Cypress Creek Nature Trail and Preserve/Blue Hole Regional Park
Photo by Melinda Seib
In 2002, 7.24 acres of land along Cypress Creek was transformed into a protected preserve and nature trail. This is a special and fragile ecosystem.
Termed as a remnant property, the land has never been farmed or developed, so it offers visitors the opportunity to experience a pristine riparian ecosystem in which a wide variety of plants and wildlife thrive in their natural state. The Wimberley Valley Watershed Association holds a conservation easement on the property designed to protect this beautiful undisturbed creekside forest in the heart of Wimberley.
This sensitive riparian area demonstrates the importance of riparian habitat protection and the benefits of healthy riparian systems. The 2.3-mile trail winds through shaded bottomland lush with Inland Sea Oats, Texas Red Buckeye, and other native plants. The majestic cypress, oak, pecan, and walnut trees that line the creek supply cooling shade, food base, and high-quality habitat for the abundant aquatic, terrestrial, and avian inhabitants. With higher biodiversity than upland ecosystems, healthy riparian environments can provide more robust protection from invasive species. This ecosystem supports aquatic life, beneficial pollinators and creates a crucial wildlife corridor.
To keep the preserve pristine, you may see fallen trees and organic flood debris left in place - just as Mother Nature intended. Nature, left alone, heals and regenerates her living systems. Cypress trees uprooted by flash floods create a richly diverse habitat and eventually spawn multiple new trees preventing further soil erosion and reinforcing banks. Allowing such cycles to run their course ensures that the benefits of resilient riparian forests accrue far into the future.
The easement requires visitors to remain out of the creek and on the trail to protect these conservation values.
Location
Cypress Creek Nature Trail & Preserve
107 Old Kyle Road or 333 Blue Hole Lane
Wimberley, TX 78676
Cypress Creek Nature Trail & Preserve can be accessed at Martha Knies Community Park at 107 Old Kyle Road or Blue Hole Regional Park at 333 Blue Hole Lane, Wimberley, TX 78676.
Blue Hole Regional Park
333 Blue Hole Lane
Wimberley, TX 78676
Hours of Operation: Blue Hole Regional Park is open from 8 AM to Sunset every day of the week unless otherwise noted on their website.
Bat Resources
Classroom Resources for Educators - Activities and Lessons
Nearby places to observe bats:
TEKS Connection
Science:
2nd Grade
2.2 Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student develops abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry in classroom and outdoor investigations.
2.2(D) record and organize data using pictures, numbers, and words
2.4 Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student uses age‐ appropriate tools and models to investigate the natural world.
2.4(A) collect, record, and compare information using tools, including computers, hand lenses, rulers, plastic beakers, magnets, collecting nets, notebooks, and safety goggles or chemical splash goggles, as appropriate; timing devices; weather instruments such as thermometers, wind vanes, and rain gauges; and materials to support observations of habitats of organisms such as terrariums and aquariums
2.9 Organisms and environments. The student knows that living organisms have basic needs that must be met for them to survive within their environment.
2.9(A) identify the basic needs of plants and animals
2.9(B) identify factors in the environment, including temperature and precipitation, that affect growth and behavior such as migration, hibernation, and dormancy of living things
2.9(C) compare the ways living organisms depend on each other and on their environments such as through food chains
2.10 Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms resemble their parents and have structures and processes that help them survive within their environments.
2.10(A) observe, record, and compare how the physical characteristics and behaviors of animals help them meet their basic needs
3rd Grade
3.4 Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student knows how to use a variety of tools and methods to conduct science inquiry.
3.4(A) collect, record, and analyze information using tools, including cameras, computers, hand lenses, metric rulers, Celsius thermometers, wind vanes, rain gauges, pan balances, graduated cylinders, beakers, spring scales, hot plates, meter sticks, magnets, collecting nets, notebooks, and Sun, Earth, and Moon system models; timing devices; and materials to support observation of habitats of organisms such as terrariums and aquariums
3.9 Organisms and environments. The student knows and can describe patterns, cycles, systems, and relationships within the environments.
3.9(A) observe and describe the physical characteristics of environments and how they support populations and communities of plants and animals within an ecosystem
3.9(B) identify and describe the flow of energy in a food chain and predict how changes in a food chain affect the ecosystem such as removal of frogs from a pond or bees from a field
3.9(C) describe environmental changes such as floods and droughts where some organisms thrive and others perish or move to new locations
3.10 Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms undergo similar life processes and have structures that help them survive within their environments.
3.10(A) explore how structures and functions of plants and animals allow them to survive in a particular environment
4th Grade
4.2 Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student uses scientific practices during laboratory and outdoor investigations.
4.2(F) communicate valid oral and written results supported by data
4.4 Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student knows how to use a variety of tools, materials, equipment, and models to conduct science inquiry.
4.4(A) collect, record, and analyze information using tools, including calculators, microscopes, cameras, computers, hand lenses, metric rulers, Celsius thermometers, mirrors, spring scales, balances, graduated cylinders, beakers, hot plates, meter sticks, magnets, collecting nets, and notebooks, timing devices; and materials to support observation of habitats of organisms such as terrariums and aquariums
4.9 Organisms and environments. The student knows and understands that living organisms within an ecosystem interact with one another and with their environment.
4.9(A) investigate that most producers need sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make their own food, while consumers are dependent on other organisms for food
4.9(B) describe the flow of energy through food webs, beginning with the Sun, and predict how changes in the ecosystem affect the food web
4.10 Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms undergo similar life processes and have structures and behaviors that help them survive within their environments.
4.10(A) explore how structures and functions enable organisms to survive in their environment
4.10(B) explore and describe examples of traits that are inherited from parents to offspring such as eye color and shapes of leaves and behaviors that are learned such as reading a book and a wolf pack teaching their pups to hunt effectively
Social Studies:
2nd Grade
2.1 History. The student understands the historical significance of landmarks and celebrations in the community, state, and nation.
2.1(B) identify and explain the significance of various community, state, and national landmarks such as monuments and government buildings
2.5 Geography. The student understands how humans use and modify the physical environment.
2.5(B) identify consequences of human modification of the physical environment
3rd Grade
3.3 Geography. The student understands how humans adapt to and/or modify the physical environment.
3.3(C) describe the effects of human processes such as building new homes, conservation, and pollution in shaping the landscape
3.15 Social Studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms.
3.15(E) create written and visual material such as stories, pictures, maps, and graphic organizers to express ideas
4th Grade
4.8 Geography. The student understands how people adapt to and modify their environment.
4.8(A) describe ways people have adapted to and modified their environment in Texas, past and present, such as timber clearing, agricultural production, wetlands drainage, energy production, and construction of dams
English Language Arts & Reading:
2nd Grade
2.7 Response skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student responds to an increasingly challenging variety of sources that are read, heard, or viewed.
2.7(E) interact with sources in meaningful ways such as illustrating or writing
3rd Grade
3.7 Response skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student responds to an increasingly challenging variety of sources that are read, heard, or viewed.
3.7(E) interact with sources in meaningful ways such as notetaking, annotating, freewriting, or illustrating
4th Grade
4.7 Response skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student responds to an increasingly challenging variety of sources that are read, heard, or viewed
4.7(E) interact with sources in meaningful ways such as notetaking, annotating, freewriting, or illustrating
Source: Lead4Ward
