The lady at the Pioneer museum, the clerk at the gift shop at the Vereins Kirche... they all said the same thing:
If you have time, you should go see Cross Mountain.
After a super filling German lunch, we needed to burn off a few calories! We drove just outside of town to the trailhead at Cross Mountain - more of a big hill than a mountain, really - for a short afternoon hike.
Cross Mountain, called "Keuzberg" by the German pioneers who settled the area, is a limestone hill rising 1,951 feet above the surrounding Fredericksburg area. In 1847, the German settlers found the remains of an old timber cross atop the hill, evidence that Spanish explorers had most likely passed this way years - or even centuries - before.
The climb up Cross Mountain isn't so much a hike as it is a walk. It's a leisurely-paced trail that winds its way up the hill, offering wonderful vistas of the surrounding Hill Country.
It's no Enchanted Rock, but the views are still really nice!
A new cross was built at the top of Cross Mountain by St. Mary's Church in Fredericksburg in 1946. Today, the top of the hill is used for the German Easter Fire Festival and for Easter sunrise services by the local Catholic parish.
The cross is covered in lights - it must look quite nice atop the hill at night!
Cross Mountain is a Fredericksburg historical site and city park. Besides the hiking trail, there are a few picnic areas, as well as some benches at the top where you can sit, rest, and enjoy the view and breeze.
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