LONGHORN CAVERN STATE PARK. Longhorn Cavern State Park is on Park Road 4 near U.S. Highway 281 in southwestern Burnet County, about ten miles southwest of Burnet. Longhorn Cavern is in the park. The 637-acre area was purchased by the state of Texas in 1931. Convict labor was used in the initial development and improvement of the cavern that year, but local residents objected. The work was finished by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the course of the 1930s, and the park was opened to the public in November 1932. By the 1960s, improvements at the park included a new headquarters, concession buildings, and landscaping; in addition to tours of the cavern, the park offered picnic facilities and hiking and nature trails. In 1971 the United States Department of the Interior made the cavern a registered natural landmark. The park has been operated on concession by several private groups for the state of Texas; in 1990 it and the cavern were overseen by Longhorn Cavern, Incorporated.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sandy Bridges, "Longhorn Cavern State Park," Texas Highways, July 1986. Ross A. Maxwell, Geologic and Historic Guide to the Texas State Parks (Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin, 1970).
