The Texas Hill Country is a beautiful region filled with diverse wildlife, clear springs, sprawling rural landscapes, historic towns, and some of the starriest night skies in the country. With a rapidly growing population and increasing development coming into the region, many of these special qualities are at risk of being lost. Each year the Hill Country Alliance (HCA) holds a photo contest encouraging photographers to capture features of the Texas Hill Country they would like to protect forever.
With more than 500 entries in the 2025 Photo Contest, this year’s winning photos show the diversity of life and natural beauty that is abundant within our region – brilliantly colored songbirds, flowing rivers, hidden caverns hosting entire ecosystems beneath our feet, and clear views of a million stars above. The final four winning photographs were selected by a panel of judges and are featured in HCA’s popular 2026 Texas Hill Country Calendar, available now on the HCA website.
Geary Schindel’s grand prize-winning photo shows a rare view of the Texas Hill Country taken to the west, in Edwards County. “Into the Depths, Devil’s Sinkhole” stole the show with a view from within the sinkhole, reminding us of the hidden world beneath our hills – made up of caves and karst. As Schindel noted in his submission, “The entrance to the Devil’s Sinkhole is a 145-foot rappel into a large chamber. The cave is home to a large colony of Mexican free-tailed bats and swifts.” Devil’s Sinkhole State Natural Area is open to the public and managed by Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Devil’s Sinkhole Society.
