Outings and Events

Outings and Events Schedule

OCTOBER OUTING AT THE HALLIBURTON PROPERTY Our fall outing for 2023 will be held October 6th, 7th and 8th (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) at the Halliburton property just west of Llano.

Outing Schedule The outing will run from Friday 8am to Sunday 5pm. Overnight camping Thursday night (Oct 5th) is allowed at the property and participants can arrive after 3 pm on Thursday. There are no additional fees for camping Thursday night. The landowner will prepare a breakfast Saturday morning which will consist of breakfast tacos and coffee. The barbeque dinner Saturday evening will be the usual format and the Sunday breakfast will be doughnuts and coffee. The dinner and breakfast are provided for your convenience and are not mandatory.

Directions to the property Click here for a Google map to the outing. There will be signs marking the entrance to the property. From the intersection of Highways 29 and 16 in downtown Llano, head west on 29 for 3 miles. Turn left onto Rio Llano Dr, which is about 100 yards past the Hwy 71 turnoff. Turn right onto Rio Llano Dr West. Turn left onto River Park Drive. Turn right onto Riverside Drive West. The entrance to the property will be on your left and will be marked with a RRGPAA sign. It is 6 miles to the entrance from the downtown intersection in Llano. Look for the RRGPAA signs starting at the entrance to the Rio Llano subdivision. There will be a sign at every turn through the subdivision all the way to the property entrance. Once on the property, come down the dirt road and follow the outing signs down to the river. Our friendly parking staff will greet you along the dirt road depending on how full we are.

Prices $15 entrance fee per day for diggers, children under 12 free. $10 entrance fee per day for non diggers. There are no additional charges for people coming in Thursday night. We are having 2 port-a-potties brought in for the event and a $5 fee will be collected from each person to offset the costs. This is a one time fee only. All participants will need to sign a waiver form. The outing is open to everyone, you do not have to be a GPAA or Round Rock Chapter member. The barbeque dinner price has increased to $15 per person, but the Chapter will absorb the $3 increase, keeping it to $12 per person! The dinner will consist of brisket, sausage and chicken along with side dishes and iced tea. The Saturday breakfast will be breakfast tacos (limit 2) with coffee and juice for $5. Sunday's breakfast (doughnuts and coffee) will be no charge, compliments of the landowner. We need a head count on all those who want the dinner by Oct 2nd.

Example 1 - If you arrive Thursday night and leave Sunday afternoon, prospect all 3 days and buy the dinner and breakfast your total event cost would be $67 and that includes the one time potty fee.

Example 2 - If you arrive Friday night, prospect Saturday only, feed yourself and leave Sunday morning your total event cost is $20. (Quite a bargain for a weekend event, but you're missing out on some great food!)

Camping and Accommodations The property is narrow, in comparison to Malcom Long's. Parking and tent camping are separate from each other. We will do our best to keep tents as far from each other as possible depending on the number of folks. Hobby allows folks to drive their vehicle into the tent area to load and unload only. RRGPAA staff will be there to guide you through the process and assist you with parking. These outings have grown in size and the property has a limited number of parking spots. Therefore, we are asking prospectors with motor homes to check with the Llano Chamber of Commerce for accommodations in the city. On the property there is a bathroom and hot water shower house close to the tent camping area. The 2 port-a-potties are also close to the camping area. Electricity and running water are also available, but not as camper hookups. There will be a staging area close to the river where vehicles can unload equipment. The property can accommodate large groups with a little planning. There are a limited number of spots available for camping so it is imperative we know how many will stay overnight and how you plan on camping.

Prospecting The stretch of the Llano River we will concentrate on has changed dramatically since the floods of 2018. Areas previously covered up with overburden are now exposed. The landowner asks that we do not dig up any plant material either in the river or his property. There will be areas off limits to digging. They will be pointed out to all participants. Please discard all trash and cigarette butts appropriately. Plan to bring a shovel, several buckets and any garden tool which can be used to clean out cracks and crevices. Our chapter has a few sluices folks can use and there will be extra buckets, pans and shovels available. There will be a "cons cleanup" station with several types of equipment set up. The river bedrock can be very slick with algae and we suggest you bring a walking stick to help with your balance. Keep in mind you are in a river setting and you may encounter wildlife (snakes). Avoid the wildlife and it will avoid you.

The landowner is open to any suggestions that will make your outing experience better. Please visit with Hobby while you are there.

Hobby Halliburton will need to know how many dinners to prepare. He will need the headcount by Monday, October 2nd. Please send an email to: Kevin@roundrockgpaa.net with the number of dinners for your party and if you will be staying overnight and how. (Web Mail users may need to copy the email and paste in your web based email program)

For questions you can contact: Cliff Kelley or Kevin Green.

ADDITIONAL OUTING NOTES

Chapter T Shirts and hats will be available. Shirts are $20 each, hats are $20. We also have pans, scoops, snuffer bottles and pipettes available for purchase.

Our raffle plans will depend on attendance and interest. We'll make the decision by Saturday. We will have the raffle Saturday night either before or after the BBQ dinner.

Several folks have asked if they could bring their dogs with them. The landowner allows “small well behaved dogs on a leash”. The outing is a family oriented event and large dogs running loose have caused problems in the past. Please be respectful.

Camp fires will only be allowed in designated fire pits, which are spread out in the camping area. If you plan to cook your own dinner, please feel free to use the fire pits. (Llano county may have a burn ban in place at the time. We will update this info as we get closer to the outing date.)

Prospecting and rock collecting are only allowed in the river bed. Please do not dig or collect rocks from the property or use any picks or chisels on any of the rock formations adjacent to the river bed. Please do not dig or undercut any of the river banks. The landowner asks that we do not dig up any plants growing in cracks or remove any sections of bedrock in the river bed as this will lead to accelerated destruction of the bedrock. We want Mother Nature to handle this.

FOR THE LATEST UPDATES ON OUTING CANCELLATION DUE TO WEATHER, PLEASE VISIT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE.

No discharge of firearms during the outing. Please keep your firearm secured and out of sight. The GPAA is "Family Friendly".

All activities, items and food are cash only please.

Please visit our Facebook page for pictures and video of previous outings.