Despite only getting to spend a couple hours at Tyler State Park, we could tell it was a special one.
It was our last day in East Texas, Sunday, June 28. The final excursion for the weekend was to go to a park in the heart of the Piney Woods, Tyler State Park. My sister, Amy, and her boyfriend, Quinton, had been to Tyler State Park a few times before and camped out in the park with their friends. Although they had been to the state park, they had never really hiked many of the trails. Tyler State Park has an extensive mountain bike trail system, and Quinton is an avid bike rider. So Quinton went to the park before us to go ride some mountain bike trails with a buddy of his with intentions on meeting up with us later to walk some trails. It was a shame we ran short on time in this park because it was definitely a good one to be at.
Amy, Kaylee, and myself set out down the road from Longview to Tyler a little before noon after a quick lunch stop. Kaylee and I had plans to attend Kaylee’s little sister’s summer league softball scrimmage back in Dallas at 4pm. By the time we made it to Tyler State Park, this gave us about 2 hours maximum in the park before we had to leave for the game. Also on top of that, Kaylee and I were supposed to be Smithville bound that night. It was going to be a tightrope act of perfect planning and precise execution for us to squeeze in all we had to get back to Smithville at a good time (which ended up being around 10pm).
Back in the state park, the three of us arrived without a clue what to do first. As I said, my sister had been to Tyler State Park multiple times before, but never was it to go hiking. She had been on one trail and it was the trail that encircled Beaver Pond, which is the centerpiece of Tyler State Park. Like many parks we had been to before, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) had established themselves here before this was ever made into a state park. A little history lesson for you on Tyler State Park: interestingly the land that Tyler State Park resides on now was actually owned by the National Parks Service and the US Department of the Interior. The original intent was to create a National Park out of the land, but in the 1930s while the CCC was there, the National Parks Service told the CCC to build a park out of the land and gifted the land to the State of Texas. Texas obliged the National Parks Service and turned it into Tyler State Park as you see it today.
The CCC built a rockwall and pool area on a natural spring in the park, this is where we decided to start our trip. The Beauchamp Spring in Tyler State Park was created by having pockets of water in the hillside seep out of the ground as the land rolled downward. The CCC made a wonderful area that highlights where the spring water flows, and at the top of the hill, a wading pool meant for kids to go and play. Unfortunately, they could never get the wading pool to function correctly, so in the 1940s they abandoned the idea of making it work. But the Beauchamp Spring created some cool water flow and even a small waterfall along the trail. The trail itself was also very nice to gaze upon while walking. The way the East Texas pines rose above us and the gentle hills rolled out in every direction was a pleasant sight to behold. The trail took you up and down the inclines and sometimes let you reside on the hillside itself.
With time running out we decided to take one last trail, the one around Beaver Pond. Quinton was still out riding, so it seemed like we would miss each other since Kaylee and I had to hit the road soon. All along Beaver Pond there are countless campsites and spots that people have made their own private swimming holes. On one side of the pond there is a public recreation area where you can swim, have a picnic, canoe, kayak, paddleboard, or do anything else water related really.
The trail around Beaver Pond is a little over 2 miles in length. Stopping to take pictures every once in a while of the pine trees or getting a good shot out across the water, Kaylee encapsulated Tyler State Park’s main feature. We completed the trail a little bit behind schedule, but hoped we could make up some time on the road (but I ended up driving and I drive like a grandpa so that didn’t really happen). We got to say bye to Amy and Quinton because he had finished his biking trails. We hopped in the car and headed back into the big, flat piece of concrete that is the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. We got to have a lot of fun out in East Texas and not just in the state parks. Spending time with my sister is always a good time.
P.S. Amy and Quinton, y’all better read these last few!!
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