Freeman Ranch Nature Trail

Today you are taking a virtual tour of the nature trail at Freeman Ranch, which is located in central Texas approximately five miles west of the city of San Marcos.

Visiting the Ranch in Person

If you wish to take a field trip in person to the ranch, you need to be aware of its visitation policy. All visitors must submit a request form at least one week in advance. Once you submit a form, you will be issued a temporary gate code which allows you to enter the ranch on the day of your visit. To request a form, call the ranch at (512) 392-5574.

Required Materials for Virtual Field Study

You will need the Field Notes handout with species inventory for going on the virtual tour.

If these materials were not provided by your instructor, you can find them by clicking on the link below.

Purposes of Nature Trail Virtual Field Study

In this virtual field study you will learn about the functioning of Freeman Ranch and about the vegetation at Freeman Ranch. At the end of the virtual field study, you will be able to:

1) state the mission of Freeman Ranch;

2) describe important buildings and activities at Freeman Ranch;

3) identify dominant plant species at Freeman Ranch;

4) classify species by plant growth forms;

5) examine vegetation distribution patterns on the nature trail;

6) analyze factors contributing to changes in vegetation at Freeman Ranch; and

7) explain factors that influence the distributions of plant species.

Beginning the Virtual Field Study

To begin the virtual field study, click "Next" at the bottom of this page. You may return to this home page from any stop in the virtual tour. Words that are highlighted in blue are defined in the glossary. To see the definition, simply click on the word you would like defined.