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Lobanillo Swales
Opening hours
Fee
Adress
TX-21, San Augustine, TX 75972.
Access
State Hwy. 21 W 2 miles west of Geneva, Texas (near the Sabine-San Augustine county line).
Lobanillo Swales
Route element
Lobanillo Swales
The sandy soil at Lobanillo Swales displays the impact of thousands of travelers over hundreds of years, allowing visitors to follow in the footsteps of the diverse populations that used El Camino Real de los Tejas.
A state historic marker in nearby Geneva says that the historic Spanish rancho known as El Lobanillo was located nearby. The rancho included the pueblo of Gil Y'Barbo (1729-1809), a refuge used by his ailing mother and other refugees in 1773 when Spain evacuated colonists from western Louisiana and East Texas. It was given as a land grant to Juan Ignacio Pifermo in 1794, and inherited in the early 1800s by John Maximillian (ca. 1778-1866).
Two sets of deep and parallel swales extend about one-quarter mile through the forest. One set of swales has seven parallel ruts reaching a depth of 18 feet and 12 feet wide. The quiet surroundings and tall pine trees give a sense of what the area was like hundreds of years ago.
