Mt. Livermore and Baldy Peak

[MyLifeOutdoors]

A friend and I are making plans to summit Mt. Livermore and Baldy Peak in the Davis Mountain range. As you may or may not know access to the summit is limited due to the fact that nearly all of the Davis Mountain range sits on private land. The majority of Mt. Livermore is actually owned by The Nature Conservancy, an organization dedicated to preserving nature. The Nature Conservancy is a mighty fine organization. Only one thing truly irritates me about the conservancy…they don’t like to share. Public access to TNC land is limited to a few weekends a year making it difficult to find time to hike. I appreciate what TNC is doing and believe that preserving the last few truly wild places in this world is a worthy endeavor. I just don’t know what good all of it is if they won’t let us enjoy it. Seems there ought to be a way to police potential hikers from upsetting their mission. But I won’t get into that. As I said before we want to summit the peak and fortunately for my friend and I, Livermore Ranch owns the rest of the Mountain with access to the summit.

I called Livermore ranch the other day to schedule a time when I could come check out their facilities. Some folks at church are looking for a place to have a spring retreat and Livermore Ranch just might be the place. I have been sent to go scope it out and see if it will work for our retreat needs. I haven’t asked the owner yet… but I hope he will let us summit after a tour of the facility. Looks like we will be heading out there the week Thursday before thanksgiving if the owner and my wife will let us (I have yet to ask either if I can go).

I was wondering if anyone else has climbed Mt. Livermore. All the trip reports I can find on the net are from the TNC side. Anyone summit from the Livermore Ranch side?

[Picacho]

Not sure where you live, but Horseshoe Canyon Ranch in Arkansas is a nice place for a retreat. 

As far as the Nature Conservancy, I kinda like the restricted access.  If you want to hike it you can, but only on certain days.  Desert environments don't recover too fast from too much use. 

[MyLifeOutdoors]

Not sure where you live, but Horseshoe Canyon Ranch in Arkansas is a nice place for a retreat. 

As far as the Nature Conservancy, I kinda like the restricted access.  If you want to hike it you can, but only on certain days.  Desert environments don't recover too fast from too much use. 

Thanks for the retreat advice but we live in West Texas...Arkansas would be a heck of a drive.

As far as TNC is concerned I suppose the restricted access is one of the ways they do such a good job of preserving the land. They just seem to be buying up more and more of my favorite places and then closing the doors. They have bought up several large pieces of land along the Devils River in south Texas. The Devils is hard enough to access without the TNC. I just wish there was away to allow access and protect the ecology at the same time.

[westtex]

http://www.bigbendchat.com/portal/forum/other-area-parks/best-view-in-west-texas-t3110.0.html

I have been up there on several different occasions, and I was always under the impression that TNC owned all of Mount Livermore.  Not a difficult climb.  I assume that by West Texas you mean somewhere besides the Big Bend Region.  Most folks that live in that area for a while have made enough connections to find "other" ways to get on top of Livermore...

[MyLifeOutdoors]

http://www.bigbendchat.com/portal/forum/other-area-parks/best-view-in-west-texas-t3110.0.html

I have been up there on several different occasions, and I was always under the impression that TNC owned all of Mount Livermore. Not a difficult climb. I assume that by West Texas you mean somewhere besides the Big Bend Region. Most folks that live in that area for a while have made enough connections to find "other" ways to get on top of Livermore...

thanks for the link...

By west Texas I actually mean Midland... And unfortunately I have yet to make the contacts that would grant me "other" ways to summit...but I am anxious to make them.

I asked the Burnett family (they own Livermore Ranch) and they confirm they own the south side of My. Livermore with access to the peak. I'm set to go check out their facility...I just haven't asked if they will let me summit the same day. We will see.

[TexasAggieHiker]

To start I'll say that I worked for TNC for six years.  There are several problems they face to allow access to a lot of the places they own.  Manpower is a big issue.  Allowing people access requires people to enforce rules, patrol preserves, clean up after people, maintain facilities, logistics, etc, etc.  Most preserves only have 1 or 2 people working there.  Some preserves don't even have that.  If TNC were to open up the preserves they would have to hire a lot more people.  And that requires MONEY.  Money to hire people, maintain trails, facilities, etc.  As a nonprofit, money is hard enough to come by to purchase land.  It would require a huge budget. 
Also the places that TNC protects are usually sensitive or are home to sensitive plants and animals.  Controlling access to these places is the only way to protect them.  Don't forget that many parks around the state have benefited or come from TNC.  Big Bend Ranch, Guadalupe Mountains, Enchanted Rock, and others have all acquired land or been created by TNC. 
I understand your frustration.  But they are only doing what they think is best for everyone.

[txhiker]

I've contacted the TNC in regards to Mt. Livermore and can say that the guy replying to my e-mails was unhelpful and almost bothered that I had questions. They only open the park like twice a year or so and during those weekends you need to summit on Saturday as Sunday they close at noon. To climb Livermore from the TNC side you need to have a high clearance vehicle or hike a bunch of miles (not a bad thing but just FYI).

I look forward to bagging Livermore but will have to plan ahead and hope my schedule doesn't change..

[rhodo]

I visited the preserve in July and found the staff and volunteers to be very thoughtful and helpful. There were less than 20 visitors on the Saturday that I was there. I drove from New Braunfels just to day hike and considered myself very lucky to be able to do it.  I was even invited back for a volunteer weekend to help with trail maintenance but couldn't make it due to my work schedule.

It's important to remember that the preserve is not a park and it's primary purpose is to protect the biological diversity found there. The preserve contains the southernmost grove of Aspen trees and the southernmost highland meadow in North America. Just walking across that meadow will damage it, a hundred people walking across could destroy it which is why the Nature Conservancy restricts access.


Please visit the preserve during an Open Weekend and don't worry about having a high clearance vehicle. You can hitch a ride from someone when you sign in at the visitors center and you'll want to talk to the volunteers/staff manning the desk because they have lots of great information that you just can't get anywhere else. Stick to the trails, practice LNT and you'll have a great time.

BTW, I stayed at Ft Davis State park, did the Observatory thing and had a great weekend. My only regret was having to go home.