A Place Worth Protecting: Cypress Acres Ranch
The Hill Country Conservancy Team
A beloved piece of Wimberley's natural and cultural heritage will remain protected for generations to come under a new conservation easement held by Hill Country Conservancy.
The ranch’s mature woodlands, springs, grasslands, and more than 2,000 feet of Cypress Creek frontage will remain part of Wimberley’s landscape for generations to come.
CONNECTION TO THE LAND
Since purchasing the property more than six decades ago, the Gumbert family has cared for a ranch that holds meaning for people well beyond their own family. Alongside raising generations on the land and maintaining agricultural operations, they have welcomed guests to creekside cabins and shared the quiet beauty of Cypress Creek.
“This ranch has been part of our family’s life for more than sixty years,” said Eddie Gumbert, owner of Cypress Acres Ranch. “We’ve watched children grow up, welcomed generations of guests, and shared countless happy days along Cypress Creek. Protecting Cypress Acres through a conservation easement ensures that the land we love will remain intact and that future generations will be able to experience the same beauty, peace, and connection to nature that our family has cherished for so long."
The Gumbert Family with HCC's Chief Conservation Officer, Frank Davis, Left.
PROTECTING THE WATER, WILDLIFE, AND WONDER
The benefits of conserving Cypress Acres Ranch reach beyond its boundaries, beginning with the water that flows through it.
The ranch includes approximately 2,087 feet of Cypress Creek just upstream of Blue Hole Regional Park, along with more than 11,500 feet of tributaries within the Lower Blanco River watershed. Protecting these waterways and the land around them helps safeguard water quality, support groundwater recharge, and sustain downstream communities throughout the Blanco and Guadalupe river systems.
For a community whose identity is closely tied to its creeks and swimming holes, protecting this stretch of Cypress Creek preserves both a vital natural resource and a cherished part of daily life.
The ranch’s mature juniper-oak woodlands, open grasslands, creekside corridors, and floodplain forests also provide habitat for Golden-cheeked Warblers, Monarch butterflies, and many other native birds and pollinators. More than 70 bird species have been documented on the property.
Together, these habitats and waterways help make Cypress Acres a place of discovery and connection—the kind of landscape where generations have found wonder in the Texas Hill Country.
CONSERVATION IN A CHANGING LANDSCAPE
As growth reshapes Hays County, conserving landscapes like Cypress Acres helps keep wildlife habitat and working lands from being divided into smaller pieces. It also protects the open spaces and rural views that have long defined the Wimberley Valley.
“Places like Cypress Acres Ranch are part of what makes Wimberley special,” said Kathy Miller, Chief Executive Officer of Hill Country Conservancy. “The Gumbert family’s commitment to protecting this landscape ensures that the natural beauty, water resources, wildlife habitat, and open space that define the Wimberley Valley will remain intact for future generations.”
A conservation easement is a legal agreement that permanently limits development to protect a property’s conservation values. The land remains privately owned, and the protections stay in place even if ownership changes. At Cypress Acres Ranch, the easement allows compatible agricultural, recreational, and stewardship activities to continue while keeping the ranch largely undeveloped.
For the Gumbert family, this decision builds on more than sixty years of caring for and sharing a place they love. As Wimberley continues to change, Cypress Acres Ranch will remain a lasting connection to the land, water, and memories that have shaped this community.