Bat Emergence at Old Tunnel State Park in Fredericksburg, Texas.
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission from the discount codes used or when a link/ad is clicked. All purchases made will come at no extra cost to you, and I only include products and services that I have personally used and would recommend. Also, Two Worlds Treasures is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associate Programs. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Have you seen bat emergence at Old Tunnel State Park in Fredericksburg, Texas? This park may be the smallest state park in Texas that consists of only 16.1 acres of land. But, this park offers you nature’s unique experience: watching a colony of Mexican free-tailed bats emerge from the abandoned railroad tunnel.
The Old Tunnel State Park is home to up to 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasilienses mexicana) and 3,000 cave myotis (Myotis velifer) from May through October. They migrated each year to and from Mexico.
Where is Old Tunnel State Park?
Old Tunnel State Park is located not too far from the main street area of Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country. It’s about 14 miles (23 minutes drive) to the south, making visiting the park one of the best things to do while you are in Fredericksburg.
Address: 10619 Old San Antonio Road, Fredericksburg, TX 78624.
Here’s the direction to the park: follow US-290 E/E Main St. for 3 miles, then turn right onto Old San Antonio Road. After driving about 10.6 miles, turn left onto Alamo Rd. for a few feet. Then make a right for a few feet and left again until you arrive at the destination.
How to View the Bat Emergence at Old Tunnel State Park
The best time to enjoy the bat emergence at Old Tunnel State Park is from May through October. During those months, visitors are able to watch the bats emerge seven nights a week. However, the educational presentations are given only Thursday through Sunday.
Visitors to the park has three options to view the bat emerge: viewing the emergence from the upper viewing area, participating in a lower viewing area, or making special group tour reservations for your adult or youth group.
Upper Viewing Area
Located next to the parking area, it is open nightly from May through October. Bats from Old Tunnel State Park are best viewed from this area during August and September when the emergence times are earlier and more lights are present. Sometimes people can see red-tailed hawks feeding on emerging bats.
Beginning May of 2021, the upper viewing area is no longer free. A small activity tour fee of $2 per person is needed regardless of age. Visitors will listen to a short educational program about the bats. The upper viewing area capacity is 250 visitors each time. When they reach the limit, they will close off the parking lot next to the upper viewing area and will admit more visitors as people leave.
Park opens at 5 p.m. and can reach the limit quickly, especially on high visitation weekends, like Memorial Day, 4th of July, or Labor Day. I suggest bringing a cushion or a blanket to sit on because you will have a long wait until the bats emerge.
Lower Viewing Area
If you want a close-up view of the emergence and listening to an educational program about bat emergence at Old Tunnel State Park, this is the place.
The Lower Viewing Area tours are conducted Thursday through Sunday from May through October and the fee is $5 per person ages 4 and up. Children age 3 and under are not allowed at the lower viewing area due to the bat’s sensitivity to noise disturbance.
The maximum seating capacity at this area is 70 visitors each time. Tour begins approximately one hour prior to bat emergence time. I suggest bringing a cushion or a blanket to sit on, because you will have a long wait until the bats emerge.
Permits for both viewing areas must be purchased online. You can buy it 60 days in advance. Usually, permits for Fridays, Saturdays, and holidays are gone fast. They don’t accept Texas State Parks Pass or Bluebonnet Pass though.
On the day you are going to watch the bats emerge from the Old Tunnel State Park, try to arrive at least 30 minutes before the emergence time.
Special Group Tours
The tours are conducted at the lower viewing area from Monday through Wednesday evenings, May through October, for organized groups of up to 70 people. Reservations are required, but passports or permits, including the Texas State Parks Pass, are not accepted.
Special group tour fees is $5 per person, 35-person minimum and 70-person maximum. The park offers no more than two tours per week, and no more than four tours per month. To schedule a special group tour, please e-mail the park.
Watching Bat Emergence at Old Tunnel State Park
During emergence, the bats spiral upwards in a counter-clockwise direction in order to gain altitude. “It’s like a tornado,” the park ranger told us. When we went there, we got a chance to sit at the lower viewing area. It’s the closest one to the tunnel, where you can listen to an educational program about bats.
Right at the end of the educational program, the bats started to emerge. The Park Ranger had to stop and let us watching and listening the bats emerge from the tunnel.
At first, we hardly saw them emerge until they flew higher and higher passed the tree line. Some of them flew above us. But, we’ve been warning to stay calm and didn’t make any noise due to their sensitivity to noise disturbance. Whenever we put our hands behind ears, we could hear their tiny wings flapping better. It was truly an unusual experience.
The bats emerge every night and travel as high as 10,000 feet and 60 miles, one-way. They’re feeding on agricultural pests such as cotton bollworms, cutworms, and webworm moths. Each bat can eat its weight in insects nightly. And, the Old Tunnel State Park colony may devour over 25 tons of moths per night! The farmers around Hill Country are happy because bats helped them kill the pests.
On the other hand, there are predators waiting for the bats. Aerial predators, such as red-tailed hawks, are sometimes seen catching bats as they emerge. While the terrestrial predators, such as raccoons, feed on fallen bats. Not to mention owls and snakes.
Other Things to Do at Old Tunnel
Honestly, there’s not much to do in Old Tunnel SP besides watching the bats emerge from the tunnel. There’s a half-mile nature trail that is open year-round from sunrise to 5 p.m. daily. You can do bird-watching and general wildlife viewing from this trail. You can keep your State Park Pass in your wallet since there’s no entrance fee to this park. Arrive early on your bats emergence day to explore the Old Tunnel.
Good to know before you make a plan:
- For the most up-to-date bat emergence information, call the toll-free information line at (866) 978-2287 (recorded message only.)
- There are no refunds if bats are not visible.
- Email address: Old.Tunnel@tpwd.texas.gov
- Bring drinking water as there’s no water available in the park. Picnic tables are available.
- Restrooms are only open in the evening during bats seasons (May to October).
- To minimize disturbance to the bat colony and for your safety, you must stay on the designated trail and you may not approach the tunnel.
- Camping, pets, and smoking are not allowed.
- Maybe not such a good place for families with young active kids, even if they are ages 4 and above. Bat disturbed by noise and it is just very hard for some kids to stay calm and quiet.
Have you watched the bats emerge from the Old Tunnel State Park in Fredericksburg? Tell me your experiences by leaving a comment below.
You guys always visit the coolest places. All your TX posts make me want to visit. I’ve never had much interest in visiting TX because of the strong republican governance and “big oil” influence. But reading your posts as a local , is convincing me to visit anyways haha
What’s wrong with republican governance and big oil influence? It will be hard to go overseas or other states with riding a horse. Hehe..
Nature tours are fun but this definitely is unique. I have spotted bats here and there but dint know there could be a tour and way of viewing so many emerge at one time. I also did not know about Mexican free-tailed bats.
This was very interesting to learn about them, know about upper and lower viewing areas and see them emerge from the abandoned railroad tunnel.
This experience definitely added new knowledge to us.
This sort of reminds me of the bat emergence in Austin! Only a little more off the beaten path. Such a neat thing to witness for sure!
Yes, but I haven’t got to see the one in Austin. Traffic in Austin made me think more than twice to see it. But one day I will go see it.
Oh my God! This is one of the most unique wildlife watch I have ever seen or heard of! 3 Million bats in one place, and those pictures does make me want to visit this place!
Isn’t it? This is really unique!
I add Old Tunnel State Park to my bucket list! Fantastic there are so many bats in the area. I would love to spot them. I’m impressed that it is home to up to 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats. I add it to my Texas road trip itinerary.
Good choice, Agnes!
This is so interesting, and I would love to see it! I used to work for our local parks & rec department, and I taught about how GOOD bats are for the environment, and I hate the stigma that so many people are afraid of them.
That’s cool! A few months ago, I learned that bats eat mosquitos, too.
Quite a unique experience indeed! I have not heard of this before. It must have been a cool experience to see them rise like a tornado. The educational program while waiting sounds like a good idea. 🙂
Yes! It was something unique to experience during traveling.
Wow watching so many bats at the same time, not sure how I will react to that even though I do like bats. It would surely be a very different experience for me. I will definitely visit Old Tunnel State Park around the bat emergence season and watch them at least once for sure. I am glad I came across this post as I did not know there was something like watching bats emerge at nights.
You will enjoy this unique experience!
I would never, ever do this. I have developed a recent fear (and anxiety) of bats when two summers ago, one was stuck in our house. It kept me up all night as it swooped overhead. Such a traumatic experience. Before then I used to be fascinating at seeing them at dusk. Not anymore.
I understand that. It’s like me with monkeys. I got beat once.
Happy to know that they have an educational program about bat emergence. It makes a trip more memorable and worth while. Thank you for the tips and heads up. Will keep this in mind should we have a chance to visit.
That’s what I like about this place rather than just watched it without any knowledge about the emerge.
Oh..this would be interesting to watch. I’ve never seen that many bats at one go. Come to think of it, I’m not even sure if I’ve seen any bat in real life. But this will be something I have to do on my own. My partner is terrified of them!
You can tell your partner to do the upper viewing while you are in the lower viewing.
Wow! This seems like an amazing experience to see the bats emerging. I can only imagine the flight of bats colouring the sky black! I am fascinated to know the sheer amount of moths devoured by the colony at Old Tunnel Park! I am just trying to imagine the number of bats that might be there. I am sure this is a great experience, even if it cannot be captured by lens.
Sure is. A great experience that I want to do it again.
Bats are such interesting creatures. There’s another bat house on the campus at the University of Florida and I used to go watch them emerge at dusk all the time. No one warns you about the horrible smell, but the experience is always breathtaking!
That’s cool! We always wanted to watch the one in Austin, but the crowds and traffic in Austin made us postponed it.
Watching the bats emerge would be an unreal experience. I’ve seen them fly over the city at dusk, but it’s not the same as seeing them create a tornado as they climb higher. Cupping your ears to hear the tiny wings flapping is a good tip.
It was really a cool experience for all of us! I want to go back and see it from the upper viewing area. I think the experience will be different.