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Arcady Temple Land Clearing arranges land clearing in and around Salado, with the work done by independent, insured clearing contractors. Salado is a small village on Salado Creek, about halfway between Temple and Georgetown, and it is growing: from about 2,390 residents in 2020 to roughly 2,565 by the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate, with new land annexed at the village’s edge in 2023. Two local facts shape clearing here more than anywhere else in the county: the creek and its springs, and a village that controls outdoor burning by permit.
Salado Creek and the springs
The Salado salamander, a small aquatic salamander found nowhere else, lives in springs near the village and farther up Salado Creek. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed it as threatened in 2014 and designated critical habitat for it and the related Georgetown salamander in 2021, about 1,315 acres across Bell and Williamson counties.
For a clearing job, that means sediment. Bare soil from clearing washes into the nearest drainage in the first heavy rain, and around Salado that drainage runs to the creek and its springs. On lots near the creek, the plan leaves a vegetated buffer along the bank, works in sections so less ground is bare at once, and puts erosion control in before the ground opens. The guide on erosion control after clearing covers what that looks like, and the Bell County rules guide explains how federal protections fit in.
Burning in Salado
The Village of Salado’s outdoor burning ordinance allows burning only by permit, issued for three situations: undeveloped land clearing, storm damage, and downed or intentionally removed vegetation burned on the property it came from. The conditions are strict:
- the fire department notified and the county burn line called before lighting;
- piles no larger than 20 feet across and 10 feet high, with a 20-foot fire break;
- fires at least 300 feet from neighboring buildings with people in them;
- wind between 6 and 23 miles an hour, and no temperature inversion;
- burning from 7am to sundown only, attended at all times, with water or equipment on hand.
On a typical residential lot, those limits make mulching or hauling the simpler choice. Confirm the current permit process with the village before planning a burn; the guide to burning brush compares the rules across the county.
Clearing near Salado Creek?
Send the address and a few photos. Distance to the creek and the burn rule shape the plan.
Mixed ground around the village
The USDA soil survey for the area around Salado maps a mix: Heiden and Crawford clays, which swell and shrink like the Blackland soils toward Temple, alongside Stephen, Lewisville and San Saba soils, some of them shallow over limestone. In practice, one lot may dig like deep clay and the next may hit rock a few inches down. That changes how stumps come out and how low a mulcher can finish.
On the clay lots, wet weather is the main problem; Bell County’s wettest months are May and September through October, when tracked machines rut soft ground. On the shallow lots, rock limits grubbing depth and wears cutting teeth.
Cedar and oaks on the hills
Ashe juniper covers much of the higher ground around the village, usually with live oaks scattered through it. Where it is young and spreading into pasture, a mulcher takes it to grade in one pass, and it does not sprout back from what is left; cedar clearing explains why. Mature cedar mixed with oaks on steep, shaded slopes can be golden-cheeked warbler habitat, a question the warbler guide explains. Oaks kept in the stand are protected from wounds in spring because of oak wilt, as described under selective clearing.
How a Salado job usually runs
A Salado job starts with two questions: how close is the work to the creek, and will anything be burned? The walk-through flags keepers, marks a buffer along any drainage, notes rock and wet ground, and splits the tract into areas to mulch, grub or leave. Homesites at the village edge often need lot clearing, with the pad grubbed and the rest mulched.
Growth at the village edge
In 2023 the village annexed about 1,105 acres at FM 2843 and Mustang Creek, and new homesites keep appearing on former pasture and cedar ground around Salado. Clearing for those lots follows the usual pattern: the house pad and driveway are grubbed so the builder starts on clean ground, and the rest is mulched or left. Because much of that ground drains toward Mustang Creek and Salado Creek, silt fence on the downhill side is worth planning from the start, even on lots too small to need a state stormwater permit.
Where Salado debris can go
Inside the village, debris can be mulched on site, hauled, or burned under a village permit. Mulching is usually the least trouble on a homesite. Hauled debris goes to the Temple Landfill on Loop 363, about 20 miles north, which adds trucking time to the price. For most lots in the village, that trip is reason enough to mulch. Larger tracts outside the village limits follow county rules instead. Burning under the village ordinance works best on larger undeveloped tracts, where a 20-foot fire break and 300 feet of distance from neighbors are realistic.
Budgeting a Salado job
Prices around Salado follow the same Central Texas budgeting ranges as the rest of the county; what changes is the share of the job spent on protecting the creek. Mulching light brush typically runs $1,300 to $2,500 an acre, mixed cedar and mesquite $1,600 to $4,000, and dense cedar on rock $2,700 to $5,200 or more. Grubbing a homesite pad and hauling the debris sits in the $3,000 to $8,500 or more an acre range. On creek lots, add silt fence: recent Bell County highway contracts paid about $3.30 to $5.90 a foot to install it. The cost guide breaks a price into its parts.
For land in or around Salado, call (254) 269-4999 or use the estimate form below.