The Hill Country certainly has the lion’s share of state parks – including two of the very best: Garner and Lost Maples.

In both cases, they can be packed – not only with people but a frenetic butterfly invasion.

Or, as the Garner park worker referred to them when asked what all those butterflies flitting about like an mad autumn leaf fall were: "A nuisance."

We certainly didn’t think so; the influx only made the parks more magical.

By far the most popular state park in Texas is Garner, just down the road from Leakey (that’s LAY-key for you Yankees).

Staying in an inn in town had its pros and cons. On the negative side, our room was at the intersection of two big roads so traffic made the room sound like a test racetrack.

But, on the plus side, one night we were there, a freak rain storm dropped as much as six inches in the dead of night.

The next day, surprised – and drenched – campers at Garner were attempting the impossible task of drying out those "egg-crate" mattress pads.

Many families have been traveling to Garner every summer for decades. One family had a banner out that proclaimed they had been camping annually since 1961.

The allure of Garner – named after former vice president John Nance Garner who hailed from nearby Uvalde – is multifaceted. For one thing, there is a phenomenal amount of camping available – and most spots are filled, especially on weekends. In fact, the park can get so crowded that it closes, usually on summer weekends and holidays.

There are 367 camping spots ($10-20), 40 screened shelters ($20), and 17 cabins ($25); those latter folks were real glad they had upgraded after the previous night’s deluge.

Ten acres of the Frio River run through the park and those riverside camping spots are easily the most sought after.

The most popular area is Oakmont which is not only on the river but contains all kinds of camping options: miniature golf, basketball and volleyball courts, boat and tube rentals, and the park store/laundry. Lots of common folk congregate here.

For others (i.e., old people), some camping areas are removed from the river hubbub. You can still access the Frio from camping areas to the north – Persimmon Hill, Cypress Springs, Live Oak, and Rio Frio – while avoiding the simple man cacophony which was usually accompanied by constant barking dogs and several shouts of "Shut up!"

Most famed of all the varied activities at Garner is the nightly dance. Jukebox music wafts through the warm summer night encouraging two-stepping by not only Bud-fueled old-timers but even teenage boys who eventually figure out that they could be out there holding a girl in a bikini.

The jukebox offers your basic country tunes – except for an occasional strange option like Devo’s "Whip It."

The dance is held at the Pavilion on an external cement dance floor – food is sold nearby – with casual chairs roped/locked together.

Texas Parks and Wildlife began a project in February to keep the dance floor from tumbling into the Frio – where much more than a two-step would be necessary to escape. TPW is shoring up the riverbank so there’s some construction about. Texans can keep on dancing – like they’ve been doing since the 1930’s.

Garner offers a wide variety of hiking/biking trails. The paved Madrone Walkway lets folks hanging out at the Pavilion walk to trailheads.

The hiking terrain is rough and sometimes steep; it being wet when we were there made hiking even more challenging.

There are two scenic overlooks to work toward as well as places like Civilian Conservation Corps "dining rooms" (big rocks stacked atop one another creating a natural table), old rock fences, and "patios."

Hearty folks can also reach Crystal Cave. The most direct trail is so named. After starting off quite steep, it bends around Horseshoe Canyon. It’s only .37 miles but takes about 20 minutes.

Still, it’s a good cave and kids love it. Caves are normally a bit wet, but this one had a substantial rainfall added on recently. Caution allowed for a descent – one that even claustrophobes could probably handle since you can always see the cave entrance. Still, take a flashlight – not that there are any crystals to see. It’s mainly veins of quartz rubbed smooth by thousands of Texans (and foreigners like Kansans) over the decades.

We took the Bridges Trail which was much longer – we spent two hours on it – and it eventually goes by Crystal Cave.

Along the way, we saw The Big Cedar – a monster tree for that type – a scenic overlook at around 1,750 feet, the CCC rock furniture, and colorful Painted Rock.

Like most of South Central Texas, exotic animals are about; most are hunted, but some Axis deer roam the park. So do Black Rocks squirrels, turkeys, and the tamest deer in America.

You can also spy a remarkable variety of trees – bald cypress, Texas madrones, pecans, elms, oaks, junipers, and redbuds.

Butterflies were everywhere; in fact, in a one-foot square on our windshield were 25 splats. But not all were kamikazes; many multicolored species enjoyed the flowering plants and shrubs.

However, it’s the river that attracts so many folks. Paddleboats are available – they’re kinda crappy – and tubes are $6 daily.

TPW has altered the flow to make the river wider. So there’s a nice section of cold river water to wile away a hot day in.

At any one time, a hundred people will be floating/swimming/boating in the Frio.

The park is constantly reiterating that all the adjacent land is private property; disembarking from a tube too far downstream would be trespassing and everyone is gunfire strict on that. But it’s well marked.

Not too far away is another gem of a park, one that in the fall is as busy as Garner is during the summer.

Lost Maples State Natural Area is named for unusual stands of maple trees, the kind usually found in the Northeast.

The park gets over 200,000 visitors annually – most when the maples turn brilliant in autumn. If they turn.

After years of average to weak leaf color, last fall was one of the best ever. Cool, dry, sunny October and early November weather makes for the best colors.

The park is packed on weekends during the autumn. But on a hot July day, the place was almost deserted.

Lost Maples offers some terrific hiking – and a really nice river that’s one of the few places that holds the Texas state fish.

The crystal clear Sabinal River courses through the park. That’s where you can find the elusive Guadalupe bass – which only populates Hill Country waters.

There are just 30 camping spots in the park and all are near the river close to headquarters. Other primitive spots can be hiked to.

At the end of the only park road is some parking that leads out to trails. Some hug the river and others venture deep into the heavily-treed, rugged terrain.

The river at times is not three feet wide; it’s more of a stream. But it’s astonishingly clear. We waded up river almost two hours with the water seldom higher than calf level.

But the Sabinal rolls on, at times rushing over and around limestone and granite boulders – where the Guadalupe bass like the rapid flow – and other times widening into pools where largemouth bass and perch patrol.

We enjoyed the cool water and were occasionally startled by a much colder stretch. Sure enough, an unmarked spring would be bubbling nearby – one was filled with small crayfish and a stealthy black catfish that darted between rocks at the base of the spring.

We later saw several Guadalupe bass – despite the clear water, we couldn’t get a sharp photo of one – and a cliff wall white with calcium drips and hugged by ferns.

More than once the river faked us out, the main stream appearing to be heading one direction only to peter out; we’d find the river again across a gravel bed behind some cottonwoods.

The trails wend deep into the park and up to 2,200 feet. Several paths are steep and exceptionally rocky. The Maple Trail is sharp and well worn since it’s the preferred path in the fall.

Both Lost Maples and Garner offer stellar hiking. Hills rise and fall and overlooks are scattered throughout both parks.

Texans love these two parks and rightly so. Even with all the TPW financing woes, they are doing well and are still in very good shape.