I see a homeschool field trip in our future!
Hidden UT: Cathedral of Calm
In honor of Earth Day, this week we’re exploring a peaceful Hill Country retreat that some people may not even realize is part of The University of Texas.
Just 12 miles southwest of the Forty Acres sits one of UT’s satellite campuses, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. And not far from its popular central gardens is a hidden gem called the Cathedral of Oaks, part of a tree-focused arboretum where black walnut, American elm and other heritage trees of Texas dot a prairie landscape where extra leg room comes without an upgrade.
[If you’re on the hunt for spring wildflowers, current blooms at the center include the four-nerve daisy, Mexican gold poppy, brown-eyed Susan and mealy blue sage. Texas bluebonnets are on their way out. Check the center’s What’s in Season page for weekly updates of current blooms.]
The Cathedral, a cluster of more than a dozen live oaks, stands along the eastern tip of the 16-acre Mollie Steves Zachry Texas Arboretum includes some centenarians with trunks that extend several stories. Beneath their shaded leaf ceiling, Wildflower Center staff and volunteers have created a mini-oasis of swings and benches where visitors can read a book, peer at patches of nearby bluebonnets and other wildflowers, or simply enjoy a slow-mo moment with nature.
Visitor Ricardo Palacios explored the oak playground with his wife and grandson on a weekday afternoon not long ago. “I really enjoy the peacefulness of it all. The birds, the wildlife, watching butterflies flutter from here to there,” said Palacios, whose three-year-old grandson favored the sturdy rope swing over bird-watching.
There are swinging options for all ages in the Cathedral. Four toddler-sized swings with safety straps rest from branches of one tree. Three medium-sized single seaters hang not far away, as do two swinging benches the length of living room couches.
And on the southern end of the swing section, two live oaks can be found whose trunks and a branch of each have become intertwined over many decades (bottom right photo, above). Visitors have dubbed the cozy trees “a dragon taking flight,” “twistamania,” or “the old couple” (so-named by Luci Baines Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson’s younger daughter).
–Barbra A. Rodriguez