From early December through late January, Inks Lake State Park closes some trails and campsites in five windows for drawn deer and feral hog hunts. Four of those five windows open on a Monday evening and end on a Thursday afternoon. Every public ranger program on the park's winter calendar lands on a day the hunts leave alone. So the park's cold season divides by day of the week. Weekends and holidays get stargazing, guided hikes and a campsite lights festival, and a handful of weekdays go to a few dozen hunters in assigned blinds.
If you walk the Pecan Flats or Valley Spring Creek trails on a Tuesday morning, that split is worth putting on your calendar now. If you only come to the park on Saturdays, the winter looks almost untouched.
Five windows, and only one of them touches a weekend
The park's alert page lists the closures by date. Some hiking trails, some campsites in the West Loop area and the primitive campsites close at 5 p.m. the night before each hunt and reopen at 2 p.m. on the final day. The hunts themselves appear in the proposed hunt table staff put before the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission at its May 28, 2026 meeting, which lists Inks Lake and Longhorn Cavern as one combined hunt area.
Here is how the windows fall on the calendar:
- Thursday, Dec. 3, 5 p.m. to Sunday, Dec. 6, 2 p.m. Youth deer and feral hog hunt, 7 positions.
- Monday, Dec. 14, 5 p.m. to Thursday, Dec. 17, 2 p.m. Deer and feral hog hunt under a Mentored Hunting Permit, 7 positions.
- Monday, Jan. 4, 5 p.m. to Thursday, Jan. 7, 2 p.m. Either-sex deer and feral hog hunt, 7 positions.
- Monday, Jan. 11, 5 p.m. to Thursday, Jan. 14, 2 p.m. Antlerless and spike-buck deer and feral hog hunt, first of two periods.
- Monday, Jan. 18, 5 p.m. to Thursday, Jan. 21, 2 p.m. The same hunt's second period. Its 14 positions cover both January periods.
The youth hunt on the first December weekend is the only window that takes in a Saturday. After Dec. 6, every weekend through the end of January keeps full trail access.
The scale is small. Across all five windows, that table lists 35 hunt positions in total. The park's own alert page says day passes and camping "sell out every weekend and holiday." A weekend crowd that fills the gate is a different order of magnitude from a few hunters in assigned blinds on weekday mornings. TPWD's hunt catalog lists the January hunts as assigned-blind, centerfire-rifle hunts, and the application deadline was Sept. 15, 2026. It also notes that standby spots may be available by calling the area. The agenda item would authorize state park hunts under open seasons "as sound biological management permits."
What closes, and what stays open
The Texas State Parks reservation page for Inks Lake spells out the limits of each closure:
"The park, main campground, cabins, and all other areas of the park are open during this time. Only drawn permitted hunters will be allowed in the closed areas during these dates."
TPWD doesn't say which trails close. The park's trails page lists Bluebonnet, Upper Angler's, Lower Angler's, Lake, Pecan Flats, Valley Spring Creek, Woodland, Devil's Backbone Nature and Devil's Waterhole Nature. An older TPWD guide to the Pecan Flats Trail says the trail crosses Park Road 4 at the gate to the Pecan Flats Primitive Camping Area and is sometimes closed "due to public hunting." The primitive sites appear by name on this winter's closure list, so plan on Pecan Flats being part of it. For anything else, call the park before a weekday hike in one of the windows.
That call matters most for the walk to Devil's Waterhole. The short access trail from the parking lot reaches both Devil's Waterhole and the Valley Spring Creek Trail, and its status during the hunts isn't posted. Keep expectations modest for the falls themselves too. The Inks Lake State Park page describes the waterfalls as a sight "when Valley Spring Creek is running."
If you bring a dog, one more notice applies all winter. TPWD's screwworm alert, dated June 13, 2026, asks visitors to check pets and livestock often. If you find unusual wounds or maggots, don't move the animal. Call the Texas Animal Health Commission at (800) 550-8242 or a private veterinarian. For wildlife with suspicious wounds, notify park staff or call (512) 389-4505.
The ranger calendar fills the gaps
Set the park's events calendar beside those five windows and no program overlaps a closure. Most land on Saturdays or holidays, and the busiest single day comes right after Thanksgiving.
November
- Wednesday, Nov. 11, 9 a.m. The Veteran's Day Guided Hike to Honor all Who Have Served heads to the Valley Spring Creek waterfall with retired Army veteran and Texas Master Naturalist Matt Jary.
- Thursday, Nov. 26, 9 a.m. Walk Before you Waddle puts a Thanksgiving morning walk on the books. Its listing puts it as "Get your steps before the stuffing!"
- Saturday, Nov. 28 fills the whole day: Fishing with a Ranger at 10 a.m., Texas Rocks with a geologist at noon, Art in the Park at 1 p.m. and Air Rifle Basics at 2 p.m.
December
- Saturday, Dec. 12, 5:30 p.m. The Star Party brings the Austin Astronomical Society and its equipment to the park. It falls between the first two hunt windows.
- Saturday, Dec. 19, 6 p.m. For the Holiday Festival of Lights, campers staying that night are asked to bring holiday decorations for their sites. The park has been under a burn ban since Oct. 14, 2026, which rules out wood and charcoal fires. Only containerized fuel such as propane is allowed, and only for cooking. Unless the ban lifts, string lights will have to do the work a campfire usually does.
- Thursday, Dec. 31, 11 p.m. The First Day Midnight Hike rings in 2027 on the trail and requires registration.
January
- Friday, Jan. 1, 10 a.m. The daylight First Day Hike follows the next morning. After that, the calendar goes quiet for the rest of the month while the three January windows run Monday to Thursday.
The pattern holds both ways. The programs that draw a crowd sit on days when every trail is open, and the closures sit on the days the park is least busy. The one overlap risk is a weekday visit you didn't check first.
Saturday, Oct. 31, before any of it starts
Halloween weekend is still open season, with no closures until Dec. 3. Inks Lake State Park lists four programs for Oct. 31: Fishing with a Ranger, Texas Rocks!, Creatures of the Night, and Moth Madness, an evening of mothing with Ranger Sam.
Down Park Road 4, Longhorn Cavern runs a costume-friendly Halloween walking tour the same day. A paid online reservation with code TOT26 includes one free child's walking-tour ticket, and the offer is good Oct. 31 only. Through the fall and winter season, the cavern is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends and holidays. It closes Christmas Day, and Blacklight Tours run at 9:30 a.m. on weekend mornings. The cavern shares the drawn-hunt area with Inks Lake. The operator's FAQ, published in 2025, says the annual hunts "do not affect regular park operations."
The water is cooperating too. The Lake Buchanan/Inks Lake Chamber's fishing report for Oct. 16, 2026 had Inks Lake at normal level, stained and about 79 degrees. It reported excellent bass action, with quality fish feeding on large gizzard shad near offshore rock and big topwater baits and swimbaits working. The park's reservation page also carries a standing reminder to watch for algae blooms in stagnant water, with details from the LCRA. The weekend gate still sells out, so a reservation for Oct. 31 is the step to take now.
At McAlister Realty, we keep track of the Highland Lakes calendar the same way our neighbors do, from hunt windows to the first cold-front bass bite. If you live near Inks Lake and are wondering how the park's seasons shape life on your stretch of the water, Tara is glad to talk it through. Request a Market Consultation whenever you're ready.
