- ANNOUNCER: The Texas Parks and Wildlife Television Series is supported in part by Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation -- conserving the wild things and wild places of Texas, thanks to members across the state.

Additional funding provided by the Toyota Tundra.

Your local Toyota dealers are proud to support outdoor recreation and conservation in Texas.

Adventure: it's what we share.

- NARRATOR: Coming up on Texas Parks and Wildlife... - The gravel roads, they're the veins that pump the life into the heart of Texas.

- When you're in San Angelo State Park, you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere, but we're just right on the edge of town.

- The reason I come out here is because I love hawks.

- It's life-changing if you ever get a chance to experience it for yourself.

[theme music] ♪ ♪ - NARRATOR: Texas Parks and Wildlife, a television series for all outdoors.

[birds chirping] - BRANDON: We don't have a lot of public land in Texas.

We got terrific state parks, national parks, but really the gravel roads, that's our public space.

Jerod and I were on this back road in Big Bend, just outside the state park, and I said, "Hey, I got this idea about riding motorcycles across Texas.

He's like, "I'm in."

And I just kind of became enamored with this idea of finding public spaces to explore in Texas.

[laughing] - He said, "You know, I'm really thinking about pitching this story that involves riding adventure motorcycles across the state of Texas."

I was in.

Like, I told him, I was like, "I'll do this.

I want to shoot this, and I'll do it with you."

[waves crashing] [wind blowing] [crickets chirping] [mellow country music] ♪ ♪ [wind blowing] [upbeat guitar music] - BRANDON: So I go from the coast to the highest point in Texas and connect as many gravel roads in between as possible.

And this idea of the back roads being in our public land, that's where you see what Texas was and kind of the Texas history.

It's where people lived and live.

[upbeat guitar music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - Putting our boots or tires on the ground out here like riding through the, on those dirt roads through the forest yesterday, and then getting here, walking around, being out here on the dock.

I mean, when you set foot in a place when you start to engage it, it's it becomes a whole other thing and you wanna see more.

- BRANDON: Yeah.

I think these pockets like this of Huntsville State Park that are right outside a major city.

And you, it's the contrast is also, it's like, it's like instant therapy.

Boom.

You drive in here and you see the trees and you're like ahh, there's a Chili's right out there.

- JEROD: Yeah.

And a Fairfield Inn and all that.

- But you come in here and you're like, this is, this is what life is.

- JEROD: Yeah, yeah.

- This is life.

[mellow country music] - BRANDON: You've gotta get off the motorcycle and experience some stuff.

We went down to the ocean, the Gulf, and I put my boots in the water.

By the end of this trip, I'll hike up Guadalupe Peak and see what that's like.

- JEROD: You can break dance, can't you?

- BRANDON: No.

[laughs] [mellow country music] - BRANDON: Rolling into a state park at night, pitching a tent in the dark.

That's a challenge.

Then you, you're pretty amped up from the day of riding motorcycles, fighting the elements and going across dirt roads and then stopping.

[mellow country music] Then you roll into campground, you're exhausted, and then you lay in your tent.

No TV and you think about the day.

When do you do that?

We wake up to our present of scenery, and then we gotta leave.

That's been the toughest part, but then I think we're both really looking forward to Black Gap.

That's something we've never seen.

That's wild.

It's out there in the Big Bend.

[mellow country music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - BRANDON: You're a participant in the elements.

Versus just a spectator looking through.

There's nothing separating you from nature.

- JEROD: Yeah, yeah, and it's, so much of what you do is, is dependent on the environmental conditions that you don't you should think about as a vehicle driver, but you don't have to take into as deep consideration.

- On a motorcycle, it's like coast and then coastal plains, and then boom, Piney woods.

- Yeah.

- It's just like, right.

It's like changing channels real quick on the TV.

You're kind of sampling everything.

And then when we got west of 35 and the further we got, the more wild the country gets.

[mellow country music] - It's one thing to handle a, a bicycle that weighs 25 to 30 pounds.

It's another thing handling, over what can be pretty technical terrain, a 600-plus pound bike whenever it's loaded down.

That's motorized, you know, 100 horsepower bike.

That's got, you know, if you're not nuanced with it enough, can, can really get outta control pretty quick.

[crickets chirping] [mellow country music] - JEROD: Motorcycle travel like this especially isn't easy.

I think it looks easy.

I think it looks maybe a little bit more laid back and there's a certain vibe that goes along with the, the traditional perspective of the motorcycles.

[mellow country music] ♪ ♪ [frustrated sigh] [wind blowing] - JEROD: Well.

[wind blowing] We got tubes.

[motorcycle engine revving] - JEROD: Yeah.

Oh yeah.

[motorcycle engine revving] [cooler dragging] [motorcycle engine revving] Whoa!

[tools clanging] [air compressor humming] [cooler dragging] [mellow country music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - JEROD: This type of, you know, back road, off-highway riding, even if it's on what looks like really comfortable gravel to ride on can get pretty loose and, and, and iffy pretty quickly if you're not paying attention.

So there's a there's a big mental game that you're always playing on the motorcycle.

- You're not supposed to squat in spurs, pants up or down.

- BRANDON: Our state parks.

I think they are the heart of Texas.

As we traverse these gravel roads, it's kind of made me think that gravel roads, they're the veins that pump the life into the heart of Texas.

[mellow country music] - BRANDON: We've gotta Summit Guadalupe Peak.

I needed to do this, needed to climb high, above the clouds and see what's next.

- JEROD: Yeah.

- BRANDON: But the more I see the state parks, the more I want to go to more, which has always been my nature with, with them.

- JEROD: Yeah.

- BRANDON: And there's nothing quite like the state parks we've stayed in and the diversity and -- - JEROD: Look at that.

Oh, man!

[high-five clap] - We gotta do another motorcycle trip, and connect more state parks.

- Parks we haven't been to... with seafood.

- BRANDON: Seafood.

- Okay.

- BRANDON: All right, all right.

It's in the books.

- All right.

[upbeat guitar music] ♪ ♪ - San Angelo State Park is in San Angelo, Texas.

It's about as close to the center of Texas as you can find.

When you're in San Angelo State Park, you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere, but we're just right on the edge of town.

- There's quite a variety of things to do and see at San Angelo State Park.

On the south side, you're gonna be able to see just rolling mesquite flats with a lot of cactus.

And up on the north side, we're covered up in mesquite and oaks, big trees, actual shade.

[wheels clicking] - BUTCH: The trails are awesome.

We have over 50 miles of hiking, biking, equestrian trails.

- JOHN: Rollin' rollin' rollin'.

- BUTCH: Depending on what kind of opportunity you're looking for, we can match you up with the trail that you'll get the most enjoyment.

[upbeat music] [horse neighing] - We like San Angelo State Park because we've got excellent trails.

There's a lot of trails out here.

There's all kinds of terrain.

We have flat, you have rocky, you have sandy.

It's just a diverse piece of property that we can ride on, 8,000 acres of it [laughs].

- RIDER: Hey, the pigeon berries are blooming.

- Oh, yeah.

[upbeat music] Cool.

Oh, all through here, wow.

We live close, so it's easy to come out.

We are just blessed to have all this property to ride on.

Triple trouble [laughs].

- JARRETT: San Angelo State Park came to be back in the '40s.

They had a big flood on the Concho River.

Took out most of the community.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers came in and they built the dam.

Within two years, the lake actually filled up.

They basically turned it into a recreational area because the lake was here.

Texas Parks and Wildlife took over and we've been operating it as a state park ever since 1995.

[cows mooing] We have official state of Texas Longhorn herd.

We try to keep about 10 of those running around for the public to see every day.

[buffalo grunting] We have roughly 10 of the official state of Texas bison herd.

- BUTCH: We love our bison and longhorn.

And this time of the year, we've got three new baby bison on the ground and one baby longhorn on the ground.

They're beautiful, big, majestic animals.

[upbeat music] Our lake is an excellent fishing opportunity that's usually pretty decent fishing.

- We go fishing a lot.

We just like to catch them and release.

Sometimes we get some pretty big ones.

[upbeat music] It's just fun.

Fun stuff, right Rudy?

We like to use oatmeal and corn 'cause it doesn't get too stinky.

It kind of feels like you're baking.

[upbeat music] [water splashing] Oh, nice.

It bit hard too.

[upbeat music] What do we got?

We never really fished out here and obviously today we got some luck.

So there is fish.

There is fish Do you wanna touch it?

No?

[Anthony chuckling] - JARRETT: Come on out, check out the longhorn and bison.

Bring your kayak, bring your fishing poles, stop by the lake.

Hop on your mountain bike, just take a hike down any one of our 50-plus miles of trails at San Angelo State Park.

[lively music] - MIKE: Just the fact that I know I'm coming to the ranch creates a sense of calmness.

There's a sense of peace, and it's just a great feeling.

It can be as simple as a cup of coffee and sitting on the swing.

Wanna go for a ride- - Sure.

- And end up at the chapel.

- MARY: Yeah, let's go down there.

- MIKE: Mary and I love to go for a drive, and just look at the wildlife and look at nature.

- MARY: Well, a little piece of heaven is the way I would describe this place.

At one point, Mike and Ty turned around, and looked at me, and said, "Well, what do you want to add to this place?"

And I said, "Well, I want a little chapel."

And, I was expecting, you know, four little benches and maybe a pulpit there.

And Ty said, "Oh, no, no, no.

If you build a chapel, it has to be enclosed.

The hogs will just tear it apart."

So, out of that grew an actual stone chapel.

It's just a lovely place to be.

[lively music] [cows mooing] - MIKE: It was so obvious the ranch was overgrazed.

We sold all the cattle, you know, within the first six months.

And we did not bring cattle back to the ranch 'til 2015.

And so it was in desperate need of a rest, and it got that, and we could watch the land come back.

That was probably one of the first things that we noticed.

- MIKE: We wanted to bring the ranch back to its natural state.

- And so the Terry family started with the vision.

And it was really my job to plug in and put the right people in the right seat on the bus.

[trees crunching] There's habitat management going on just about every day of the year here.

- JESSE: Our plan here is to make space more usable.

We're doing that real easily using the excavator to come in and grab mesquite and cedar to make habitat better for all species, including people, cattle, and wildlife.

[birds chirping] We follow all Leopold's tools: ax, cow, plow, fire, and gun, and the creative use of those.

I've got a great job.

You don't wake up every day going to work.

You wake up 'cause you wanna go out and make it better.

[slow music] - MIKE: We had to come in and take out the mesquite and the cedar, and it allows the turkey a place to land and or take off.

- Grasses are coming in strong.

There are a lot of ranches that apply Leopold's tools of wildlife management, but what really makes the MT7 Ranch stand out is learning from what they do and then sharing that information with research groups, universities, our agency.

[turkeys gobbling] - MIKE: We probably had 35, 40, 50 turkey.

Now we know that we've got 5, 6, 800 plus, so we're going in the right direction.

[turkeys gobbling] If you put the land first, everything sort of falls in place.

You see wildlife improvement.

It's the little things for us.

Bluebird boxes or the wood duck boxes, and just seeing the numbers grow each year, and all of that is saying we're doing something right.

That just lights the fire every time something like that happens, and it just wants us to do more and to be more involved.

It's easy to get excited.

[energetic music] - My 20 years of working with ranches, I've never seen a ranch with such an open gate policy.

What do you all see right here in front of us?

Brock, what do you see?

- Bluebonnets.

- Bluebonnets, cool.

These are all native plants here in Texas, particularly where we're at in the Rolling Plains.

This is called- When I'm out here and I see a whole fifth grade class out here on field day.

- What's in the water, though?

That he is pushing across as gills.

- Oxygen.

- Oxygen, okay.

- MIKE: And I hear that three of 'em caught their first fish that they'd ever caught.

That's important.

- Here we go!

[children chattering] - MIKE: If we can enhance the land through teaching and through execution of core principles, that's important to us.

- We've had 100-plus interns that worked the ranch.

It's quite remarkable to see them go on, stay in the ranching field.

- Yeah, I can't speak highly enough of the intern program here at the MT7 Ranch.

It's given me what I needed to get my career started.

- The impact that MT7 has is much greater than this piece of property, but it really spans throughout the entire state.

- In a state that's 97, 98% privately owned, they are important as an example to other neighboring landowners or landowners across the state on what can be done and what should be done.

- The concept of land ethics to me is really all about just doing the right thing and then it all falls in place.

You're bringing the land back to its natural state, enhancing the wildlife.

It just all those principles that are important to good land stewardship.

[uplifting music] This is a place that brings family together and we learn together here.

We experience great laughs, you know, and just have a great time.

Who knows what tomorrow will offer, but I think you wanna be able to look back and say, "This is what we started and look what we've done."

And hand it off to the next generation and let them keep going and be proud of it.

♪ ♪ [hawk calls] - We've got a couple of broad-wingeds in the air.

Two close-in turkey vultures.

Around here, close is anything less than a half mile.

[laughing] - Oh, I see it.

- JOHN: Okay.

- BIRD WATCHER: Nice.

- First thing in the morning.

I start out at about 8:00 up at the tower.

And from then until 11:30, I'm watching the skies.

Might be a small group over here in the corner.

One of the delights to me is when I have visitors come up.

Today, I was very fortunate because we had six different people up there.

Most of them were very experienced in Hawk Watch.

I got six in this one group by the Red Top tower.

I've got another five going to the left.

- One of the best things about having John on the tower is that he is a natural teacher.

So whenever we get folks that are come up a little shy, they see people with big binoculars and telescopes looking at the sky.

They wonder what we're doing and why we're having so much fun.

John draws them in, teaches them what they need to know, and usually before they're gone, they are fledgling hawk watchers.

- Over the cloud going left.

Just flying above the level of the clouds going left.

- BIRD WATCHER: The broad-winged is just circling in the thermal and headed up.

- JOHN: Reason I came out here is because I love hawks.

I've been a volunteer now for 14 years.

The Hawk Watch is a citizen science project, and right now there are 250 sites throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

- Are you sure it's not just a young Harris's Hawk?

That's the best I can do.

- JOHN: It's important for us to get as much data as we can and to report that data to places that will share it with the world like eBird.org and Hawkcount.org.

- Look, with your eyes the two closest birds, the right one.

- It's not dark enough.

- Not dark enough?

- Now few people are likely to be interested in hawk watching because it's a process that at times is very, very boring.

But at other times, it's incredibly rewarding.

What you get to see when 60,000 birds go by you in a single morning... is unmatched anywhere.

[bright music] - I had a great day because I love Hawk Watch just any time.

And we had all these broad-winged hawks going over and then we had a short-tailed hawk, which is a really rare bird for Texas.

It's coming right overhead.

- Beautiful bird.

- ROY: Hawk migration is a great thing to experience.

It's quite a spectacle.

And I think that it's life changing if you ever get a chance to experience it for yourself.

There's never a bad day out here on the tower.

So come and check it out.

[wind blowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [water flowing] [water flowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [birds chirping] [birds chirping] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] This series is supported in part by Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation -- conserving the wild things and wild places of Texas, thanks to members across the state.

Additional funding provided by the Toyota Tundra.

Your local Toyota dealers are proud to support outdoor recreation and conservation in Texas.

Adventure: it's what we share.