The Yegua Knobbs Preserve - Lee and Bastrop Counties, Texas
In February 2004, PPLT acquired its first preserve tract, 304 acres of mostly forested uplands straddling the boundary between Bastrop and Lee Counties. The Yegua Knobbs Preserve (YKP) encompasses three of the nine "Yegua Knobbs", rising 250 feet above the surrounding terrain between the towns of McDade and Lexington. This diverse property includes pine-crowned sandstone mesas, extensive post oak forests, native prairies, 60 acres of fenced, working ranch land, seeps and springs, and four ponds which may harbor breeding populations of the endangered Houston Toad.
The Preserve is currently open to the public by appointment only. However, PPLT holds "Field Days" open to the public in the spring and fall (generally April and October).
The Preserve has no utilities or facilities at this time except for an outdoor composting toilet. PPLT plans to encourage group activities including horseback riding, mountain biking, and camping in the future. We welcome inquiries from your organization about using the Preserve.
Some of the highest points between Temple and the Gulf Coast, the Yegua Knobbs form part of the divide between the Colorado and Brazos River drainages. Numerous seeps and springs originate on this tract, as they do on other tracts elsewhere around the Knobbs. The most famous of the area’s springs, located just north of YKP on the highest of the Knobbs, lent its name to the community of Knobbs Springs in Lee County. The area has been occupied for over 4500 years by prehistoric bands attracted to the plentiful water and game. Historically, the area was first settled at the time of the Civil War by the Wends, who also founded the nearby community of Serbin. Knobbs Springs grew to 300 people by the turn of the century, with three churches and two cotton mills. The town flourished up until the First World War. The community still attends the Knobbs Springs Baptist Church, founded in 1860. A stagecoach line from Houston to Austin ran through the area. The construction of a railroad line through McDade in the 1870s-1880s brought an influx of workers to the area, and the money they made and spent tempted outlaws who haunted the Knobbs to rob and murder some workers. The banditry culminated in a Christmas Day shootout at McDade in 1883.
