[piano music]
- JAMIE CREACY: Bastrop State Park is a place that connects
people to the land.
[piano music]
- MADALYN MILLER: Smelling the pine trees and hearing the pine
needles just rubbing against each other when the wind blows,
it's just so wonderful and it takes me back to childhood.
- GIRL: Hi Joey!
[piano music]
- MADALYN: You also get a really awesome view of how a park
bounces back and how nature bounces back after fire.
- JAMIE: There's a story here and it's a really special story
that is both deep-rooted and long-lasting.
[piano music]
[old time music]
- NARRATOR: During the Great Depression,
the Civilian Conservation Corps came to Bastrop
to create a new state park.
- FILM NARRATOR: Historic Bastrop, third oldest settlement
in Texas is importantly represented in the
development of a lone star state park system.
- JAMIE: One of the best features here is our historic
Civilian Conservation Corps cabins.
The boys that built them honed the stone and the wood
right here from our landscape.
During one of the most difficult times in our nation's history,
young men came here to build Bastrop State Park.
They built the very essence of what it is today.
[old time music]
We're set amongst the Lost Pines of Texas
which is the westernmost stand of loblolly pines
in the United States.
There's a lot of different thoughts about why the
Lost Pines are lost,
but it simply means that we're a disjunct population
of loblolly pines from that eastern pine stand in Texas.
[birds singing]
We have a beautiful mosaic of loblolly pine trees,
oaks and savannah grasses.
[fire siren]
- NARRATOR: In 2011, a devastating fire
tore through Bastrop.
The fire dramatically altered Bastrop's landscape,
but park visitors can now see a new forest
rising from the ashes.
- JAMIE: For those who know and love the Lost Pines,
you're still going to find your majestic 80-foot pine trees
that rustle in the wind,
but today you're also going to find so much
regrowth in the forest.
Any time someone comes to the park they're going to see
new grasses, new flowers, new shrubs popping up.
And they're going to get to, over time, see the change
and regrowth in this forest,
which is truly a unique experience.
Here at Bastrop State Park, we have so many great
family things for people to do.
Everything from camping...
- KID: Yeah!
- JAMIE: Staying in one of our beautiful historic CCC cabins,
using our trail system...
[acoustic guitar music]
- MADALYN: So basically what we're doing today
is plein-air painting which means painting in the outdoors.
We've got so much beauty here, but sometimes it's hard to
slow down and take it all in
whenever you're running and gunning.
This is your creation!
You'll get to take a little bit of nature home with you
in that painting and remember Bastrop State Park.
- CAMPER: This stuff is good!
- This is my first campout.
Well, I wouldn't say first, but first outside campout.
- CAMPER: That's some pretty good stuff.
- BRANDON: Sitting around, playing with friends,
you get to see nature and its fine arts.
[acoustic guitar music]
I can already tell this tree is going to grow
tons of pine cones.
It's like we lose teeth,
but these lose pine needles.
[acoustic guitar music]
- NARRATOR: Whether you're a history buff,
a weekend warrior,
or looking to reconnect with nature,
Bastrop State Park is an ideal place
to discover the hidden treasures of the Lost Pines.
- MADALYN: What better thing to bring people together
than the outdoors.
- JAMIE: You can come and enjoy a peaceful weekend
with the trees all around and overhead
and just sit back and relax.
[acoustic guitar music]
[campfire crackles]
- CAMPER: No guys, let's do spooky stories.
We love Bastrop!
[crickets chirping]