Twin Buttes to Take Brunt of July 4th

Twin Buttes Reservoir will remain open over the July 4th weekend as all Lake Nasworthy parks close Friday, July 3rd at midnight to contain our current coronavirus outbreak.

July 4th weekend brought the worst behavior to Twin Buttes the last few decades.  City of San Angelo Parks Director Carl White once referred to Twin Buttes as "the Wild West."

In years past citizens left mounds of fireworks and other trash, aimed fireworks at other people and set a dumpster on fire.  The City of San Angelo stopped the fireworks several years ago by having an officer screen cars entering the area from Highway 67.  That chore now belongs to Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife.  TPWD's Facebook page stated.

As expected, we've been receiving a lot of questions concerning access to Twin Buttes over the 4th of July weekend.

As of today (June 30th), our intentions are to keep the site open to all activities, to include boating and camping. Given the fact that TBR does not have any common areas, such as restrooms, we've determined that visiting TBR to recreate with your family remains relatively safe with plenty of room to spread out. Please note, that this could change should we receive directives from the Governor or TPWD executive staff. 

Due to the expected visitor increase, we have planned for additional law enforcement personnel to conduct highly visible patrols throughout the holiday weekend. 

We also encourage you to use good judgment and always recommend you follow CDC guidelines to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. 

As a reminder the following rules are in effect at Twin Buttes and will continue to be enforced by our Game Wardens: 

 • Limited Public Use Permits are required for each person (17 years of age and older) to access the property. Permits may be purchased anywhere hunting and fishing licenses are sold or may be purchased online here: www.txfgsales.com. Permits are $12 per person and will expire August 31st, 2020. 
• Off Highway Vehicle permits are required for all ATVs, UTVs, Off Road Vehicles and Motorcycles. Helmets and protective eyewear must also be worn if applicable. Check OHV Rules for more information: .. 
• Fireworks are prohibited and appropriate citations will be issued to violators 
• Trash receptacles are limited, so please be prepared to pack out what you and your family pack in. 
• As always, we encourage you to leave it cleaner than you found it. Take a few minutes to pick up any trash you see. For those of you with kiddos, this is an opportunity to model community investment. Incremental improvement becomes exponential over time. 
• If you witness anyone dumping illegally, please provide us with the most accurate description of people and vehicles (with license plate if possible) involved so we can initiate an investigation. 
• Water Safety - we encourage you to review the following boating safety tips located here: 

Area fireworks stands are fully stocked and sales are likely to be brisk.  An officer needs to screen cars entering the park area for fireworks and give people a choice of entering without fireworks or not entering the park.

I'm not sure any number of officers could've contained the bad behavior exhibited during Twin Buttes wildest July 4th weekends.  I trust Officer Huebner and his team to do his best.  I'll hope and pray area citizens offer their best behavior while safely recreating at Twin Buttes this July 4th weekend.  It's the only game in town.

Update 7-3-20:  The City of San Angelo announced it would open some Lake Nasworthy parks for fireworks viewing until the Nasworthy Homeowners' Association canceled the fireworks show.  Twin Buttes remains the only July 4th spot in the area, as county parks are also closed.  

Update 7-7-20:  I went through the park at the north side of the North Pool Monday morning and was surprised to find a clean park area with no fireworks trash.  This development is most appreciated!