At Stonewall, the State Park Is the Front Door to the LBJ Ranch

At Stonewall, the state park and national historical park face each other across the Pedernales River. The state park has bison, Texas longhorns, easy trails, cabins, and the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm. Interpreters work in a 1918 setting. They feed animals, cook, churn, tend the garden, and do seasonal chores.

The visitor center at 199 Park Road 52 gives out the map and free permit for the National Park Service's self-guided LBJ Ranch drive. Across the river, the route reaches the reconstructed birthplace, one-room school, Johnson family cemetery, and show barn.

One stop joins two kinds of Hill Country history. Farm chores, bison, and longhorns lead into the ranch where the 36th president was born, lived, died, and was buried. Two agencies manage the places, but the river landscape and the story run together.