Selective cedar clearing, forestry mulching, site prep and excavation for Hill Country acreage along RM 150 and FM 1826 — serving Howard Ranch, La Ventana, the Onion Creek corridor and every ranch tract between Dripping Springs and Wimberley.
Since 2022
Locally owned · Wimberley based
5.0 ★
19 Google reviews
Licensed & Insured
BBB Accredited
20+
Acres cleared around Driftwood
Driftwood is a small unincorporated community in northern Hays County — 1,060 feet up, strung along RM 150 between Dripping Springs and Kyle, with Onion Creek winding through it and the Salt Lick, Duchman Family Winery and Camp Ben McCulloch marking the FM 1826 and RM 150 corridors. Underfoot it is pure Hill Country: Brackett-series soil a few inches deep over Glen Rose limestone, karst that feeds the Edwards and Trinity aquifers, and live oak motts slowly losing ground to Ashe juniper.
This is acreage country. Five-to-twenty-acre tracts in Howard Ranch, the Preserve at La Ventana, Rolling Oaks Ranch and the estate lots around the Driftwood Golf & Ranch Club are the norm, and almost every one starts as cedar that has to be opened up before there is a view, a pad or a usable pasture. Land clearing contractors in Driftwood spend their days on exactly that — plus the driveways, fire breaks and fence lines that come with owning land out here. It rewards a careful hand, because the oaks and the creek frontage are the reason people buy these tracts.
Bad Hog Land Clearing is based in Wimberley, a short drive from Driftwood, and we have been working tracts here since we started in 2022 — one Driftwood-area customer wrote on Google that we cleared one to two acres, raised the canopy on every tree and finished in exactly the time we quoted. Robert, Noah and the crew handle forestry mulching, selective clearing, site prep, driveways, fire breaks, light demolition and, as of 2026, full excavation. We walk every Driftwood property in person before we quote it.
Every service we offer is available throughout the Driftwood area — along RM 150 and FM 1826, in Howard Ranch and La Ventana, and on the ranch land toward Hays City and Wimberley. From a day of cedar mulching to a full build-ready site, here is what we do.
Driftwood is five-to-twenty-acre country, and the fastest way to reclaim a tract that has gone to cedar along RM 150 or FM 1826 is a mulcher that grinds it in place. No burn piles, no haul-offs, and the mulch layer protects the thin soil over the Edwards and Trinity aquifers that USGS maps right under this area. It is the service the Driftwood customer in one of our Google reviews was describing when they wrote that we “raised up all the trees” so they could finally use their land.
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Most Driftwood acreage — whether it is in Howard Ranch, La Ventana or a ranch tract off Elder Hill Road — carries the same mix: live oak and Spanish oak motts worth protecting and decades of Ashe juniper worth removing. We clear selectively, flag the keepers with you on the walk-through, and clean out the deadfall and underbrush so the property opens up without losing its character. Fence-line and property-line clearing on the larger tracts between Driftwood and Wimberley is some of our most common work.
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Custom homes in Driftwood go up on Brackett-series ground — the NRCS puts its type location right here in Hays County — which means 5 to 20 inches of soil over limestone before the pad. We handle rough clearing, rock moving, grading and subgrade so your foundation contractor starts on a level pad that drains. From estate lots near the Driftwood Golf & Ranch Club to a barndominium on a five-acre tract off Darden Hill Road, we get the site build-ready.
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Driftwood home sites sit a long way off the pavement, and a gravel drive that climbs from RM 150 or FM 1826 across rock and a low-water draw has to be built for drainage first — the May 2019 floods closed the RM 150 double crossings at Onion Creek and several county roads nearby. We cut, grade and base driveways and access roads to shed water, and we build temporary construction roads for larger builds.
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Cedar-heavy acreage and dry summers make wildfire a real concern around Driftwood, and Hays County issued a countywide burn ban as recently as December 2025 through January 2026. We create defensible space around homes, barns and outbuildings with mechanical mulching and strategic clearing that reduces fuel without stripping the tract. For properties along the Onion Creek corridor and the ranch land toward Hays City, a maintained fire break is one of the smartest improvements you can make.
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Old ranch outbuildings, collapsed sheds and leftover slabs are common on older Driftwood tracts, and they usually need to come down before a property is cleared, built on or sold. We handle small structure removal, stump grinding and limited tree work as part of a larger clearing scope. When a Hays County burn ban is on, debris is mulched, chipped or hauled — never burned.
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Our excavation crew handles foundation and pad excavation, rock removal and site grading on the limestone that underlies every lot from the Howard Ranch side of RM 150 to the FM 1826 corridor. We assess rock during the site walk so the estimate reflects what is actually in the ground. Excavation is our newest service line, launched in 2026, and it pairs with site prep so one crew takes your Driftwood tract from raw ground to build-ready.
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The soil around Driftwood is the Brackett series — 5 to 20 inches of dirt over limestone — sitting on top of karst that the USGS maps as the Edwards and Trinity aquifers, full of fractures and solution channels that move water fast. That is why we favor mulching over scraping: the mulch layer holds what little soil there is. And because Onion Creek runs through the middle of the community, we plan every pad and driveway around drainage — the May 2019 floods closed the RM 150 double crossings and a half-dozen county roads, and that water came off cleared slopes like these.
Our crew reaches Driftwood from Wimberley in minutes, and we work the whole area — RM 150 from the Dripping Springs end past the Onion Creek crossings toward Kyle, FM 1826 from the Salt Lick up toward Oak Hill, and the county roads in between: Darden Hill, Elder Hill, Bell Springs, Creek Road. We know which driveways need the small equipment and which low-water crossings to avoid with a loaded trailer after a rain.
Most of our Driftwood work is acreage reclamation — opening up 5-to-20-acre tracts in Howard Ranch, La Ventana and Rolling Oaks Ranch for views, pasture and usable yard — along with pad prep for custom homes near the Driftwood Golf & Ranch Club and fire breaks on the ranch land toward Hays City. Fence-line clearing and drought die-off cleanup come up on nearly every job.
Driftwood is unincorporated, so Hays County Development Services handles the floodplain development and OSSF (septic) permits, and TCEQ aquifer rules may apply once a project disturbs five acres or more. We avoid pruning or wounding oaks from February through June because of oak wilt, and when Hays County issues a burn ban — as it did from December 2025 into January 2026 — debris gets mulched, chipped or hauled instead of burned. If a tract holds golden-cheeked warbler habitat, we schedule the woody clearing outside the March-through-July nesting season.
Robert and Noah meet you on the land — ten acres in Howard Ranch or a creek-front lot off RM 150 — and listen to what you want to keep and what needs to go before putting a number on paper. Customers regularly mention that we walked the property for an hour and then stuck to the estimate.
We take out the cedar, deadfall and underbrush and leave the live oaks and Spanish oaks that make Driftwood land worth owning. A Driftwood-area customer put it best on Google: we “raised up all the trees” so they could finally use their land.
Shallow Brackett soil, karst aquifers, creek crossings, septic permits and burn bans are everyday realities out here, not surprises. We plan for them so your project does not stall.
We send a copy of our insurance with the estimate when you ask, and we are accredited with the Better Business Bureau. Your Driftwood project is protected from day one.
We are a small crew based just down the road in Wimberley, not a call center. Call (737) 373-2035 and you reach the people doing the work — and we finish in the time we quote.
Bad Hog Land Clearing serves land clearing, mulching and excavation customers throughout the Driftwood area and the Hays County communities around it. If you are anywhere along RM 150 or FM 1826 between Dripping Springs, Wimberley and Kyle, you are in our core service area.
Cedar density, slope and rock decide the price, and Driftwood tracts range from open oak savanna near the creek to solid juniper on the ridges. Forestry mulching is usually the most economical per acre because nothing is hauled or burned. We walk the property and give a written estimate we stick to. [CLIENT TO CONFIRM: typical per-acre range for Driftwood acreage jobs, if Bad Hog wants to publish one.]
Yes, and we do it with the creek in mind. Onion Creek runs through Driftwood, the RM 150 double crossings flooded badly in May 2019, and Hays County requires a floodplain development permit for work in mapped flood areas along the creek and its draws. We keep soil disturbance to what the job needs, leave mulch on the ground to hold the slope, and never pile debris where high water can carry it.
A single machine grinds standing cedar, brush and deadfall into mulch that stays on the ground — no burn piles, no dump runs. On Driftwood’s shallow Brackett soils over karst aquifer rock, that mulch layer holds moisture and slows erosion. It is our go-to for opening up views, reclaiming pasture and reducing wildfire fuel on five-to-twenty-acre tracts.
Yes — Howard Ranch, the Preserve at La Ventana, Rolling Oaks Ranch, Rim Rock and the estate lots around the Driftwood Golf & Ranch Club are all in our regular territory. Several of these communities have HOA or deed restrictions on clearing, so we ask you to confirm them before we start and we work within them.
Rock and distance drive the price. A quarter-mile gravel drive from RM 150 or FM 1826 across limestone and a low draw costs more than the same length on flat, soft ground because of the cutting, base and drainage work. Excavation for a pad follows the same logic — how much rock has to come out and how far it has to move. We quote both after a site walk.
Driftwood is unincorporated and is not inside the Dripping Springs city limits, so Hays County Development Services handles floodplain and septic (OSSF) permits, and the county — not the city — issues burn bans. Some parcels near Dripping Springs may fall in the city’s ETJ, where additional rules can apply, so we confirm jurisdiction for your specific tract during the estimate. Either way, oak wilt season (avoid pruning February–June) and TCEQ aquifer rules at five-plus acres apply countywide.
Whether you have ten cedar-covered acres in Howard Ranch, a creek-front lot off RM 150, or a pad to prep near the FM 1826 corridor, Bad Hog Land Clearing is ready to come out and walk it with you. Free estimates, straight answers, and a crew that finishes in the time it quotes — serving Driftwood, Dripping Springs, Wimberley and the surrounding Hill Country.
