Birders can walk the paved road through the picnic area. There are a few large ponderosa pines, but it is mostly pinion-juniper woodlands and grassy meadows. Good at dawn or dusk for owls, and nightjars, and hearing Montezuma Quail. 

Montezuma Quail, Wild Turkey, Western Screech Owl, Common Poorwill, occasionally Mexican Whip-poor-will, White-throated Swift, Rufous Hummingbird, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Golden Eatle, Swainson's Hawk, Zone-tailed Hawk, Western Screech-Owl, Elf Owl, Williamson's & Red-naped Sapsucker, Acorn Woodpecker, Western Wood-Pewee, Gray Flycatcher, Cassin's Kingbird, Hutton's, Cassin's &, Plumbeous Vireo, Bushtit, Red-breasted and White-breasted Nutchatch, Rock & Canyon Wren, Western Bluebird, Townsend's Solitaire, Phainopepla, Black-chinned Sparrow, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Spotted Towhee (all year), Scott's Oriole, Grace's, Black-throated and Townsend's Warbler. Hepatic, Summer & Western Tanager, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeak.

The Madera Canyon Trail is on The Nature Conservancy property but is accessible to the public. The picnic area is always open and can be good without necessarily hiking the trail. You can camp overnight at the picnic area, though there is no electricity, water or restrooms. This location used to have several huge Ponderosa Pines, but a huge fire in 2011 took most of them out, and some county clearing wiped out the final few.

The Davis Mountains Loop is apart of the Texas Parks and Wildlife's, Great Texas Wildlife Trails, Far West Texas Wildlife Trail.

Madera Canyon Trail on The Nature Conservancy property begins on the east end of Lawrence E Wood picnic area. The first section before reaching Madera Creek is flat, grassy and scrub mixed a few pinyon pines. At about 0.2 miles you cross the rocky creek bed. After which it goes up hill. At 0.4 miles it comes to the loop. Going left takes to the pond at 0.65 miles. Approach slowly and quietly as during winters after a good monsoon season, you'll usually have Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, Ring-necked Duck and maybe even luck into a rare Wood Duck. The continuation of the loop usually produces Western Wood-Pewee, Gray Flycatcher, Bushtit, Western Tanager, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeak in the summer. Maybe you'll see a Band-tailed Pigeon or Hepatic Tanager. Or even a Montezuma Quail.