Lone Star Travelers Blog » Dallas

Dallas Fort Worth Paddlers

joanie7 — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:45:17 +0000

Dallas Fort Worth paddlers now have the first paddling trail in the DFW metroplex and the first ever lake paddling trail at Lake Arlington in Arlington, Texas. This 10.9 mile paddling trail has been made possible by a joint venture between the City of Arlington Texas, the City of Fort Worth Texas and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 6P.M. on August 14th to officially launch the trail. Texas Paddling Trails is a program to develop public inland and coastal paddling trails supported by maps, sineage and other information throughout the state of Texas. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/boat/paddlingtrails/inland/arlington/index.phtml

Huntsville State Park, Huntsville Texas

joanie7 — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 02:05:52 +0000

Visit our Huntsville State Park Photo Gallery

Huntsville State Park located in Walker County is in the piney woods of Sam Houston National Forest. A large park (2,083 acres) it offers many activities. Boating in the small (210 acre) Lake Raven is limited to idle speed although motor size is not restricted. Canoes, kayaks and row boats are rented seasonally. Fishing for largemouth bass is catch and release only, however you may keep any catfish or crappie you catch. You may not bring your own horse but there are guided horseback rides available at Lake Raven Stables. (call them at 936-295-1985) An extensive trail system includes 18 miles of beginner to intermediate biking trails mostly under the canopy of the tall pine trees, there are also nature trails and many hiking only trails. Park Headquarters has a good map of the trails to hand out. You may swim in an unsupervised swimming area but be aware that occasionally alligators are spotted. The Texas State Park Store is named “Gator Junction!” There are large camping areas. 125 tent sites, each two sharing a water spigot, another 58 sites have water and electricity, 25 of these are pull-thru in the Raven Hill Trailer Area with another 36 back-in at the Prairie Branch Camping Area. We camped at the Raven Hill Area and enjoyed views of the lake. Several sites in the three loops that comprise Raven Hill Camping Area are lakeside. The historic town of Huntsville, one of Texas’ oldest towns, founded in 1836 as a trading post is 6 miles from the park. The 66 feet high Sam Houston Statue dominating the view of motorists on I-45 and the Huntsville Visitor Center are also nearby. The statue has been described as possibly the world’s largest statue of an American hero. Sam Houston was the President of the Republic of Texas, a statesman and a General who led the Texas Army in the battle of San Jacinto the decisive victory in the Texas Revolution. Huntsville Texas is approximately 70 miles North of Houston, Texas and 170 miles South of Dallas, Texas.

Visit our Huntsville State Park Photo Gallery

Cleburne State Park, Cleburne Texas

joanie7 — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:06:15 +0000

Visit our Cleburne State Park Photo Gallery. Head southwest of Fort Worth Texas approximately 50 miles or so and you will find Cleburne State Park in Johnson County. Opened in 1938 this is an older park and it is showing. We observed that most of the buildings were in a minor state of disrepair. This is a smaller park (528 acres) with small Cedar (116 acre) Lake open to non motorized (or no more than 5 mph) water craft. The lake is spring fed and the peaceful setting looked good to us for kayak fishing. There are 7 miles of mountain bike trails for all levels and lots of hiking trails. The park is quiet, uncrowded and the camping fee is reasonable. Choose from 27 full hook up sites for trailers or RV’s however you will find only one of the loops is lakeside. 31 electric and water sites for tents or trailers do not have a water view. We liked the tranquil setting however did not think the facilities or grounds were kept in very good condition.Visit our Cleburne State Park Photo Gallery.

Lake Tawakoni State Park, Wills Point Texas

joanie7 — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 21:48:21 +0000

Visit our Lake Tawakoni Photo Gallery Located in Hunt County, just 50 miles East of Dallas, Texas, Lake Tawakoni State Park offers camping, mountain biking and hiking as well as boating, fishing and swimming. This small park (376 acres) sits on the south side of the massive (37,800 acre) Lake Tawakoni Reservoir. The park is named for the pre historic Indian tribe (the Tawakoni) who traveled from Oklahoma into Northeast Texas to settle in this area where they remained until the mid 1800’s. Today the park is home to 215 bird species as well as 40 acres of native tall grass prairie rarely found in this part of Texas. 5.5 miles of easy hiking can be enjoyed and for the cyclists 3 of those miles are level biking with lots of fun twists and turns. 78 back in or pull thru multi-use campsites with electric and water are spacious, level and offer good privacy. Sites 54 and 55 have views of the lake. Lake Tawakoni State Park drew International attention in the late summer of 2007 as thousands, some say millions of spiders from many different spider families wove a massive communal spider web that began to grow at a nature trail and eventually spread over several acres. The best thing about this park is it’s remote rural setting still within easy driving distance of Dallas. The nearest Wal-Mart is in Terrell. 20 minutes away.Visit our Lake Tawakoni Photo Gallery

Purtis Creek State Park, Eustace Texas

joanie7 — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:43:50 +0000

Visit our Purtis Creek Photo Gallery

Located in Henderson and VanZandt Counties, 60 miles East of Dallas Texas, Purtis Creek State Park is a nice size park (1,582 acres)with a small lake (355 acres.) Developed in 1984 as a fishing lake it was stocked in 1985 with bass, channel catfish, crapppie and more. Fishermen arrive here early in the day (only 50 boats allowed on the lake at any given time) to troll slowly (no wake strictly enforced). If you catch a bass it’s catch and release however you are welcome to clean other species of fish at one of the fish cleaning stations and take it back to your campsite for dinner. Choose from 59 back in RV sites some with lake views equipped with water and electric (dump station in the park) or 13 primitive sites that are hike in or boat in. The only hiking trail is an easy 1.5 mile loop. The emphasis here is on the fishing! The best thing about this park is the comfy feel and great ambience. You can totally imagine yourself canoeing or kayaking in to one of the primitive campsites for a private secluded camping experience. The facilities in this park (restrooms, buildings) are dated but adequate and clean. 200 species of birds have been identified in the park however with limited hiking viewing them is more challenging. The worst thing about this park is limited hiking or biking for those who do not care to fish. The closest major shopping is Wallmart approximately 14 miles away in Gun Barrel City.

Visit our Purtis Creek Photo Gallery

Cedar Hill State Park, Cedar Hill Texas

Cedar Hill State Park, Cedar Hill Texas

joanie7 — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:41:46 +0000

Opened in 1991, Cedar Hill State Park quickly became popular with campers, bicyclists, hikers and fishermen. This 1,826 acre park sits at the edge of Joe Pool Reservoir, a 7,500 acre man made lake. Two boat ramps with a total of ten lanes stay busy all summer with many of the visitors from the nearby city of Dallas, Texas. Boats are available for rental at the Joe Pool Marina. More than 300 developed (water & electricity, two dump stations) and 30 primitive walk-in campsites are offered for those folks escaping the city for the weekend or a week. The Dallas Off Road Bicycle Association (DORBA) has built and maintains 15 miles of challenging mountain biking trails here. The park was developed at the site of a 19th century family farm, the Penn Farm. A self-guided walking tour taking visitors through restored barns and buildings is an interesting and educational experience for families as they experience what life was like in this area before the tremendous growth of both Dallas and Fort Worth. There are 4.5 miles of easy to walk pleasant hiking trails . An excellent guide to the Talala-Duck Pond Loop is available in the book ’60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Dallas/Fort Worth’ by Joanie Sanchez. The best thing about this park is the location. The proximity to both Dallas and Fort Worth allows city folks to enjoy time in the outdoors without a long drive. The worst thing about this park is also location. The closeness to two major cities does create crowds especially n the summer and on school breaks. This is a very clean park including well maintained restrooms. The campsites on the many upper loops are fairly large and generally level however if you prefer lakeside camping the sites are smaller, not so flat and better suited for tents or smaller travel trailers.

Coyotes in Cedar Hill State Park, Cedar Hill Texas

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