NPS Website; Seminole Canyon State Park Website
WHAT IS IT?The nearly 65,000-acre reservoir created by the damming of the Rio Grande. Amistad NRA is known for its bass fishing, bird watching and 10,000-year old cave paintings.
BEAUTY (6/10)
The strikingly blue waters, permanent haze and low mesquite tree line look like a setting straight out of the Sunday morning fresh water fishing shows on ESPN. We suspect that the striped and largemouth bass rich Reservoir has been featured on the all sports network; the fishing is supposed to be spectacular.
HISTORICAL INTEREST (6/10)
Indian groups habited areas within Amistad NRA 10,000 years before Europeans even discovered the land. Problem is, no one knows which Indian groups. No origin stories refer to this place. No modern tribes claim the land as their own. Pictographs, some of the best-preserved in the world, seem to use different inks, different drawing techniques and different symbols. Is the collection done by the same cultural group over spans of thousands of years? Different cultural groups within the same time frame? Different people at different times? Archeologists are still scratching their heads and speculating. In the films we watched at Amistad, archeologists really like to speculate.
CROWDS (6/10)
The parking lot at Diablo East Boat Ramp was nearly full, but besides a surly Ranger we encountered no one. Everyone is out fishing. There was much more space to park at the new Visitor Center; we were the only visitors there.
EASE OF USE/ACCESS (1/5)
Like all National Recreation Areas, you need a boat to enjoy the Park to its fullest. Listings of boat rental services are available at the Visitor Center. Pictographs must be viewed either by boat or through a State Park (additional fees apply). The Site is also quite remote. The Amistad Dam is 90 miles south of Interstate 10 via U.S. Route 277. In reality, the Park is much farther away from civilization. San Antonio is about 150 miles to the east, El Paso is 425 miles to the northwest and San Angelo is 160 miles to the north.
CONCESSIONS/BOOKSTORE (4/5)
Amistad NRA enjoys a new Visitor Center with space for exhibits, a new video room and a bookstore. The exterior isn’t beautiful, but we think they’ve made nice use of space from what they were given, an abandoned boat showroom. The books are front and center, arranged by subject. Do you know how many butterflies pass through Amistad? We didn’t either until we saw the shelves of books dedicated to them. Field bags, water bottles and inexpensive binoculars are available if you want to begin your birding or butterfly spotting career here. All of the videos you can watch at Amistad are also for sale.
COSTS (4/5)There is no entry for Amistad NRA. Lake use costs $4 for one day, $10 for three days or $40 for a full year. Three of the four campsites cost $4 a night, the other, Governor’s Landing, charges $8.
The unaffiliated Seminole Canyon State Historical Park charges $2 for park entry and $3 for its twice-daily Wednesday through Sunday guided tours of the pictographs.
RANGER/GUIDE TO TOURIST RATIO (3/5)
The Ranger on duty didn’t appear until we were ready to leave. She presented herself more as an Administrator and less like a “can I help you?” kind of person. Luckily, there was a husband and wife volunteer team who were friendly and eager to assist. We have them to thank for watching the second (and much better) video and for directions to the Amistad Dam – we may not have found it on our own.
TOURS/CLASSES (6/10)
Amistad NRA goes out of its way to make even the non-angling visitor feel welcome. Most radio announcements provided by Sites are little help. Not so at Amistad. AM 1580’s looped broadcast lasted a good 10 minutes relaying information as diverse and vital as the reservoir’s water level, boat ramp launch status and the time to arrive at the Saturday bird watching Ranger walk. Most of our questions, and we are sure most boater’s questions, were answered before we arrived at the newly opened Visitor Center.
The Visitor Center, dedicated in January 2004, is housed in an old boat dealership. The remodeled one-story pre fab contains a small, bilingual hands-on museum, a nice bookstore and a theater. Two 30-minute long movies are available for viewing. One was a lively Park introduction that made us wish we had more time to spend. The other was a more erudite take on the archeology of the region. We were pleasantly surprised.
Ranger talks are rare but do exist, a rarity in interpretive dearth of National Recreation Areas. Bird walks take place on the third Saturday, September through May, and allow the visitor access to the restricted area below the Amistad Dam. Cowboy Coffee talks take place every Thursday morning, January through March. The Park newspaper says to “Bring your favorite mug, a comfortable chair, and lots of questions!”
Amistad NRA does not offer guided tours of pictographs. The Panther Cave Archeological Site can be toured on foot through the Seminole Canyon State Historical Park. You need a boat to reach the Parida Cave Archeological Site.
FUN (7/10)Much more than visits to other NRA’s.
WOULD WE RECOMMEND? (6/10)
We had started to write off National Recreation Areas based on experience: Let’s just find the Visitors Center, get a stamp for the NPS Passport and be on our way. Amistad NRA renewed our interest in this subgenre of NPS lands. Although most of the fun will still be had by boat, there are places to swim, picnic, fish, bird-watch and camp. The few offered Ranger programs bring something more to the table than a slide show – access to restricted areas. Most importantly, we did not feel out of place without a water-going vessel.
TOTAL 49/80
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