Miller Springs Nature Center - Tennessee Valley Tour

Dogs Leashed

E-Bikes Unknown

Miller Springs has terrain that varies from hardwood river bottom trails, to Rocky Ridgeline trails, with lots of beautiful views. The trails are mostly fairly easy, with only a couple of sections that would classify as intermediate.

The Tennessee Valley section of Miller Springs Nature Center is a beautiful hill country valley, bounded by the Leon River and a series of Limestone Bluffs and canyons. The terrain varies from rugged, Cedar-covered limestone slopes, to open, rolling meadows along the Leon River. The slopes are covered with a mixture of cedar and hardwood trees, which make you feel as if you are in a deep forest. There are several wetland ponds, teaming with various species of birds, deer, foxes and other wildlife.

At the far eastern edge of the park, there is a beautiful, historic, Warren Pony Truss Bridge that crosses Miller Springs, just before it empties into the Leon River.

The park is made up, largely, of the eastern portion of the Tennessee Valley settlement, so named for the original inhabitants, who came to the location in 1851. By 1948, Tennessee Valley had a school, a commercial pecan orchard, two businesses, and two churches. For 100 years, it was a thriving community, with rich, fertile soil, but was routinely ravaged by the violent floodwaters of the Leon River.

In the 1950's, in order to control flooding along the river, most of the original Tennessee Valley Community was inundated by the construction of Lake Belton. What is left is a beautiful hill country valley, bounded by a river and the Central Texas "mountains."