Miller Springs Nature Center

Miller Springs Park is a 360-acre park located below Belton Lake, on the Leon River, in Bell County, Texas. The Park spans both sides of the Leon River, includes much of the Miller Springs Nature Center, and is accessible from the Belton side of Belton Dam, via the Park Road off Highway FM 439, and from the Temple side, via the Nature Center entrance, off Highway FM 2271. Restrooms, trash bins, and fishing areas are accessible from the south (Belton side) parking lot.

 

The park and nature center contains diverse riparian terrain, including limestone bluffs, estuarial wetlands, mountain cedar hilltops, and riverside cottonwood and sycamore stands. Numerous trails traverse prairie-like open spaces and forests of native cedar elm, live oak, and red oaks. Recent floods have created a new canyon that reveals numerous layers of sedimentary rock and fossils. Area wildlife includes white-tail deer, grey foxes, coyotes, black squirrels, armadillos, and more than 90 species of birds in the course of the year. It also provides easy access for canoers and kayakers to more than 3 miles of the Leon River, its backwaters, and the SE areas of the Nature Center.