observation – Texans Travel Life

Martin Dies Jr. State Park has not one, not two, but THREE different units! It is ginormous!!

By the time we visited our 37th Texas State Park, we kind of figured we knew what we’d signed up for, and what to expect. We knew the drill. After visiting 36 State Parks, we had developed a kind of rhythm to it.

And then we visited Martin Dies Jr. State Park.

Let me start by gushing over how utterly gasp-worthy the drive to the HQ was when we visited in 2018. We’re talking towering trees lining the road, creating the most inviting and sporadically shaded drive that was akin to that scene in Keira Knightley’s version of Pride & Prejudice when she was visiting the Lake District with her Aunt & Uncle, riding along the English landscape, face upturned to the canopied trees, eyes closed, enjoying the bright bursts of sunshine through her closed lids that was punctuated now and again by the overhanging limbs. It was exactly that kind of beautiful drive that greeted us upon entry into the park that late summer day in mid-August.

The epic nature of that first introduction to MDJSP doesn’t really translate onto the screen. You’ll have to just trust me.

Maps in hand, we decided to do a scenic drive through of the park, get our bearings, and figure out where The Manling wanted to drop his first line in the water. We drove through what looked like a community of Little Houses on the Prairie. We passed countless camp sites, every one looking like it would be the best. We crossed over the quaintest bridge where we noticed a pontoon-type pier near the rental canoes. We saw open lake. We saw little inlets that looked freshly plucked out of Jurassic World. We saw and heard birds. We looked for ‘gators. We hiked part of the Island Trail. We saw the Observation Pier. Pretty much, we explored all the nooks and crannies MDJSP has to offer and came away with this: East Texas takes state parking to a whole different level!

The Manling doing a little fishing on the pontoon-style pier.

I couldn’t help being reminded of Parent Trap when I saw these. Love!

An example of the stellar camp sites available at MDJSP.

Campsite view of the lake under the shade of the towering trees. Bliss.

Part of the beautiful Island Trail, a great example of the lazy paths through the tall trees, never out of view of the water.

Cue the theme to Little House on the Prairie, please.

The Manling feeling right at home. I think Lake Life is in his future.

Love, love, love when the waters are covered like that. I don’t know what it is, but I do know that you can spot “alligator tracks” in them. Thumbs up!

Seriously the best reflection pictures are available late afternoon just about anywhere in the park that the sun can shine through the trees.

The Manling’s Mom totally appreciates the “sea wall” from which he got to fish. She’s not over fond of him being in the water when alligators call it home.

I can feel the tension in my muscles relaxing just looking at photos like this. This is one of my happy places, I think.

I want to point out that we get a lot of comments on our adventures when some mishap occurred, or we underprepared and suffered the consequences, or my imagination got the best of me, or we pushed the limits of awesome to achieve greatness. This is such a recurrent theme that I almost want to apologize for not having such a tale to tell from our time at Martin Dies Jr. State Park. But just almost.

I’m not going to apologize or make excuses because, truth be told, I needed this park, in this way, at this time. I needed to relax. I needed to allow the beauty and calm of the sights and sounds of nature to press the RESET button on my life. I needed a hiatus from the habitual business of life, and just Be. And that is exactly what MDJSP offered me. Respite. Peace. Breathing space. An intermission. A good ol’ fashioned time out.

Thank you, Martin Dies Jr. State Park. You were exactly what I didn’t know I needed.

Why We Love Martin Dies Jr. State Park

Log Cabin Village. Big fans of the Little House series, we adored the little log cabins available to overnight guests. They even have them with a/c. Simply irresistible.
Fishing. So many miles of shoreline. So many piers. So many places to fish.
Exploring. The trails absolutely rock. They have soft ground trails with towering trees overhead and a wealth of wildlife living in them. Try your hand a geocaching! In our opinion, it’s the BEST way to explore! Or grab your mountain bike for an afternoon on the trails.
Water. Two rivers converge where MDJSP is situated. Take to the water, especially if your visit happens during the six months of summer we seem to have here in Texas.
Alligators. Never saw one on our visit, but I gotta tell you, it’s exciting to look. Just the possibility of seeing one is an attraction in our book.
Camp Sites. Truly, The Manling and I kept spotting “the best campsite” around every corner. They are all magnificent and spacious, especially the ones that back up to the water.
Loaners. You can rent canoes, kayaks, and bikes. They even have a volleyball if the mood strikes that you can borrow for free at the HQ. I love that you don’t have to haul all of your own equipment. They’ve got you covered.

Must Do’s

Fish. There are a number of fishing piers and various places along the vast shorelines to drop a line.
Hike. So many easy trails on soft surfaces. Your dogs shouldn’t be barkin’ after exploring these.
Relax. Seriously, I felt so much lighter while we were at MDJSP. So peaceful. So beautiful. Such respite.
Stay. Whether in a cabin, a shelter, or a camp site, I honestly don’t think you could go wrong planning an overnighter at MDJSP. Picture perfect paradise.

We’d love to hear about your experiences at Martin Dies Jr. State Park! Please leave your comments on this picture perfect, peaceful, life reset below.

*In all natural areas, you are a guest. Educate yourself on what lives in the areas before your visits, always talk to the Park Rangers upon arrival and take precautions so that your experiences end as positively as ours.

Old Tunnel State Park. The night that I went (early June 2018), it was at the end of a long day spent state parking with The Manling. We had adventure after adventure after adventure already on this particular day, but since seeing the bats emerge is a sunset activity and we were only an hour away, we decided to go for it.

First off, if you’re wondering what the big deal is, I’ll tell you, dear reader. The fine folks in the Texas Hill Country have this thing about watching bats emerge at sunset. All of these Mexican free-tailed bats hole up in the Hill Country for some reason April – October. Google it. You’ll see. There’s a bridge in Austin where millions emerge in a whispy-type ribbon that is completely mesmerizing. There are caves on privately owned Hill Country land where the things fly like bats outta you-know-where just because the sun is setting (see photos below) and you’d better not be nearby if one falls because, Hello! They will crawl up your legs until they are high enough to launch themselves back into the air from hanging on you! Knowledge is power, my friend, and that little tidbit of knowledge was enough to make me seriously consider power walking back to the car! And now? We discovered that there is a whole Texas State Park completely devoted to the little guys. Just go with it.

The Man and me a handful of years ago. The smiles were before the bats emerged from that abyss behind us.

Exactly half of us were “into” this several years ago when we Groupon’d a deal for viewing on someone’s private land in the Hill Country. Surprise, surprise, The Manling was in that camp.

I gotta say, on the private land with the hole-in-the-ground cave, we definitely saw bats. Maybe a little too closely? But we saw, smelled and heard them. Plus, the bit of education regarding the possibility of them crawling up your legs if they collided and fell is kinda priceless information in my book.

We arrived at OTSP about 8:35pm, quickly parked and made a beeline toward the people congregated on the upper viewing deck. Everyone was mostly quiet. I figured they must be anticipating the awe until I read the signage asking everyone to be library quiet. I started whispering to The Manling at this point because there was park staff on-site and I didn’t want us to get the boot so close to what was sure to be an amazing spectacle. After waiting – quietly – for about 10 minutes, we noticed another park staffer down near the tree line waving her hands to our park staffer, who let us know that they had begun their emergence. We saw nothing. We waited with baited breath. We still saw nothing. We kept our eyes peeled. Finally we saw what appeared to be the smoke monster from Lost smudging the view of the trees. We {quietly} asked our park staffer if that smoke was the colony emerging. She excitedly explained that it was! Bless her. She really digs the bats.

We eventually allowed the strongly-scented ammonia air (um, guano) to signal that we were good-to-go…home.

We hoofed it back to the Tiny Toyota Tardis (because the Yaris is bigger on the inside) and headed her toward our home away from home. As we were sharing our perceptions, The Manling noticed something traveling in the sky about 10 feet above our car. Bats!! Those little buggers were swarming just above our Tiny Toyota Tardis, helpfully devouring the mosquitoes that like to feast on our flesh during the summer here in Texas. They continued to travel with us for a couple of miles down that tiny Texas back road** until we finally out horse-powered them. (I envisioned our Tiny Toyota Tardis bursting free from the ginormous sand storm of bats that had completely enveloped us. It was epic.)

I just want to point out that the mom in the lower left of the picture is having to point out where her minion should be looking. The bats emerge into the trees and it’s hard to see from the upper observation deck. (The lower observation deck wasn’t open on the day of the week we visited.)

I seriously need to figure out how to up my selfie game.

Why We Love Old Tunnel State Park

Bats. Make sure you plan your visit April through October. And time your departure while they are still emerging because while we didn’t really see them from the upper observation deck, we definitely experienced them up close and personal on the road as we left!
Park Staff. These folks are enthusiastic about these bats. Ask questions – quietly, of course.

Must Do’s

See the bats emerge. It’s a Hill Country must.
Drive away while the last rays of sunlight are disappearing. Cross your fingers, drive slowly and maybe the bats will make your trip to OTSP as memorable as ours.

We’d love to hear about your experiences at Old Tunnel State Park! Please share your thoughts on this twilight Texas State Park in the comments.

*In all natural areas, you are a guest. Educate yourself on what lives in the areas before your visits, always talk to the Park Rangers upon arrival and take precautions so that your experiences end as positively as ours.

**Tiny Texas back roads are narrow. Please use extreme caution, especially when deer are present. We had two dart in front of our car as we drove home that night, a very dangerous thing when their weight rivals your Tiny Toyota Tardis! Upon the advise of friends, we bought these for future trips.