) to the CCC Rock Tower that was built in the in the late 1930’s. The staircase leads to the top with a panoramic view of the Texas countryside.

We continued the loop by hiking the Tower Trail (blue) back to the Wash Pond Trail (green) and then connected to the Bluff Trail (brown). The limestone bluffs on this trail were neat to look at!

From here, we drove back towards the Headquarters building and parked at the Prairie Loop Trail (yellow). This trail was really peaceful. We then hiked over to the Pond (red trail).

There is a second, lower section of the park that is closed. In 2015, heavy rainfall and a logjam caused the Leon River to flood which caused extensive damage to campsites and other facilities. At the time of this post, the lower section was still closed.

Overall, I really enjoyed Mother Neff State Park. There was so much to see packed into such a small park. Be sure to check it out if you are near Waco, Texas!