Adam Baker/Flickr Creative Commons
In this third part on the Civilian Conservation Corps built parks here in Texas, I feel I should repeat my opening paragraph from Part 1 for those of y’all joining us late in the program so to speak.
In my opinion some of the coolest places to visit are the older State Parks built by the CCC back during the Depression. They made it their goal to use native materials and help the park blend into it’s natural surroundings. The stone work is incredible, the carpentry superb, and while the accommodations may not live up to our 21st century ideal of what defines “necessities”, i.e. air conditioning, wifi etc, what the cabins, structures, and campsites do incredibly well is remind us how much simpler we can live without these necessities. And today, we’re headed for East Texas!
Misson Tejas
Mission Tejas State Park is one of those neat, kind of out of the way, parks that are scattered throughout the big thicket country of east Texas. Crockett, TX would be the closest big town. The park includes a replica of the Spanish Mission San Francisco de los Tejas that was constructed by the CCC in 1935. There are hiking trails and a pond you can doing some fishing in.
Huntsville
Huntsville State Park is more or less surrounded by the Sam Houston National Forest, but is one of those pristine, old-school, picturesque state parks you’d expect in East Texas. The fall foliage is incredible, and it is the perfect place to camp in the fall. A Jewel of the Piney Woods portion of our state. Construction began back in 1933, and be sure to check out the boat house.
These two parks are something special, maybe because I live in Houston, but Mission Tejas specifically is such a crossroads of worlds. It’s the meeting place of the Old South, The Spanish Southwest, and the end of the Pine Belt and that very much describes East Texas to my mind.