Day Trips: Livin’ on the Edge in Rocksprings

Rocksprings balances on the edge of the wooded Hill Country and the brush land of the West Texas desert. The small town isn’t really on the way to somewhere else, so you have to be heading there to discover its charms.

Edwards County wasn’t organized until 1883 when 226 people lived there. In 1913 the county separated from Real County, leaving 2,120 square miles of rugged landscape. The county’s population today is around 1,500.

As the only town of any size in Edwards County, Rocksprings became the county seat in 1891. The two-story, frontier-style courthouse was built of locally quarried limestone. The town is the supply depot for area ranches where the goats and sheep outnumber the humans more than 100 to 1. The county is one of the largest producers of mohair and Angora wool in the world.

On the courthouse square, the more-than-a-century-old Historic Rocksprings Hotel still offers a comfortable night’s rest. There are only four restaurants in town. The chef at the Lotus Thai Café across from the courthouse moved to Rocksprings from Thailand.

The biggest attraction in Rocksprings is the Devil’s Sinkhole State Natural Area, nine miles north of town. Access to the natural area is by guided tour only, and reservations are required. All tours to the sinkhole begin at the visitor center in Rocksprings. Call 830/683-2287 to reserve your spot.

In the evenings from May 1 to October 31, approximately 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats swarm out of the natural area’s 50-foot-wide shaft that drops 140 feet into the sinkhole. The cavern itself has a diameter of over 320 feet and reaches 350 feet deep.

Rocksprings is about three hours west of Austin. Kickapoo Caverns State Park, South Llano River State Park, and Garner State Park are about an hour from the county seat of Edwards County.

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1,697th in a series. Everywhere is a day trip from somewhere: Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/daily/travel.