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A cove along the Livingston Trail

Lake Livingston State Park

Lake Livingston State Park hugs the shores of one of the state’s largest lakes – 83,000 acres of water accumulated behind a dam on the Trinity River. The lake’s broad stretch of open water looks more like a bay, surrounded by a typical East Texas landscape of loblolly pines and water oak.

The lake is the park’s focus, but several short trails showcase the East Texas forest, including:

  • Livingston Trail (2.73 miles) The park’s longest trail winds through the forest and along the lakefront, connecting the park’s many camping areas. One end of it curls around a cove and crosses over a bridge before reaching a dead end on the map with the notation “bridge out.” It’s an understatement. All that remains of the bridge are a set of supports in the middle of the water.
  • Horse Trail (2.12 miles) A stables provides several dozen horses for rides through the woods on this wide equestrian trail that is closed to anything that isn’t on four legs.
  • Pineywoods Nature Walk (0.95 mile) This short interpretive trail includes a butterfly garden, bird blind, small duck pond thick with vegetation and a woodland frog pond that amid the drought is more of a puddle. The trail is wide, with extensive boardwalks and viewing platforms.
  • Oak Flat Trail (0.3 mile) Another short interpretive trail whose stops include a rare nutmeg hickory tree whose sweet nuts are coveted by the park’s squirrels and other small animals.
  • Main Trail (0.58 mile) cuts through the deep woods, connecting the Oak Flat and Pineywoods trails.

The wildlife is typical for East Texas, with wading birds and waterfowl along the lakefront, songbirds, squirrels and deer in the forest. Because the park sits on the eastern shore of Lake Livingston, it sets a stage for beautiful sunsets.

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