State Parks

Lake Mineral Wells State Park lies in a diverse terrain of steep hills, rocky ravines, grassy prairie and a unique landscape of dense oak forest known as the Western Cross Timbers. Most of those are on display in the back country trails on the park's north end.

About 100 million years ago, lumbering dinosaurs took a stroll along what is now the Paluxy River. Originally pressed into the mud of a shallow, prehistoric sea, their tracks are now preserved in a layer of white limestone along the river and are the centerpiece of Dinosaur Valley State Park.

Meridian State Park is a small park of 505 acres surrounding a small lake of 72 acres, created by a Civilian Conservation Corps dam on Bee Creek. Its trails climb from the grassy lakefront to the limestone ledges above and into a Hill Country landscape of juniper and oak woodlands that blaze with bluebells and other wildflowers in the spring.

The lake, woodlands and wetlands of Fairfield Lake State Park attract a diversity of wildlife. In the morning, deer often graze at the edge of the woods or wander the meadows along its trails. Herons and egrets wade along the lake's reedy shores, while Road Runners dart across your path and into the bushes.

Fort Boggy is an adorable little park with a 15-acre lake that's better described as a pond. With budget cuts, it's now only officially open on weekends.

At Huntsville State Park, a dense East Texas forest surrounds the 210 acres of Lake Raven. Tall, lanky loblolly and short leaf pines dominate the park's forest canopy. But oaks, sweetgum, sassafras, red maples and dogwoods are scattered below, and black willow, river birch, water oaks and elms congregate in the park's creek bottoms.

Two sets of falls and a blaze of wildflowers in the spring highlight this park just a stone's throw from downtown Austin.

Broad fans of dwarf palmettos spread across the forest floor, giving the park a prehistoric feel. Although a "dwarf", the plant rises as high as eight feet from its underground stem, and its fans spread as wide as three or four.

The park remains in rehab after Hurricane Ike, a new boardwalk now stretching to the beach. If you ignore the facilities under construction, the beach and nearby wetlands still call birdwatchers, fisherman and beachcombers. Certainly, the birds don't seem to mind the construction.

Two dozen ponds from a fish hatchery were let wild here to create a unique park adjacent to the larger Sheldon Lake.