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

1. Working on the Park's Dark Sky Park application with DarkSky.org

2. With a grant received from Hill Country Alliance in 2026, we purchased a Dark Sky Quality Meter for 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 Information Table, with volunteers completing over 270 hours of face-to-face interactions with the community
7.  Completed construction of the 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 to attract butterflies, birds, and other critters. Funded by public donations, the garden will serve as a refuge for pollinators and include signage to educate the public about the vital importance of pollination and native Texas plants. 

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 assists with 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 worked to remove 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 funding to plant 60 new Big Tooth Maple saplings. The Friends Group planted each tree. They were placed in the Cliffside Day Use area, the Murphy House Parking area, and near the Park Headquarters.