Inks Lake State Park

Special to The Highlander

Texas State Parks began re-opening for day-use only April 20 as part of a broader effort to begin re-opening the state of Texas.

Per Governor Abbott’s direction, new restrictions in effect include requiring visitors to wear face coverings and maintain a six-foot distance from individuals outside of their party and prohibiting the gathering of groups larger than five. …

By Becky Breazeale
Special to The Highlander

Clean Sweep is an annual volunteer activity which has taken place for 16 years at Inks Lakes State Park.

This event is held in early spring and is a project coordinated by Highland Lakes Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist Program (HLMN). This opportunity helps to prepare the park for the arrival of Spring Breakers and summertime campers. …

Savanna Gregg
Staff Writer

Lake-area residents heard a future Public Use Plan for the Inks Lake State Park complex, including Inks Lake State Park, Longhorn Cavern State Park, and Park Road 4, at a public hearing held Tuesday, Dec. 12 at the Burnet Community Center.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

The public will have one final chance to give input on the Public Use Plan for the old Highland Lakes Golf Club course at Inks Lake State Park during a 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, public hearing at the Burnet Community Center.

By Connie Swinney
Staff Writer

A boat launch area upgrade is underway at Inks Lake State Park which will include a new dock and a resurfaced boat ramp, officials said.

Savanna Gregg is the general assignments reporter and a layout and design editor for the Burnet Bulletin. You can read her columns in the Burnet Bulletin and The Highlander. To send her a note, email: savanna@burnetbulletin.com. To subscribe to the newspapers, call 830-693-4367 and 512-756-6136.

We all need a getaway every once in a while, a chance to leave our daily work behind, sit back, and enjoy the simpler things in life.

By Savanna Gregg

Staff Writer

The Highlander

After buckets of rain filled the Colorado and Llano Rivers on Tuesday, Oct. 16, the Lower Colorado River Authority made the decision to open eight flood gates at Buchanan Dam to release much of the floodwaters.

This in turn created a hazard for residents living along Lakes Buchanan, Inks, Wirtz, Starcke, Mansfield, and Tom Miller as waters began to rush through the Highland Lakes on Tuesday evening.

To ensure the safety of its campers and visitors, officials at Inks Lake State Park decided to close their trails on Tuesday, Oct. 16 when the first four gates were opened.

Upon the next four gates being opened on Wednesday, Oct. 17, park officials made the decision to close the park entirely, moving 34 campers out and discouraging other visitors as waters continued to rise.

By Savanna Gregg

The Highlander

Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) officials were hopeful residents evacuated from Park Road 4 and County Road 116 (Hoover Valley Road) due to fire would be allowed to return to their homes at 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 31.

More than 50 local personnel from 17 different departments have responded to a blaze which consumed 557 acres, forced evacuations of residents from 150 homes and closed the two major roads as well as Inks Lake State Park.

Fortunately, no one has been killed or injured and no homes have been reported damaged from the grass fire, which began at about 2:52 p.m. Sunday, July 29, along County Road 116, better known as Hoover Valley Road, near Park Road 4, close to Inks Lake State Park, and quickly escalated to yet another raging wildfire for Burnet County.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Estimates have more than 30,000 Texans seeking emergency shelter as the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey continues, but many are safe and dry in the Texas Hill Country.

Mission Marble Falls at St. Frederick Church geared up for a lunch Tuesday, Aug. 29, to welcome people fleeing the storm.

Ann Sherman and Ron Farmer had traveled from Port Aransas.

“When they said Harvey would come as a Category 1, we were going to stay,” said Sherman. “Then they said Category 3 or maybe 4.

“Ron said we are going. We grabbed our cat, our records, our pictures and we got out in 45 minutes.”

A few people stayed behind and the couple said the news was disheartening.

“The roof is gone and the ceiling is on the floor,” he said.

Two groups of people from Sweeney who had never met were lunching in the St. Frederick dining room.