MOUNTAIN VIEW LODGE NATURE TRAIL BOASTS SURPRISES
BY BILL FINKLEA

A special treat awaits registered guests at the Mountain View Lodge on Ranch Road 12 south of Wimberley.  Owners Jan and Paul Prasek have developed a nature trail in the natural rugged beauty of the ravine that dips and winds behind the lodge where hikers will discover more than l00 species of indigenous plant life.

On many pre-retirement visits to Wimberley, The Praseks stayed at the Mountain View and found it filled the bill for their idea of a permanent paradise.  In l992, they moved to the "big hill," as it is called by locals, bought the place, and have been happy ever since.

The Praseks have continually upgraded the facility, adding several rooms and a swimming pool.  Guests will also find picnic tables for shaded barbecues.  These are all perched on 5.5 acres on a canyon rim where the Lord must have popped a saddle blanket to shake out the kind of view that just won't turn folks loose.

Then came the nature trail. The trail was born of serendipity, knowledge, and the excitement of one with a thorough enjoyment of pristine surroundings.

Bill Carr, a botanist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department was a regular guest at the lodge. One day, Bill spent considerable time climbing and traversing the rocky slope and came back into the office lit up like a kid who'd found an extra present under the tree.  And indeed he had.

Except the present he found were the trees themselves---and all the flora that made its home in their midst.

Jan and Paul inquired as to the cause of his obvious exhilaration. "You know what you've got back there?" he asked.  "No," they answered. "What?" "Why, a great place for a nature trail," he replied.  "you have all kinds of plants and trees and a lot of them rare to this area.  All you need to do is develop it."  So they did.

Jan says Bill was instrumental in laying out the trail and writing the Nature Trail Guide Book.

Now the trail is well marked with numbered stops that can be matched with the guide information. It makes for easy identification of such plants as the Texas Madrone, not common to this area and well-deserving of being bragged on as part of the trail.

Sotol flourishes along the way and though not a rarity hereabouts, seems to hold a spot of favoritism, maybe just because it stands tall and strong enough to exercise its own brand of independence in a demanding homeland.

The trail finds its way up and down slopes that will keep the hiker aware of the fact that the terrain is boss, but you'll get along all right if you just watch your step.

And then there's the gift of one who passed this way long ago-long ago.

Must have been, oh, a couple hundred million years that the resident Hays County dinosaur strolled over the big hill, topped the crest and made his way down the northeast incline, maybe foraging for a meal.  He probably found that meal, and definitely left something for those of us following after all this time.

He left us a track.  Firmly and permanently imbedded in the rock that is now part of the Mountain View Nature Trail-a dinosaur track.  It has been studied and verified by the Geography Department of Southwest Texas State University.  A dinosaur track-right up there on Wimberley's big hill.

Ain't that cool

Reprinted from the April, 2000 issue of the Hill Country Sun. The nature trail is open to registered guests and others with permission only.  The Mountain View Lodge is located three miles south of the Wimberley Square on Ranch Road 12 with office hours of 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. For room reservations, call 512 847-2992.