INKS LAKE STATE PARK. Inks Lake State Park is on Park Road 4 near State Highway 29, nine miles west of Burnet in western Burnet County. It comprises 1,200 acres of the area known as the Central Texas Mineral Region, or Llano Uplift. Archeological evidence found around the lake suggests that the area was once an Indian hunting ground. The first European to explore the area was probably the Marqués de Aguayo. The park is bordered on one side by Inks Lake, which was impounded in the 1930s by the construction of Roy Inks Dam on the Colorado River. The state of Texas acquired the land in 1940 from the Lower Colorado River Authority. Some quite old rocks are found at Inks Lake; pink gneiss and granite are the principal kinds of exposed rock in the park. A variety of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers grows in the coarse, sandy soil, and wildlife in the park includes deer, turkey, quail, and several species of songbird. Colorful lichens decorate the rocks. In addition to camping and picnic areas, hiking trails, and a nine-hole golf course, recreational facilities at the park include areas for swimming, boating, water skiing, scuba diving, sailing, and fishing.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Ross A. Maxwell, Geologic and Historic Guide to the State Parks of Texas (Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin, 1970 Texas Highways, August 1988.
