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21-651: The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas , forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau . Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the American Southeast and Southwest . The region represents the very remote rural countryside of Central Texas, but also is home to growing suburban neighborhoods and affluent retirement communities. The region

42-740: A physiographic section designation within the Edwards Plateau , in a geographic context. Central Texas includes the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood , Bryan–College Station , Waco metropolitan areas and Austin–Round Rock (also part of the Capital region). The Austin–Round Rock and Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood areas are among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the state. In the south, the Greater Austin and Greater San Antonio areas are separated from each other by approximately 80 miles (129 km) along Interstate 35 . It

63-708: A century following Reconstruction , the core of the Hill Country generally provided the solitary support base for the Republican Party in what became a one-party Democratic state. Even when no Republicans were in the Texas Legislature during the 1930s and 1940s, Gillespie and Kendall Counties backed every Republican presidential nominee barring Herbert Hoover ’s failed 1932 re-election campaign, and Republicans continued to control local government. Guadalupe and Comal Counties were less Republican, but still did not vote for Democratic nominees outside

84-483: A collision course with bugs such as cotton bollworth moths and army cut-worm moths being pushed away from crops southwest by winds. The bats consume several tons of insects per night, which according to research conducted in 2006, saves cotton farmers in south central Texas about equivalent to $ 1,118,429 in 2023 a year. While the Bracken Cave bat roost is often estimated at 20 million, the true number of bats

105-473: A distinctively Texan culture separate from the state's Southern and Southwestern influences. For example, the accordion was popularized in Tejano music in the 19th century due to cultural exposure to German settlers. Devil's Backbone is an elevated, winding stretch of Ranch to Market Road 12 between San Marcos and Wimberley , then Ranch to Market Road 32 continuing through to Blanco . It has long been

126-557: Is anticipated that both regions may form a new metroplex similar to Dallas and Fort Worth . Some of the largest cities in the region are Austin , College Station , Killeen , Round Rock , and Waco . The largest U.S. Army installation in the country, Fort Cavazos (formerly Fort Hood), is located near Killeen . The counties (to the right in red) that are almost always included in the Central Texas region are (those bolded are always part of Central Texas): Counties (to

147-580: Is notable for its karst topography and tall rugged hills of limestone or granite . Many of the hills rise to a height of 400–500 ft (120–150 m) above the surrounding plains and valleys, with Packsaddle Mountain rising to a height of 800 ft (240 m) above the Llano River in Kingsland . The Hill Country also includes the Llano Uplift and the second-largest granite dome in

168-800: Is where the Southern United States ends and the Southwestern United States begins. Several tributaries of the Colorado River in Texas—including the Llano and Pedernales Rivers, which cross the region west to east and join the Colorado as it cuts across the region to the southeast—drain a large portion of the Hill Country. The Guadalupe , San Antonio , Frio , Medina , and Nueces Rivers originate in

189-590: The World's Weirdest series episode "Freaks of the Sky." It was also featured in the first pilot episode of Dirty Jobs . The Bracken Cave is the destination every March or April of over 20,000,000 Mexican free-tailed bats ( Tadarida brasiliensis ). These bats fly as much as 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from Mexico to this cave. After arriving in the cave, the migrant mothers give birth to pups. An astounding 500 pups have been recorded clinging to 1-square-foot (0.093 m ) of

210-472: The 1912, 1932, 1936, and 1964 landslides. The region was also the only one in antebellum slave states to back the insurgent candidacy of Robert La Follette in 1924 ; in fact, Comal was La Follette’s top county in the nation with 73.96% of the vote, and Gillespie and Comal were the only counties south of the Mason–Dixon line to give a plurality to his “ Progressive ” ticket. Because of its karst topography,

231-462: The Hill Country. This region is a dividing line for certain species occurrence. For example, the California fan palm ( Washingtonia filifera ) is the only species of palm tree that is native to the continental United States west of the Hill Country's Balcones Fault. The area experiences a fusion of English , Spanish , and German influences in food, beer, architecture, and music that form

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252-557: The United States, Enchanted Rock . The terrain throughout the region is characterized by a thin layer of topsoil and many exposed rocks and boulders, making the region very dry and prone to flash flooding . Native vegetation in the region includes various yucca , prickly pear cactus , desert spoon , and wildflowers in the Llano Uplift. The predominant trees in the region are Ashe juniper and Texas live oak . Bound on

273-576: The area also features a number of caverns, such as Inner Space Caverns , Natural Bridge Caverns , Bracken Cave , Longhorn Cavern State Park , Cascade Caverns , Caverns of Sonora and Cave Without a Name . The deeper caverns of the area form several aquifers , which serve as a source of drinking water for its residents. Wonder Cave in San Marcos was formed by an earthquake along the Balcones Fault. From east to west, Texas Hill Country

294-609: The areas: Texas Hill Country AVA , Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country AVA , and Bell Mountain AVA . Central Texas Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas roughly bordered on the west by San Saba to the southeast by Bryan and the south by San Marcos to the north by Hillsboro . Central Texas overlaps with and includes part of the Texas Hill Country and corresponds to

315-447: The cave walls—an ingenious way for keeping warm; the temperature is around 102 °F (39 °C). The city of San Antonio, a local developer, and conservation groups reached agreement on "a $ 20 million deal" in 2014, to ensure that human development would not encroach on the bats, and that the sky near their cave would remain dark at night. From March to October, the bats at Bracken Cave emerge between 6 and 8 p.m. flying southeast on

336-613: The east by the Balcones Escarpment , the Hill Country reaches into the far northern portions of San Antonio and western portions of Travis County including the cities of Austin and Lago Vista . As a result of springs discharging water stored in the Edwards Aquifer , several cities such as Austin, San Marcos , and New Braunfels were settled at the base of the Balcones Escarpment. As of 2016,

357-534: The initial 697 acres (282 ha) from the Marbach family in 1992, and has been assisted in preservation efforts by The Nature Conservancy . Access to the cave is restricted to protect the habitat of the resident bats. Bat Conservation International offers evening guided tours to the cave to watch the bats emerge from the cave. Bracken Cave has been featured in the media several times since its discovery. The National Geographic Wild channel included Bracken Cave in

378-749: The region's economy was one of the fastest growing in the United States. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department , these 25 counties are included in the Hill Country Wildlife District: During the American Civil War , due to its large, pro-Union, German immigrant population, the Texas Hill Country was opposed to Texas seceding from the Union . Subsequently, in the three quarters of

399-405: The right in pink) that are sometimes included in the Central Texas region are: Bracken Cave Bracken Cave is a cave located in southern Comal County, Texas , outside the city of San Antonio . The 100-foot (30 m)-wide crescent shaped opening to the cave lies at the bottom of a sinkhole, formed when the roof of the cave collapsed. It is the summer home to the largest colony of bats in

420-457: The subject of ghost stories. Folklore about it appeared in a 1996 episode of NBC 's Robert Stack anthology series Unsolved Mysteries , featuring apparitional Spanish monks, Comanche , and Lipan Apache tribes , Confederate soldiers on their horses, and a spirit of a wolf. The region has emerged as the center of the Texas wine industry. Three American Viticultural Areas are located in

441-416: The world. An estimated 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats roost in the cave from March to October making it the largest known concentration of mammals. The cave and undeveloped 1,521 acres (616 ha) around it are owned by Austin, Texas -based Bat Conservation International , which restores the land to support native vegetation and an abundant variety of wildlife. Bat Conservation International bought

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