FALL FRIENDS FESTIVAL: It only happens twice a year, and 
your opportunity is coming up this month ... we'll explain 
on Passport to Texas ... 
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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Tomorrow, October 8, is a special day at Colorado Bend 
State Park in Bend, Texas. It's the annual Fall Friends 
Festival. 

"The Friends Fall Festival is when we open up what we call the 
Gorman area of the park. We open that up twice a year, and this 
is one of those times."

Cory Evans is the park superintendent. The event is 
sponsored by the Friends of Colorado Bend State Park.

"It'll be open from nine to five on that day. And folks can come 
out and they can take cave tours to Gorman Cave, and they can 
tour Gorman Falls. As well as hike up Gorman creek. It's a real 
pretty area that feeds the waterfall. It's about a mile and a half 
round trip hike."

Superintendent Evans says it's important for anyone 
going on the cave tour to wear sturdy hiking boots, bring 
a flashlight, and be in good physical condition.

"It's fairly strenuous. It's a wild cave; there are no improvements. 
The trail is fairly rugged to the cave. So it's kind of an adventure 
tour in a way. It's about a two mile round trip hike, so you have 
to be in fairly decent shape to attend that cave tour."

The events calendar on the Texas Parks and Wildlife 
website has more information, including times, fees and 
directions. When asked what makes Colorado Bend State 
Park unique, here's what Superintendent Evans had to 
say.

"I think it's the wilderness atmosphere of the park. A lot of folks 
come out from Dallas, Houston and Austin, wanting to get away 
from all the hustle and bustle of the city. And it's still one of 
those places you can really escape from all that."

That's our show ... For Texas Parks and Wildlife ... I'm 
Cecilia Nasti.