Discover the beauty of nature with Friends of Lost Maples - your park and recreation experts!

1.  Submitted the initial application for Dark Sky Park designation
2.  With the generous support of our community, we purchased and donated a Sky Quality Meter to the Park, a crucial tool for measuring Dark Sky Quality.
3.  Built and donated six trailside benches for backcountry hikers
4.  Donated $1000 to the park for vehicle tools.
5.  Hosted two butterfly surveys, school tours, and Master Naturalist interpretive hikes
6.  Sponsored a Fall Visitor’s Info Table, with a total of 15 volunteers completing over 150 hours of face-to-face interactions with community
7.  Completed construction of the new pollinator garden

After a long planning process, the pollinator garden is complete. Located at the park headquarters, the garden features a variety of (mostly) native pollinator plants intended to draw butterflies, birds, and other critters.  Funded by donations from the public, the Garden will serve as a refuge for pollinators and include signage to educate the public on the vital importance of pollination and native Texas plants.  Come check it out!

With the support of local and regional astronomers, the Friends of Lost Maples group hosts frequent Dark Sky events, such as Star Parties and Full Moon Hikes.  The emphasis is on providing information on the Dark Sky Initiative and education about the importance of maintaining clear, dark skies..

In conjunction with park staff, the Friends group leads frequent interpretive activities in the park, including plant hikes, bird and butterfly surveys, Master Naturalist training, and presentations on the history and folklore of the park and the surrounding area.  We also distribute interpretive material to park visitors during the busy fall season.

The Friends group has begun manually removing invasive Elephant Ears, Colocasia esculentia, from Can Creek near the pond. We plan to conduct further surveys to include other invasive plant removal activities.

With a grant from the Apache Corporation in 2017, Lost Maples SNA received money to plant 60 new Big Tooth Maple Saplings. The Friends group planted each tree. These have been placed in the Cliffside Day Use area, the Murphy House Parking area, and near the Park Headquarters. The Friends Group erected exclosures around them to protect them from wildlife and water them regularly.