Lockhart State Park expanded its boundaries by 188 acres following the acquisition of two neighboring properties. The expansion project, announced on April 20, 2026, is the result of a partnership between The Nature Conservancy in Texas and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
The acquisition nearly doubles the size of the Austin-area park, bringing its total acreage to approximately 453 acres, according to TPWD. The expansion adds land access to a Central Texas park that serves visitors from the greater Austin metropolitan area, one of the fastest-growing regions in the state.
The two neighboring properties were acquired through a coordinated partnership between TPWD and The Nature Conservancy in Texas, according to the agency’s announcement. The Nature Conservancy’s Texas chapter has reported work on more than 1 million acres of conservation projects statewide, according to the organization’s published program data. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed in TPWD’s announcement.
Lockhart State Park is located in Caldwell County, approximately 30 miles south of Austin. The park features a nine-hole golf course, swimming pool, hiking trails, and camping facilities, according to TPWD’s official park profile. The Texas State Park system recorded more than 10 million visits in fiscal year 2024, according to TPWD’s annual report, with Central Texas parks among the most frequently visited in the network.
The Caldwell County region surrounding Lockhart has seen population increases tied to broader growth patterns across the Austin-San Antonio corridor. The Texas Demographic Center projected in 2023 that Caldwell County’s population would continue growing through 2050, driven in part by residential expansion from adjacent Travis and Hays counties. TPWD has identified land acquisition as a tool for expanding park capacity in high-demand regions, according to the agency’s Land and Water Resources Conservation and Recreation Plan.
TPWD did not provide a timeline for when the newly acquired acreage would be open to the public or announce specific development plans for the two properties. The agency is expected to release additional details on trail access and facility improvements as planning for the expanded park boundaries moves forward.