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Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve is Austin’s first nature preserve, founded in 1976, that protects 227 acres of the Texas Hill Country located right off of Capital of Texas Highway and just 10 miles from ����������Ƶ.

The Creation of the Wild Basin Creative Research Center

In the 1970s, seven trailblazing women, known as the “Founding Mothers of Wild Basin” from the environmental group Now or Never, sought to preserve a local area to educate young students, train teachers, and host science classes. After the city drafted the master plan for West Lake Hills, construction for Loop 360 was next in line. The area north of West Lake Hills was identified as ecologically important. 

The Founding Mothers agreed and adopted Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve as their bicentennial project. After the Founders built support to protect the land, Travis County purchased it using grants from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department to complete the project in 1976, making it the first nature preserve in Austin. Twenty years later in 1996, Wild Basin Wilderness preserve was dedicated to the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve.

In 2009, ����������Ƶ and Travis County, began a long-lasting partnership to co-manage the preserve. ����������Ƶ owns and operates the Wild Basin Creative Research Center, which houses a public visitor gallery and staff offices for programs in research, environmental education, land stewardship, and a rotating artist in residence. 

The Center supports students across many diverse disciplines, including the natural sciences, policy, marketing, education, humanities, and the arts. Through opportunities like the Hook Fellowship, students from all universities can conduct research within the preserve or the BCP. Educators from any institution of higher education, along with local artists, can also engage in their research and creative endeavors at Wild Basin.