Hill Country Alliance

10/21/2026

Join the Hill Country Alliance this Saturday, October 24, for an evening of community, craft brews, and starry skies! 🔭

As part of Hill Country Night Sky Month, we’re gathering at Ghost Note Brewing in Dripping Springs to celebrate the beauty of our Hill Country night skies and connect with others who are passionate about protecting them.

📅 Saturday, October 24 | 6–9 p.m.
📍 Ghost Note Brewing, Dripping Springs

Come raise a glass to our dark skies and discover how we can keep the stars shining bright for generations to come!

Learn more & RSVP: bit.ly/BrewingBetterNights

10/16/2026

🌌 Have a project that could help protect our Hill Country night skies?

HCA's Night Sky Preservation Fund is now accepting applications! Grants of up to $5,000 are available to support projects that reduce light pollution and preserve our region’s beautiful starry skies.

✨ There’s still time to apply! Applications close October 31.

Learn more and apply: https://hillcountryalliance.org/nightskyfund/

10/16/2026

Calling all Austin residents! Austin Planning is hosting open houses to gather community input on the update to Imagine Austin, the City’s comprehensive plan.

At these open houses, there will be an introduction to the place type categories that will shape Austin’s first citywide future land use map. This map will guide how Austin grows and develops over time. Your input is valuable in making sure these categories reflect Austin’s diverse communities and how they can help achieve the long-term vision and goals outlined in the comprehensive plan update.

Open Houses:
📍 Four in-person open houses (October 20, 21, 24, and 28)
📍 One virtual open house (October 29)

Come learn more, share your thoughts, and help shape the Imagine Austin Place Types Map!

Learn more regarding the updates, times and locations for the open houses here: speakupaustin.org/ImagineAustin

The Imagine Austin Update English | Español | 简体中文 | Tiếng Việt | العربية | 한국어 | Français | ह न्द Join us! Austin Planning is hosting five open houses in October to gather community input on the update to Imagine Austin. These will introduce the place type categor...

10/14/2026

Meet the photographers behind HCA’s 2027 Hill Country Calendar! 📸

The results are in! Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 Hill Country Photo Contest:
🏆 Grand Prize – Chase Fountain, Frio River
🥇 First Runner-up – David Cook, South Llano River State Park
🥈 Second Runner-up – Walter Gerlach, Enchanted Rock State Natural Area
🥉 Third Runner-up – Jeffrey Gladden, Kimble County
💙 People’s Choice Award – Cole Hoffman, Valley Spring in Llano County

Each year, photographers from across the region share their love for the Texas Hill Country through this annual contest — and this year’s submissions truly captured the beauty, character, and diversity of our beloved region.

Swipe through to meet this year’s winning photographers and see the places that inspired their photographs. Their breathtaking images are also featured in the 2027 Hill Country Calendar!

Learn more about the contest, view the winning photos, and get your calendar: https://contest.hillcountryalliance.org/2026-contest-winners/

10/09/2026

Do you own or help steward property along the Guadalupe River or one of its tributary creeks? Join HCA and key partners at our FREE native plant giveaway event at the Trailhead B**r Garden in Kerrville on November 14!

Over the past several months, a group of nurseries have been custom-growing these plants for landowners impacted by recent floods in the Upper Guadalupe River Basin. Each landowner will receive containerized native plants and educational resources to help enhance restoration efforts along your water's edge (riparian zone). Enhancing the riparian zone with a diversity of strong rooted native plant species helps restore bank stability, improve water quality and habitat, and support the long-term health of the Guadalupe River.

Registration is required and space is limited! bit.ly/Fall26PlantGiveaway

Special thank you to all of our partners: The Community Foundation, Kerr County River Foundation, KERR Together, San Antonio Botanical Garden, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Upper Guadalupe River Authority, and Mosty Brothers Nursery.

📸 Jerry Sargent

10/07/2026

Check it out and tell your friends — the 2026 Photo Contest results are in, and the 2027 Hill Country Calendar drop is here! 📅

From sweeping landscapes to quiet moments in nature, this year's photographs capture the beauty, character, and wildness of the Texas Hill Country through the eyes of the people who know and love it.

A huge thank you to everyone who entered this year's contest. Whether your photo made it into the calendar or not, we're grateful you shared your perspective and helped make this annual tradition such a beautiful celebration of our region.

Stay tuned next week as we share and celebrate this year's winners!

View the winning photos: https://contest.hillcountryalliance.org/2026-contest-winners/
Purchase your 2027 Hill Country Calendar: bit.ly/HillCountryCal27bit.ly/HillCountryCal27

📸 Credits:
Cover Image - Michael Lundy
Spring - Sharon Carter (top), Jacob Saunders (left), Bill Weekley (right)
Summer - Chase Fountain (top), Michael Wight (left), Lisa Hood (right)
Fall - David Cook (top), Walter Gerlach (left), Jeffrey Gladden (right)
Winter - Matthew Guthrie (top), Lindy Segall (left), Jerry Sargent (right)

10/01/2026

Can you believe it’s already October? Around here, that can only mean one thing… it’s officially Night Sky Month! 🌌✨

All month long, we’re celebrating one of the Hill Country’s most dazzling treasures — our star-studded, planet-glowing, comet-streaked night skies. But our dark skies don’t happen by accident. Across the Hill Country, communities are working to protect this incredible resource from light pollution and preserve the nighttime landscapes we all enjoy.

Explore events, resources and tips for protecting our night skies at nightskymonth.org. 💫

09/30/2026

What does recovery look like after two consecutive floods? A new San Antonio Express-News story looks at the Guadalupe River's recovery, including the restoration work HCA and our partners have been leading along the river.

Following the 2025 flood, thousands of native plants and trees were planted along the riverbanks. Despite another major flood this year, many of those young plantings survived, offering a hopeful sign for the river's long-term recovery. Now, HCA and our partners are looking ahead, working on a post-flood restoration and resilience plan for the upper Guadalupe watershed.

Read the full story: https://www.expressnews.com/hill-country/article/guadalupe-river-flood-recovery-kerr-county-22444423.php

📸 Mackenzie Partida

09/30/2026

We're so proud to see the incredible work being done in Sabinal by Mayor Gomez, Judge Casburn, the Townmakers, Keep Sabinal Beautiful, and all the Sabinal community members working to bring this million dollar downtown plaza into being! Hill Country communities inspire us everyday.

Sabinal officials approved the first conceptual designs Sept. 14 for a $1 million downtown revitalization project that would replace a stretch of vacant buildings with a plaza for food trucks, vendors, community events and recreation.

See what Sabinal's Center Street could look like after the transformation: https://www.uvaldeleadernews.com/articles/sabinal-approves-plaza-design/

09/17/2026

We’re looking forward to seeing folks in-person and online at the Hill Country Leadership Summit NEXT WEEK on Thursday, September 24 at the Sacred Oaks Hall at Camp Lucy in Dripping Springs! ✨

While in-person spots are sold out, virtual tickets are still available! Virtual attendance gives you access to the full day’s presentations, a live chat throughout the event, and unlimited online access to all recordings after the event.

Learn more and register: https://hillcountryalliance.app.neoncrm.com/forms/2026-hill-country-leadership-summitcopied-registration

Photos by Jacob Gonzalez & video by Randy Robinson Films