Parks and rec requirements

6 things to know before you visit a newly reopened Texas state park

Pedernales Falls State Park camp hike hiking river creek

State parks are back open, but not for camping.

Texas parks reopened on April 20 as the first step in Governor Greg Abbott's plan for getting the state back to business amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Parks in all corners of the state had been a refuge for Texans with cabin fever when shelter-in-place began in March. But by the end of the month, restrictions in parks tightened, and on April 7, they closed their gates indefinitely.

Since then, park personnel have been preparing to welcome visitors back safely, they say.

“We have been diligently working with our partners in local communities across the state to help safeguard our state park visitors, volunteers, and staff when they return to Texas state parks,” Carter Smith, executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, says in a release. “During the temporary closure, our state parks team has been cleaning and sanitizing park facilities, addressing routine maintenance projects, and ensuring requisite safety protocols are in place to ensure visitors have the best possible experience.”

But it's not all business as usual at Texas state parks. Before you pack up the kids, tent, and firewood into the SUV, here are six things to know:

Not all parks are open
Due to weather conditions, limited staffing, and continuing construction projects, some state parks have not reopened. In Central Texas, for example, Inks Lake State Park had reopened, was open by the afternoon of April 20, but nearby Longhorn Cavern State Park had not.

Before heading to a favorite destination, check out TPWD's Texas State Parks Alert Map for the most up-to-date information about the status of individual parks.

Parks are open for day use only
The RV marketplace RVshare reports that RV bookings jumped 138 percent from April 17 (the day that Texas and some other states announced park reopenings) to April 20. Texas state parks are reopened for day use only — no camping allowed.

"The resumption of overnight camping will be announced to the public once a date has been determined," TPWD says.

Reservations must be made
Visitors are required to pre-purchase and print day-use permits through the Texas State Parks Reservation System before traveling to a park. Reservations can be made online at www.texasstateparks.org or by calling 512-389-8900. Due to social distancing guidelines, no monetary transactions will take place at the park.

To troubleshoot issues with the reservation system online, visit the reservation help page on the TPWD website.

Masks are required
Per Gov. Abbott’s direction, new restrictions in effect include requiring state park visitors to wear face coverings. These certainly don't mean medical-grade masks that should go to frontline healthcare workers. But, similar to Austin-Travis County, they must be a covering for the mouth and nose. And they must be worn at all times.

Masks will not be provided by the parks. Visitors are encouraged to bring all necessary provisions, including their masks and hand sanitizer, with them to help local businesses stay in stock for their own communities, TPWD advises.

Everyone must social distance
The rules of social distancing that everyone knows pertain to parks now. Gov. Abbott's order requires visitors maintain a six-foot distance from individuals outside of their party, and prohibits the gathering of groups larger than five.

"Anyone traveling to a Texas State Park should continue to follow Centers for Disease Control (CDC) public health recommendations and adhere to strict social distancing and cleanliness standards while in public spaces," TPWD says. "Those traveling to parks in rural areas should remember possible limits on available resources and local health care capacities."

Rentals and programs remain closed
Some operational changes remain in effect at parks, including the suspension of all transactions, equipment rentals, and in-person interpretive programs. "All group-use facilities, visitor and nature centers, headquarters, and other enclosed spaces where people congregate will also remain closed," the agency says.

For more information on restrictions and to help plan a visit, visit the TPWD website.

vacation health texas

Light it up, y'all!

Sensational Texas holiday display battles on TV's Christmas Light Fight

Mach Christmas Display, Ennis, Great Christmas Light Fight

Photo courtesy of Patrick Mach

The Austin section has guacamole and music tributes.

Patrick Mach harbored a Texas-sized dream to compete on ABC’s The Great Christmas Light Fight. When he finally got the call, he built Texas.

The Mach Christmas Display — a massive walk-through attraction in the North Texas town of Ennis — will compete on the hit reality competition on Thursday, December 19. They’ll battle against three other families around the country for $50,000, a trophy, and serious bragging rights.

“It’s a bucket-list item to be on the show,” Mach says. “I’ve always wanted to be on since season one.” (The show is now in season 12.)

The Mach family — Patrick and wife Natasha and their four kids, Natalie (17), Ethan (16), Noelle (12), and Brandon (11) — all pitched in to create the display and will appear on the show.

The family lives on a “mini-ranch” in the Ennis-Alma area, about 40 minutes south of Dallas. (Ennis is famous for its Bluebonnet Trails each spring). Three-and-a-half acres of their 10-acre property are taken over by their Christmas lights extravaganza each holiday season. It even has its own electrical meter.

“Texas” uses half-a-million lights, 200 inflatables, and custom-built pieces to depict 40 cities and towns across the Lone Star State (though not actually in the shape of Texas). Each is marked with a green city-limits sign and has a vignette that represents the city.

“Live Music Capital” Austin has a guitar with strings that “play.” (A custom Texas Capitol building will be constructed for next year’s display.) San Antonio has a giant, 8-foot-tall Alamo outlined in lights and a River Walk bridge crossing a blue river. “Space City” Houston has rockets and Buzz Lightyear.

Mach Christmas Display, Great Christmas Light Fight, Dog Ridge The Dog Ridge, Texas section, of course, features dogs.Photo courtesy of ABC

Fort Worth gets longhorns and a Texas Motor Speedway-inspired racetrack, complete with “Lightning McQueen” and “Tow Mater” Disney/Pixar characters. Dallas features a custom wireframe outline of the skyline, plus Dallas Cowboys inflatables and a whole section devoted to the State Fair.

The smaller Texas town displays are just as creative: Glen Rose has dinosaurs, College Station has Texas A&M-inspired military drummers, New Braunfels has a polar bear floating the river, and Ennis, of course, has bluebonnets.

Mach Christmas Display, Ennis, Great Christmas Light Fight The Glen Rose section has dinosaurs.Photo courtesy of ABC

In a nod toThe Great Christmas Light Fight host Carter Oosterhouse, they added Carter, Texas — yes, an actual town in Parker County — just for the show. It included a mural of Oosterhouse riding a bull. The host, Mach says, was impressed.

Love of Christmas
The Machs’ drive to light up a Texas-sized spectacle comes from their deep love of Christmas. Patrick and Natasha met on a dating app when she “hearted” his Christmas-y photo. On one of their first dates, during the pandemic, they watched a Great Christmas Light Fight marathon. He proposed to her on his Christmas lights display at home. They married in a Christmas-themed wedding three years ago, and Santa even showed up.

Patrick Mach had grown up loving Christmas and putting up displays with his father, from whom he learned carpentry. His dad gifted him an old-fashioned blow-mold nativity scene in 2004; he then passed away on December 30, 2006.

“So since he passed so close to Christmas, every year I did a little more to keep mind off what happened … then it just became so big,” Mach says.

In fact, Mach had been nominated for the Light Fightevery year since 2019. He never thought he was ready.

“It took a few years to commit,” he says, “then 2023 came around and we said, ‘Let’s go.’”

The family found out they’d made the show in September 2023. Filming would take place around Thanksgiving. Each member of the family, plus an army of friends, worked from a “battle plan” to design and build the display, which would be greatly expanded for the show.

“From 2022 to 2023, we doubled the display,” he says. “It was all hands on deck. We were still working on it the day they showed up (to film).”

The shoot lasted a few days and was an “awesome experience,” Mach says. The crew became like family.

“Behind the scenes we were always cutting up, laughing, the kids made friends with the producers,” he says. “We still text message with the producers every so often, and one camera guy brought us a Christmas display item that he doesn’t use and wanted to go to a good family.”

Two things that surprised him behind the scenes: how strict they were about using copyrighted characters and images (no Grinches allowed) and how tiring the filming was.

“After we filmed, I slept the best I'd slept in months,” he jokes.

Mach Christmas Display, Ennis, Great Christmas Light Fight The Mach family with Great Christmas Light Fight host Carter Oosterhouse.Photo courtesy of Patrick Mach

He remains tight-lipped about the outcome of the show. But if the family does win, he’d like to put the $50,000 toward a well-deserved vacation. They're the fourth Texas contenders on this season of Light Fight; so far, none has been victorious.

Gift to the community
Win or lose, the Mach Christmas Display will remain on for the public to walk through and enjoy on select nights through the holidays. (Watch their Facebook page for the schedule.) There’s no charge to see it, but they do collect donations for local charities such as Toys for Tots, Helping Hands of Ennis, and the SPCA.

It can be a little tricky to find, and GPS doesn’t always route to the right place, so they advise visitors to use the pin they’ve dropped on Google Maps.

Although the Machs have attracted visitors from several hours away, they remain focused on sharing their love of Christmas with their community.

“Ennis is a smaller town, and this is our way of giving back to the community,” Mach says, “of giving families something to do around the holidays because there’s nothing around here like this.”

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The Machs’ episode of The Great Christmas Light Fight will air at 7 pm Thursday, December 19 on ABC and will be available to stream on Hulu the next day. The Mach Christmas Display is open on select nights through the holiday season; follow their Facebook page for the schedule and more information. The address is 171 FM1183, Ennis, 75119. Follow the directions at the pin on Google Maps. For lists of Fort Worth's best Christmas lights, go here and here.

Photo courtesy of Patrick Mach

The Austin section has guacamole and music tributes.

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