Short hikes, great views!
We woke up in Longview, TX on Saturday morning, June 27. We knew it would be a long day. Two state parks, driving between each destination, and the possibility of doing a scavenger hunt type thing in Downtown Longview in the evening (more on this later). The 5 of us (Me, Kaylee, my sisterAmy, her boyfriend Quinton, and his dog Sarah) took off in the morning towards the Louisiana border. Caddo Lake is the only lake in the state of Texas that is a natural lake, all other lakes in the state are man made. Caddo Lake State Park is not even on the lake itself, instead it resides a few miles up from the lake on Big Cypress Bayou. It is a small park with only three trails totaling 2 miles. Although the small size, the park had a lot to offer.
A lot of the park is full of towering pine trees laying in a pulsating landscape of gradual inclination and gulches. Many small streams flow into the lake and Big Cypress Bayou. With an overly energetic dog and two others who choose to actually run for fun (I know, gross), Kaylee and I were trying to keep up while still trying to take it all in. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) were here in the 1930s to help conserve some of the nature in the area. In fact the park headquarters was once the rec hall to the CCC. We came across a pavilion built by the CCC upon a hilltop crest with drop offs on all sides. Immersed in nature, Kaylee was able to capture what it was like to be there in the 1930s with a little Aggie Gold. We continued down the trail to the bayou bank. Looking out across the water to the other side was different than most any other bodies of water I have ever seen. You could tell the originality of the water having been there for ages. The swamps of Louisiana seem to have overflowed into the area. Cypress trees sprouted out of the murky waters close to the water’s edge. Sarah took a dip as Kaylee took pictures and we explored a little bit down the bank.
The trails are short in this park, so it only took us a few more minutes up and down the rills of the park to get to what I think is the best feature of the park, Sawmill Pond. Sawmill Pond is an outlet in Big Cypress Bayou. It is plunged with bald cypress trees draped in Spanish moss. All around the pier spurting out into Sawmill Pond are various cypress trees and groves. It is a beautiful sight to take in. This is where a lot of pictures were taken. Ring pictures, couples pictures, couples pictures with a dog. Sawmill Pond held a very nice glimpse to what being surrounded by nature was all about. Seeing the different sights and natural features that were created. This was certainly a first.
After Sawmill Pond, the walk back down the trail to the car was a short one. Back uphill through the swampy pine forest we traveled onward. Caddo Lake State Park was a quick less than 2 hour pitstop and another pin we get to stick into our map. It was also a treat having my sister and Quinton (and Sarah, even though she’s a hyper one) along. We still had another state park we wanted to go to that day. We went back towards Longview for Martin Creek Lake State Park.
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