Introduction
Texas has, at least, three national grassland locations. There are two within a couple hours of our house, LBJ and Caddo. One east and one west from Dallas. We went out west to Decatur to LBJ National Grasslands. We are nearly equadistant from both so, it’s like flipping a coin deciding which one to go to.
National Grassland areas fall under the US Forest Service … the only difference between a national forest and a national grassland is exactly as the titles of each imply. Keeping areas of the plains protected is just as important as protecting forests. It’s the same concept, exactly. Protected ares with picnic/camping areas, hiking trails. We didn’t camp, we really just went to look around and do a little hiking.
LBJ National Grassland
The main thing one notices is the openness of it all. Wide open expanses of grass. Lots and lots of wildflowers, trails, really nice spots for meditating, picnics, quiet time, reflection or whatever your thing is. The wide open spaces that we visited were breathtaking in their own way, moreover, we were really lost in all of the simple beauty. We didn’t see everything there is to see because the expanse is so large.
It is clear that the land within the park is returning to a natural state, although, it is also clear that this land was inhabited by humans not so long ago. Remnants of structures, the odd gravestone, fences are a few modern non native things one might see. All in all, we intend to spend more time at grassland areas, particularly in the spring and early summer.
We are attaching some of our pictures from our visit below. Visiting a national grassland for the first time, as we were, we had no idea exactly what to expect. What we found was well worth the time spent. It’s nice to know that we (collectively as Americans) are setting aside grasslands, as well as, forest lands for future generations.
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