For about as long as anyone around Buchanan Dam can remember, winter on the Colorado River above Lake Buchanan has been seen from the water. From November through February, Vanishing Texas River Cruise runs a four-hour Ultimate Eagle Cruise up the navigable length of the river. It stops at Fall Creek Falls and Post Oak Falls, and passengers watch for bald eagles, osprey and herons along the way. The bluffs above that river were private ranchland until the state began buying them in 2025, and for the first year after that, the public could get in only through guided hikes, events and permitted hunts.
That opened up on Sept. 24, 2026, when Post Oak Ridge State Park opened for reserved day use on the Colorado River bluffs across from Colorado Bend State Park. Texas Parks and Wildlife's development plan names Post Oak Falls as one of the park's main points of interest, and the first trail overlook it plans to build will look out at that waterfall. The same waterfall name now appears on a cruise itinerary and on a state park plan. Anyone with a $2 reservation can now walk to a bluff above the same river corridor the eagle cruise travels.
Same waterfall, two ways to see it
The land side has a long history. TPWD describes the property as the historic Vann Ranch, settled by John Fletcher and Mattie Lou Vann in 1889. Over the years, Vann family members ranched there, cut cedar and ran a fish camp. TPWD began buying the 3,118 acres in January 2025, including land from Vann descendants. The Texas Tribune reported that the park was put together from Vann River Ranch and Big Springs Ranch, at a combined cost of $47.1 million. The purchase was paid for through the Centennial Parks Conservation Fund, the $1 billion endowment Texas voters approved in 2023. Post Oak Ridge is one of the first new parks built with the fund's interest.
The Lake Buchanan connection is in the park plan. At TPWD's June 2026 public meetings in Burnet and Waco, consultant Andrew Duggan of Studio Outside listed the park's main features as Burnt Canyon Springs, Coffin Canyon, Post Oak Falls and the Colorado River. He described a first overlook facing Post Oak Falls and a second, called River Pavilion, high above the river with views across to Colorado Bend State Park. The Lampasas Dispatch Record reported that both overlooks were still in design.
So the falls overlook isn't built yet. What opened in September is the first piece of a longer plan, and what you can do there this winter is fairly limited.
What the bluff side offers right now
Right now the park offers hiking on marked trails and a picnic area. Here's what to know before you go:
- Trails. Whispering Oaks Trail runs 1.7 miles each way. River Overlook Trail runs 2.2 miles each way and includes a steep stretch that climbs about 200 feet in a third of a mile. Both are out-and-back trails, not loops. An ADA-accessible path just under a tenth of a mile long serves the picnic area.
- Reservations. You need a day-use reservation, and the park admits 40 vehicles a day. The Dispatch Record reported that passes can be booked 30 days ahead, and your confirmation email includes the gate code. If passes are left, a QR code at the gate lets you book on the spot.
- Fees and hours. Entry is $2 per person 13 and older, and free for kids 12 and under. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
- Dogs and bikes. Leashed dogs are allowed. Bikes are not allowed on the trails.
- Supplies. There's no drinking water, no electricity, and little or no cell signal. Only camp stoves that use containerized fuel are allowed. Wood and charcoal fires are not.
The river is off-limits for now. Visitors can't reach the water in this phase, and swimming and fishing are not allowed, partly to protect a spring near the river bottom. The River Overlook Trail gives you the view of the Colorado and its bluffs.
Getting there takes some planning. TPWD lists the entrance at 4146 County Road 105, Lampasas. The Dispatch Record and the reservation listing use 4136, so it's safer to follow TPWD's map pin. The address says Lampasas, but the only public entrance is on a Burnet County road. From Naruna, take CR 104 northwest about two miles, then turn west on CR 105 for five miles to the gate. TPWD warns that CR 105 is narrow, crosses private land with livestock, and floods. A flood alert dated Sept. 29, 2026, asks visitors to check road conditions before leaving.
The water side depends on one number
The cruise only reaches Post Oak Falls when there's enough water to get up the river. Vanishing Texas River Cruise switches to its Lake Cruise during drought, when low water blocks boats from the river arm. In July 2025, DailyTrib reported that Lake Buchanan was 100 percent full for the first time since around 2005. As of Oct. 11, 2026, Water Data for Texas showed the lake 96.2 percent full at about 1,018.5 feet, less than two feet below the 1,020-foot conservation pool. That level points toward river cruises this season. The operator doesn't publish a depth cutoff, though, and the gauge data are provisional.
On the current booking page, the cruises start at these prices:
| Cruise | Length | Starting fare | Season or date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ultimate Eagle Cruise | 4 hours | $61.89 | November through February |
| Ultimate Birding Cruise | 3 hours | $49.88 | Saturday, Nov. 21, 9 a.m., capped at 80 passengers |
| Scenic Wilderness Cruise | 2 hours | $35.10 | Year-round |
Cruises leave from 443 Waterway Lane in Burnet. Specific Ultimate Eagle Cruise departure dates for 2026-27 hadn't been posted as of this writing. Captain Shawn Devaney, who bought the business in 1999, still runs it.
Planning around the park's hunt closures
The park closes to the public during permitted hunts, and three of this fall's four closures fall inside the November-through-February cruise season. These are the dates on TPWD's alert page, alongside the season's other fixed dates:
| Dates | What's happening |
|---|---|
| Oct. 12–31, 9 p.m. nightly | "The Stars at Night" at Canyon of the Eagles, 16942 RR 2341, Burnet; $25 adults, $15 ages 5–12 |
| 4 p.m. Oct. 26 to 8 a.m. Oct. 30 | Post Oak Ridge closed for a hunt |
| 4 p.m. Nov. 5 to 8 a.m. Nov. 9 | Post Oak Ridge closed for a hunt |
| Nov. 21, 9 a.m. | Ultimate Birding Cruise departs |
| 8 p.m. Nov. 22 to 8 a.m. Nov. 26 | Post Oak Ridge closed for a hunt |
| Dec. 11, 5:30 p.m. | Lake Buchanan/Inks Lake Chamber holiday potluck at Hill Country Hall |
| 8 p.m. Dec. 20 to 8 a.m. Dec. 24 | Post Oak Ridge closed for a hunt |
The Saturday birding cruise on Nov. 21 falls the day before the Thanksgiving-week closure begins. That weekend, you can see the river from the boat on Saturday and from the bluff on Sunday. The Chamber's potluck is open to everyone, with the Chamber providing the meats and nonalcoholic drinks, plus a visit from Santa.
Back at the dam, the eagles are spreading out
Not everyone wants to drive to the far end of CR 105. The Lake Buchanan/Inks Lake Chamber visitor center at 19611 E. State Highway 29 in Buchanan Dam has an observation deck facing an eagle nest. It's open Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The most recent dated report on the nest is from spring 2025. That April, DailyTrib reported that the mated pair had returned and seemed to be raising a new brood. Chamber executive director Joe Woolsey told the paper, "You can't see into the nest, but it's the right time of year for the eggs to hatch, and at least one of the eagles is always at the nest." No one has confirmed yet whether the pair returned for 2026.
The same DailyTrib story found eagles spreading beyond east Lake Buchanan. A kayaker photographed one near Lake Marble Falls, and a young eagle was photographed fishing the Llano River near Kingsland. The article also noted that wintering eagles usually arrive in the Highland Lakes between September and November, and that peak egg-laying in Texas comes in December. In other words, mid-October is early in the season, and the cruise schedule lines up with it.
What 2029 adds to the bluff
TPWD's target for full opening is within 48 months of acquisition, with improved roads, utilities and overnight camping. The Lampasas Dispatch Record's report on the June meetings gave March 2029 as the target for that second phase. The plan calls for about 20 to 25 miles of hiking trails, 5 to 10 miles of them shared with mountain bikes, plus tent campsites and river recreation. Horseback riding isn't part of the plan. Duggan said the steep terrain and sensitive areas make it unsafe. KXXV reported that the future plan includes RV sites with water and electric hookups, primitive camping and eventual river access, and quoted superintendent Kacey Sloan comparing the infrastructure work to building a small city.
Sloan has also described how the river might open without harming the spring that keeps swimmers out today. "Long term, a boardwalk over the spring is planned," she told the Lampasas Dispatch Record.
At LandMasters Real Estate, we've watched the north end of Lake Buchanan for five decades, and this is one of the biggest changes to how people can reach the river above the lake. If you own on the north shore and want to know how the new park and the lake's higher water might factor into what your property is worth, start with our instant home valuation, and then give our Llano or Kingsland office a call.
