At Lost Maples, the Sycamores Have Turned. The Maples Are Waiting on a Cold Front.

Along the Sabinal River at Lost Maples State Natural Area, the sycamores have gone golden yellow and are already dropping leaves. Behind them, the bigtooth maples that people drive to Vanderpool for are still green. In its Oct. 21 report, Texas Parks and Wildlife said only a few maples were "starting to get a light color change just on the edges."

The sycamores turn on their own, and the maples hold out for cold air. In each of the last three seasons, TPWD's reports show the maples changing after the first hard cold snap, either a front or a freeze, with peak following one to two weeks later. The date of that snap moved by weeks from year to year, and peak moved with it.

The first color isn't the main event

TPWD's first 2026 report, on Oct. 14, said only the sycamores had started to change. A week later they were turning gold and losing leaves, and the maples had barely started. An older Texas Highways guide describes the same order: the maples usually start after the walnuts and sycamores.

So a late-October photo of gold leaves over the Sabinal shows the opening act. The tree the park is named for hasn't really started yet.

Three Novembers, each set off by a cold snap

Here's how the turn went in TPWD's 2023, 2024 and 2025 reports:

The 2024 season makes the point most clearly. Color didn't start in earnest until a front came through the week of Nov. 22, and peak followed about a week later. On Dec. 5, TPWD said leaves were falling fast and expected weekend thunderstorms to "take down the rest." The 2025 season ran on the same lag from an earlier start. After the Oct. 31 front, TPWD said there was no color yet. A week later the colors were good, and peak was expected one to one and a half weeks out.

Compare that with the advice many longtime visitors still use. The Texas Highways guide from its November 2009 issue put the usual maple peak in early November, lasting about two weeks. The magazine's 2016 feature moved that to the second and third weeks of November. In the San Antonio Express-News on Oct. 20, 2026, newsroom meteorologist Anthony Franze put typical Hill Country peak around Nov. 14–20. He also said temperatures and the timing of cold fronts can move that window. In each of the last three seasons, an early-November visit would have come before peak.

Why the cold decides it

The Texas A&M Forest Service names temperature, light and water as the three things that control fall color. Cool temperatures that stay above freezing, plus bright sunny days, push leaves toward the reds and oranges. Several rainy or cloudy days in a row can dull the colors.

A front brings the canyon a run of cool nights, often followed by clear, dry days. Until the first hard cold snap arrives, the maples in the canyon have little reason to change, however late in the month it gets. That's why the weather forecast is a better guide than the date.

Booking around a moving target

The catch is that the park fills up whether the trees are ready or not. TPWD warns of delays, traffic and capacity closures on fall weekends and the week of Thanksgiving, and the natural area closes when its parking lots are full. In 2025, the Nov. 14 report said weekends were selling out and the park was "turning people away at the gate."

Day-use entry is $6 per adult, and children 12 and under get in free. Reserved day passes are the only way to guarantee entry during peak season. You can book them through the Texas State Parks reservation page, and payment is required to confirm.

A plan that works with the pattern looks like this:

• Read the weekly report. TPWD posts its 2026 Fall Foliage Color Report almost every week through November. The park also has a recorded update at 830-966-3413, option 3.
• Watch the forecast for the first hard front or freeze. In 2023, 2024 and 2025, peak came roughly one to two weeks after it.
• Book a weekday if you can. Weekends are when TPWD expects to sell out.
• Don't count on December. In 2024, TPWD told visitors to keep making reservations into December, then said a week later that the leaves were falling fast.

Where the maples are thickest

Once you're in, the maples aren't spread evenly through the park. TPWD's trail guide points to two routes:

1. Maple Trail, 0.4 mile and easy, passes a large stand of bigtooth maples. It's the shortest way to the trees the park is named for.
2. East Trail, 3.1 miles and rated challenging, follows the spring-fed Sabinal River through bigtooth maple, bald cypress and sycamore. Right now, with the sycamores ahead of the maples, it's the trail where you can see both waves at once.

TPWD also lists Monkey Rock, the Grotto, the day-use pond and an overlook of the Sabinal River valley as points of interest along the trails. The 3.6-mile West Trail is known more for the shade of Mystic Canyon, its springs and its views than for maples. If a long hike isn't on the plan, you can drive about a mile into the park and see the foliage from your car. Restrooms and picnic tables are wheelchair accessible.

TPWD's park map says trails can close for weather or poor conditions and suggests checking with the park or its Facebook page before you go. The trail and primitive-campsite closures the Express-News reported after the July 2025 flooding no longer appear on the park's alert page. The only closure listed on the Lost Maples alert page is a hunt from Jan. 5 to 7, when only permitted hunters are allowed in.

If the dog is coming

Every Texas state park page currently shows a screwworm notice dated June 13, 2026. It asks visitors to check their pets and livestock and not to move an animal that has unusual wounds or maggots. Instead, call the Texas Animal Health Commission or a veterinarian. Suspicious wildlife should be reported to park staff or TPWD. The notice doesn't bar dogs, and the usual rule on the Lost Maples trails page still applies: pets must be on a leash.

The situation is changing. USDA has confirmed the first detection of New World screwworm in U.S. wildlife, an elk in Pecos County, and its status page was last updated Oct. 23, 2026. The Texas Animal Health Commission recommends checking pets and vehicles when you travel, and it keeps the current rules for designated infested zones on its own page. Check that page before leaving home with a dog or a trailer of livestock.

The drive in, and a backup on the Frio

From the east, most people come through Utopia, where Lost Maples Cafe sits at 384 FM 187. North of the park, RR 337 runs through Vanderpool and on to Leakey. It's one of the three Twisted Sisters, along with RR 335 and RR 336, and services are limited between towns, so fill the tank before you start that loop. The Lost Maples Country Store sells fuel, propane, beer and wine to travelers on the Twisted Sisters route. Its website shows no date, so call ahead to confirm hours.

If Lost Maples is sold out or the maples still haven't turned, Garner State Park on the Frio River has bald cypress and other native trees for fall color. TPWD's Oct. 9 alert for Garner lists the Blinn River Trail as closed, and other trails there are closed for construction, so check the Garner alert page first. At Lost Maples, the next TPWD report that mentions a hard front or freeze is the one to watch, because in each of the last three seasons peak followed within about two weeks.

If you're thinking about a place in this part of the Hill Country, from Sabinal River frontage to ranch acreage along the Twisted Sisters, Jim Banks knows this country firsthand. Let's Connect.