A Texas state park has been ranked as the top spot in the nation to see the colors of the fall season.
Potential visitors can find this park deep in Central Texas.
New York Travel Guides released its list of the best state parks in the nation for viewing fall foliage this month. This list was compiled by travel experts who reviewed over 600 state and national parks across the U.S., ranking them based on overall rating, “fall colors,” and photographic popularity.
The list ranks 15 parks based on these attributes. For this year, the Lost Maples State Natural Area in the Edwards Plateau Region of Texas came in at the number one spot.
Based on the ranking, the Texas park earned a flawless “falls review score,” a photography score of 74, and an overall score of 88.
The Lost Maples State Natural Area is a 2,900-acre state park located near the towns of Utopia and Bandera. It was originally opened to the public in September 1979 at 2,174 acres and expanded in 2009 to its current size, according to Backroads Reservations.
Lost Maples features expansive amenities for visitors, including 10 miles of hiking trails, 30 campsites, and numerous areas for fishing, swimming, and more, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD).
The park will also be one of 17 prime locations to view an annular solar eclipse this year in October.
Incidentally, this is also the best time to behold the beautiful colors of fall, according to Aperture Adventure.
Lost Maples got its name from the abundance of maple trees it holds, and the park is known for its vibrancy during the fall season.
As such, TPWD fondly referred to the park as a place “Where the bigtooth maples turn spectacular colors of red, orange and yellow; and nature proves that Texas does have four seasons, after all.”
Multiple photos capturing the park’s colors as they changed throughout the fall and into the winter months of last year can be seen on the TPWD website. The images illustrate the green of the forests beginning to transition to red by November 2 before shifting into vibrant reds and oranges by November 25.
