Real Estate Photographer in Bastrop, TX

Once a quaint spot in the Lost Pines region of Central Texas, Bastrop has transformed in recent years from a sleepy stop off Interstate 21 into a bustling pseudo-suburb of Austin. It's now one of the many hubs of industry for the richest man in the world.

The area was named by Stephen F. Austin for a colorful figure in early Texas history (his real and assumed names are far longer, but for purposes of this story …), the Baron de Bastrop. The eponymous town was first settled by the Spanish at the turn of the 19th Century, with a fort established to protect a strategic crossing of the Colorado River on the Old San Antonio Road. Here's a quick guide on the growing Texas town:

Bastrop State Park

For decades, the main draw of Bastrop was the aforementioned lost pines. Eons ago, an ice age glacier transported a forest of loblolly pines from deep East Texas to their current home in Bastrop County, according to the Texas State Historical Association. On this visit, I was bound for Bastrop State Park, which is the epicenter of what looks like a fairy tale, magical forest of pines.

In 2011, a wildfire ripped through the area, decimating much of the old-growth pines. A decade and change later, while the scars of that fire remain, new growth has sprouted up and made the park a hidden gem in the state.

Things to eat in Bastrop

After a day walking trails and visiting Lake Bastrop, you'll need food, and downtown Bastrop has a ton of great options. Maxine's Cafe & Bakery is pretty much the preeminent breakfast stop in town. Serving up massive stacks of pancakes and overs, stuffed French toast platters, and a mean chicken-fried steak, this place is packed most mornings for good reason.

Paw Paw's Catfish House serves overflowing baskets of perfectly golden fried catfish (naturally) and shrimp. Go for one of their mason jar margaritas and decadent banana puddings, while you're at it.

After spending a day among the pines, however, my heart and belly were set on barbecue. Southside Market & Barbecue — Elgin's legendary spot for Texas 'cue — opened a Bastrop outpost in 2014. You'll find the Texas trinity, mouth-watering brisket, fall-off-the-bone ribs – of the pork and beef variety – and some flat-out delicious sausage, along with turkey and pulled pork. My traveling partner and I indulged healthily.

Things to do in Bastrop

Make sure to check out shops and Instagram-worthy public art spots, like Found Fine Art with its bespoke collection of jewelry and objets d'art, or the Painted Porch Book Store, with its multitude of new and used volumes. Browsing or buying, you can't go wrong with either.

Cigar bars, game shops, and boutiques are also strewn throughout Bastrop's imminently strollable downtown.

I am torn by giving out so much information about a town I love that still flies under the radar, for the most part. However, my civic duty as a Texan compels me to tout the virtues of the land of the lost pines. Make a visit; you won't regret it.

For almost a decade, the roadside spot has offered barbecue, movie memorabilia, and creepy cabins to horror fans

Scott Jensen remembers the first time he discovered the 1974 movie that launched the slasher film genre. He was 12 years old, scanning different titles at the video store, when he saw ’s cover art. Against a white background, the villainous Leatherface, dressed in a blood-stained apron, brandished a chainsaw while a woman behind him, hanging from a meat hook on a wooden wall, screamed in terror. In bold, black type, a question is posed: “Who will survive, and what will be left of them?”

“It was striking, especially to a kid,” Jensen says. He had to watch it.

When asked if he’s a fan of the film today, instead of responding yes or a no, he whips around his right arm to display an answer that speaks for itself. Positioned between his shoulder and his elbow, there’s a tattoo of Leatherface running with his chainsaw, engulfed by the shape of an orange, flaming Texas.

It’s no surprise then to find Jensen and his wife, Jamie, chowing down on barbecue in Bastrop on a warm July afternoon. They sit at a wooden picnic table located behind one of the most iconic locations from the film: the gas station where things start to take a turn for the worse for the movie’s central characters.

In the movie, gas station owner Drayton Sawyer is the patriarch of a family of cannibals burdened with the nasty habit of turning unlucky passersby into barbecue. About 30 minutes in, protagonist Sally Hardesty and her five friends stop at Sawyer’s to refuel. He offers the group a brief, cryptic warning—stay away from the old homestead they’re headed toward. They don’t listen, and sure enough, shortly after arriving at their destination, members of the group begin to wander off into the clutches of Sawyer’s chainsaw-wielding son, Leatherface.

The Bastrop gas station featured in the movie opened in 1960 but fell into disrepair in the years following the release of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Then, in 2016, the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it film location, situated next to cow pastures on a lonely stretch of State Highway 304, was resurrected by Roy and Lisa Rose as The Gas Station, a barbecue joint and tourist attraction that continues to welcome Texas Chain Saw fans from across the state and the country every year.

From the outside, the building is recognizable to those in the know, with faded white paneling, red signage, and a properly run-down wooden porch covering. But when customers step through the creaky front door (in fitting old-school slasher movie fashion), they’re greeted with a sight vastly different from the typical gas station interior of the film, which is slightly shabby but full of snacks for hungry travelers.

The new walls are lined with horror movie merchandise—T-shirts, action figures, and posters from dozens of different horror movies and franchises. Those who can navigate the overwhelming amount of memorabilia without being distracted by one of the trinkets can place an order for brisket or sausage at the counter.

Behind The Gas Station, there’s a covered patio area with picnic tables and, in one corner, a fake decapitated head hanging from a sign made of bones that reads, “BBQ TO DIE FOR.” (For a roadside barbecue joint, the food is actually “pretty good,” Jensen says.) Further back on the property, there are four rustic cabins for visitors to rent and stay at , fittingly decorated inside with blood-stained shower curtains. Each cabin is outfitted with a TV, a DVD player, and a copy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

The Roses moved from Ohio to open The Gas Station and spent two years renovating the property. The couple put thousands of dollars toward the project, purchasing décor that would match the movie and gathering a small crew to construct the cabins. When the restoration process concluded, the Roses held an opening ceremony attended by actors Edwin Neal and Ed Guinn who were both cast members from the original movie.

In the almost-decade since its opening, The Gas Station has continued to host special themed events, including an upcoming Oct. 31 wedding and vow-renewal ceremony officiated by Michael Meyers—the mask-wearing, knife-wielding antagonist of the Halloween franchise. Tony Moran, the actor who plays the iconic horror villain and just so happens to be an ordained minister, will fly in from California for the event.

The idea isn’t off the table for New Braunfels couple Nick and Crystal McGowen, who sit just a few tables away from the Jensens. “We have wanted to renew our vows,” Crystal says, thoughtfully, while twisting the silver band on her left ring finger.

Authentic and not overly kitschy, The Gas Station is the perfect tribute to one of McGowens’ favorite horror films. As Nick explains, the horror of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is the reality of it. The movie was inspired by the real-life crimes of serial killer and grave-robber Ed Gein, and though the film strays far into the territory of fiction, Nick says viewers can’t help but feel haunted by the fear that the plot could actually play out somewhere in Texas’ untamed countryside. The fact that the movie was filmed at real locations across the state only adds to the effect.

“There’s something scary but exciting about the possibility of that slasher fiend being out there,” Nick says.

Alison Macor, a former film critic who wrote the book Chainsaws, Slackers and Spy Kids, which chronicles the evolution of Austin’s film industry, says a large part of why 1974 slasher movie remains so popular today stems from how the movie was made. It was a low-budget film, shot around Central Texas with a relatively unknown cast and production team. The result was raw and real horror.

“It’s our worst fears come to life,” Macor says.

In fact, Jensen and his wife’s trip to The Gas Station was just one stop on a quest to visit as many different Texas Chain Saw Massacre filming locations as they could. The pair drove nine hours from Missouri to Texas to experience Leatherface’s house in Kingsland, which has been transformed into a restaurant called Hooper’s (after the original movie’s director, Tobe Hooper); the Leander cemetery featured at the beginning of the film; and Bastrop’s Old Iron Bridge from the opening of the film’s sequel.

While not everyone will enjoy stopping along the road at a horror-themed destination, for fans of the genre, The Gas Station delivers on creating a truly believable and frightening experience worthy of a horror movie

“For me, movies were an escape from the situation that I grew up in,” Jensen says. “I could visit another world, I could see stories, I could be a part of something else. To step foot into that—it’s wild.”

Just don’t go there alone.

Officials in the city of Bastrop have asked Musk’s tunneling firm, The Boring Company, to build several tunnels to connect the area’s trails. If approved, the city manager anticipates the million-dollar project could be finished within a year.

The city of Bastrop is studying the idea of building pedestrian tunnels to connect the area’s trail system, and it wants Elon Musk as its partner.

A preliminary map that the city provided to The Texas Newsroom proposes two tunnel segments underneath the Buc-ee’s off State Highway 71 that would extend along the length of the frontage road to the Colorado River. A third segment could connect Bastrop State Park to Mayfest Park, the city’s rodeo venue, and then to a trail that would end at the entrance of the Buc-ee’s tunnel.

The total length would be less than a half mile, Bastrop City Manager Sylvia Carrillo said. She estimates the project would cost between $5 million and $7 million and be paid for by a mix of city, state and federal funds and, perhaps, contributions from private corporations.

Carrillo said Bastrop officials approached Musk’s tunneling firm, the Boring Company, about partnering on the idea. She does not anticipate Boring will help fund the project, but said the city would get “a very good price.”

The Boring Company is headquartered in Bastrop County, about 10 minutes outside the city. Carrillo said Boring has already built one pedestrian tunnel from headquarters to the manufacturing facilities for SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space company, across the road.

“We toured that and…we thought, what a wonderful idea to partner,” she said.

Representatives with the Boring Company did not respond to a request for comment. The Austin Business Journal first reported on the tunnel proposal.

A map of the proposed new pedestrian tunnel system in Bastrop shows three segments extending from the state park to the local rodeo venue and Buc-ee’s to the river.Courtesy Of The City Of Bastrop

If environmental and safety studies don’t reveal any problems, and funding is secured, Carrillo sees the entire project being completed by this time next year. The local tunnel system would mark the first public project for the business in Texas.

That’s not for lack of trying. Bloomberg reported in 2022 that the company had pitched eight public projects to Texas officials, but none appear to have been built to date. This included a plan to build pedestrian tunnels under the railroad in the city of Kyle. City of Kyle spokesperson Rachel Sonnier said it was halted because the Union Pacific Railroad did not approve construction.

“The city is no longer working with The Boring Company and is considering a pedestrian overpass as an alternative crossing solution in the future,” Sonnier said.

This year, Boring has also proposed building flood mitigation tunnels under Houston, according to an investigation by The Texas Newsroom and Houston Chronicle, copublished with ProPublica. Officials say no public money has been allocated for tunnel construction.

Some other Texas cities already have urban pedestrian tunnels.

Dallas and Houston each have extensive systems under their downtowns that allow pedestrians to pass between some buildings without having to go outside. While less popular than in their heyday in the 1960s and ‘70s, some still feature shopping and restaurant options. In Austin, the city recently widened an existing tunnel that will let pedestrians cross beneath Pleasant Valley Road.

Non-urban projects similar to the Bastrop trail connector have also been pursued in states like Oregon, which is building out a hike-and-bike tunnel near the Columbia River Gorge.

The Boring Company’s transportation tunnelling projects elsewhere, including in Las Vegas and Nashville, have been criticised for attempting to skirt environmental or permitting rules. Carrillo said Bastrop would thoroughly study the plan’s feasibility before moving ahead.

“The engineering is just one component,” she told The Texas Newsroom, saying local officials will study, “What are any drainage concerns, any engineering concerns, public health and safety concerns? How do we keep our unhoused friends from camping out in there?”

She added the main purpose is to allow people to enjoy the area’s trails while avoiding some of the dangerous, heavy traffic areas around the highway: “It really is a way to do a safe loop around the city, get people moving, enjoying the outdoors.”

Carrillo said the Texas Department of Transportation has already green lit studying the project and that the next step is securing funding. The city council will make the ultimate call on whether to pursue the project.

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The city of Bastrop is weighing new tunnels for pedestrians to get around, and Elon Musk's Boring Company, which is headquartered in the region southwest of Austin, could be part of the underground project.

The two are in talks to construct three tunnels to connect the trail system in Bastrop, City Manager Sylvia Carrillo told the Austin Business Journal. The Business Journal noted that one tunnel could reach from the east side of Buc-ee's to an area near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Another could go from Mayfest Park to Bastrop State Park, while a third segment could stretch the first tunnel to Ferry Park.

The Texas Department of Transportation gave its approval for the project to be studied, KUT reports, though the city council will decide whether to follow through on the plan.

The potential project is the latest scheme the Boring Project has considered taking on in Texas. A recent investigation by the Texas Newsroom and the Houston Chronicle found that Musk has been trying to get Texas officials to hire the Boring Company to build two tunnels around a major watershed in Houston. That idea seemingly hatched at a timely moment. After Hurricane Harvey, flood experts looked into the possibility of a tunnel system across Harris County that could transport stormwater out to the Gulf.

With the Boring Company based out of Bastrop, the county has already had a tunnel from the firm. Late last month, the company boasted its completion of a 500-foot pedestrian tunnel connecting its SpaceX facilities to the so-called Hyperloop Plaza, saying it provides a faster and safer alternative for pedestrians to cross FM 1209. But its operations haven't been without controversy. Last year, it was fined more than $112,000 for violations in Nevada, including exposing employees to chemicals that could burn them. In Texas, it was fined almost $12,000 over environmental violations.

Meanwhile, this latest plan in Bastrop appears to serve a recreational purpose that's been seen in other cities. In Houston, an air-conditioned tunnel network connects 95 city blocks in its more than 6-mile-long route. Texas' neighbors in Oklahoma City also boast a series of tunnels and skywalks that connect downtown buildings and parking garages.

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Revelry is among the latest master-planned communities under construction in Central Texas.

The project is located on the northwest corner of Pearce Lane and Wolf Lane where Travis County and Bastrop County meet.

The details

A short drive from the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Circuit of the Americas and the Tesla Gigafactory, Revelry will span 1,400 acres when complete, according to Avision Young, a global real estate advisory firm.

“With a city-approved master plan, Revelry will feature approximately 2,300 single-family homes upon completion, alongside dynamic commercial spaces that invite innovation and local enterprise,” Avision Young said in a news release. “The community is anchored by bold public art and amenities that reflect East Austin’s eclectic character, offering a unique sense of place for residents and businesses alike.”

Starwood Land acquired the Revelry project, formerly known as Mirador, from Houston-based Hines in early 2025 as part of a $800 million portfolio acquisition.

Zooming in

Avision Young is marketing about 216 acres of multifamily, mixed residential and commercial development parcels within Revelry on behalf of Starwood Land.

“Our team brings deep land planning insight and robust market intelligence to these opportunities, offering a level of service and sophistication beyond the traditional brokerage model,” Sullivan Johnston, senior vice president of Avision Young, said in a statement.

Featured builders within Revelry include:

“All utilities will be delivered to the site, and internal roadways will be constructed by the master developer, ensuring seamless infrastructure and accessibility for future development,” Avision Young said in the release.

The outlook

Revelry will feature three municipal utility districts with residents moving into MUD 2 lots in the first half of 2026 and residents moving into MUD 4 lots in the second half of 2026.

The timeline for MUD 4 is yet to be determined, as offsite water has a targeted completion date of mid-2026, according to Avision Young.

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