Not too long ago, an old friend, George Boutwell called me and asked how to get to Hidalgo Falls. One of the most famous artists in Texas, he is doing a print series on Texas waterfalls. There are not as many natural waterfalls in our state as say Colorado, but more than those in Louisiana. And there are some nice ones. Hidalgo Falls, right here on the Brazos River, can be very scenic if the water has not covered over it, as it will do in the rainy season. The sandstone outcroppings that mark the area used to be a huge navigation problem for the early day steamboats, preventing steam trade up the Brazos for half of the year.
For many years the area was rented as a fishing camp, and is now owned by a club out of Houston. It's a shame that most residents of Navasota have never, and may never see it. Long ago there was an area that featured Hidalgo Bluffs, Hidalgo Prairie and the falls, all in the same area. I'm not sure who the name, obviously of Castillian or Spanish derivation, honors, but hidalgo meant nobleman. Surely this scenic area of the Brazos Valley was fit for a nobleman. But natural beauty and parkland was not something on our cotton-headed forefather's minds. Maybe someday a purchase can be arranged to make the park accessable to the people who live downstream from it.
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