Where We Are

A Brief History
Important stuff you need to know if you visit
BSRC Staff and phone numbers
Visitor's Guide

The 7,500 acre Big Springs Ranch on the Frio is located in Real and Bandera counties. The entrance to the ranch is on U.S. highway 83, 9 miles north of Leakey, Texas. The name “Big Springs” comes from the fact that the ranch is home to the largest single headwaters of the Frio River. This land has been called “the Country of 1100 Springs” after the numerous springs flowing from the limestone formations. Some of the cleanest and clearest water in Texas (if not the world) can be found here! The ranch boasts a wide variety of terrain from the grasslands and rolling hills of the upper ranch to the rough and rugged canyons carved by the springs that feed the Frio. Oak savannah, Oak woodlands, and Juniper breaks dominate. Cypress, pecan, sycamores and hackberry dominate riparian areas. The Children’s residences lie along these headwaters where the Edwards Plateau begins to meet the Rio Grande Valley. The first children’s residence, the Davenport Homestead, opened in the fall of 1999. The second residence, the Cailloux Homestead opened in the fall of 2000. Each homestead is situated near a “Grandparents Cottage” where retired and semi-retired seniors will spend various periods of time mentoring the children as we develop an intergenerational program.

The ranch is a “working” ranch, sustaining a cow-calf operation of registered Black Angus cattle. The ranch is also home to an abundance of wildlife. We have purebred exotic game from all around the world and you may see horses, llamas, wild hogs, bobcats, snakes, fish, and many other native species. Our neighbors to the north, the H.E.B. Foundation Camp, have documented 156 different species of birds which can be seen here. There are over 25,000 species of plants known to be in the area.