Government Canyon State Natural Area preserves a large, relatively undisturbed stretch of Texas Hill Country in northwestern Bexar County, where conservation takes priority over recreation. Its rugged hills and canyons protect the upper Culebra Creek and Leon Creek watershed and a key recharge zone for the Edwards Aquifer, making it important to the San Antonio area’s water supply. The land also preserves dinosaur trackways from about 110 million years ago, evidence of Native American occupation dating back as far as 8,000 years, and traces of nineteenth-century settlement. Today it is valued for wildlife habitat, native plants, and low-impact public access on an extensive trail system.