Chalk Mountain Ranch Prairie Tour

Chalk Mountain Ranch Prairie Tour, Walnut Springs, Somervell County

*This tour is offered by donations. Suggested donation amount is $20; but please donate any amount you believe this special tour is worth. Donations benefit Native Prairies Association of Texas (conservation & land trust organization) & are non-refundable.  The deadline to sign up is Oct 14^th. 

We will meet by 8:45 am at Chalk Mountain Ranch on County Rd 2013, approximately 18 miles SW of Glen Rose. Located across from Rough Creek Lodge, the address to Google for the ranch is 5176 County Road 2013. Follow the gravel road up to the house.  There are no restroom facilities at Chalk Mountain Ranch, unless the owner is there and has the house open for us. Prepare to make a pitstop ahead of time.

The ranch is 341 acres, with a conservation easement held by the Texas Land Conservancy. Chuck Snakard, who owns the property, bought it in 1994 and started restoring it. The ranch was under a cattle lease in 1994 when the property was purchased, and the cattle lease was terminated in 1995. He manages the property with prescribed fire, along with herbicide treatment for controlling Johnson Grass. He is also managing the Ashe Juniper, by removing large stands to let the land recover and return to open prairie. His property is a recognized NPAT native prairie.

Here’s a small list of species we might expect to see: Gray Golden Aster (Heterotheca canescens), Maximilian Sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani), Gayfeather (Liatris mucronata), Small Palafoxia (Palafoxia callosa), Common Goldenrod (Solidago altissima), Old Field Goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis), Downy Ragged Goldenrod (Solidago petiolaris), Rough Goldenrod (Solidago radula), Stiff Goldenrod (Solidago rigida), White Boneset (Eupatorium serotinum), False Gaura (Oenothera glaucifolia), Osage False Foxglove (Agalinis densiflora), Prairie Agalinis (Agalinis heterophylla), Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and Canada Wildrye (Elymus canadensis).