park map – Texans Travel Life

Waking in the wee hours of a Saturday morning in mid-June 2018, the final four of our fam set out on a day trip to Fort Parker State Park in Mexia, Texas, with our family mascot, Rosie. The park promised a little something for everyone: hiking for The Man, fishing for The Manling, photo ops for Kinder Frau, frolicking for the Awesome Aussie, and history for The Mom.

Introducing our Awesome Aussie, Rosie. She loves swimming, running, barking, wallowing in dirt, peanut butter, and her family. She is up to an adventure anytime, anywhere.

We arrived about an hour after the HQ opened, one group out of a few checking in at that time. When our turn for some face time with the Park Staff came, we were made to feel surprisingly unhurried. No “treat ’em and street ’em” mindset at FPSP. Each guest is made to feel like a V.I.P. and that definitely deserves a shout out, in my opinion.

Once we were squared away with our registration, our Park Staffer helped us plan our day enjoying this new-to-us State Park. And that’s saying a lot because all four of us had different ideas of how that would be best accomplished. First off, he said, I would hike while it’s still cool. If you park by the Recreation Hall here on the map, you can easily get to the pontoon bridge here (circling it on our map) and then you’ll be on the Springfield Trail which will take you past the cemetery (a San Jacinto survivor is actually buried there!), Group Camping, Springfield Lake, the Dam – oh, and if you listen for the spring about here (pointing to the map), you can follow the sound to see the spring! – and then past the historical marker where…” All that to say, Mr. Park Staffer hooked us up with an excellent adventure that checked all of our boxes!

An example of some of the great trails at FPSP.

Following the Park Staff advice, we followed the Springfield Trail to all of those wonderful spots, which happen to contain signage along the way to educate adventuresome hikers like us on the unique history of FPSP. With our morning hike behind us, The Manling settled in for some fishing at one of the three spots that Mr. Park Staff highlighted on our map while The Man played fetch in the water with our Awesome Aussie (She’s quite ferrel when it comes to getting her country on.), Kinder Frau updated her online presence, and I got some reading done.

Shoreline fishing at “The Point,” which is just past the Recreation Hall. Nada. (A nearby fisherman told us he hadn’t caught either and was going to try the river near the boat launch.)

Rosie is a country dog at heart. She LOVES getting wet followed by a good wallow in the dirt and a nap.

Finding spot #1 a dud, we moved to spot #2, which looked to have a small Boy Scout troop getting ready for a canoe trip upriver. We cast in the full sun. We cast from a tree that had fallen into the water. We cast from the shade. We were using lures, corn and worms. Nothing. Because catching is more fun than fishing, I was about ready to throw in the towel and read while the guys continued their quest. I cast one last time in a shaded spot to the left of the boat launch and BAM! My bobber disappeared! I yanked and reeled her in only to find that my worm had disappeared, too! The Manling hooked me up with another worm and I dropped a line in the same spot. Within seconds, my bobber was underwater AGAIN. I yanked and reeled her in a second time to find my worm was MIA again. I asked The Manling what I was doing wrong. “Is my hook too large for this fish’s mouth, maybe?” No, it’s fine. You’ve just got to…(insert man-spanation here because – teenager). This song-and-dance continued for several more casts before I managed to hook something – the tree that was providing the shade over the water. While The Man helped me disengage my hook from the tree (via the snapped line method) and then repair my reel, The Manling thought he would drop his line in where I was getting the only action on the river. And BAM! The Manling quickly landed the thing that had been stealing my worms! Super happy for him, I offered him a heartfelt congratulations and asked him how he did it. Smaller hook, he replied sheepishly. Really, man? (In his defense, he truly felt guilty for catching “my” fish. I spent quite a while assuring him that I was just glad the little booger was caught and even more glad that he was the one that got to catch it. I think he was maybe feeling guilt about the mansplaining about how I was somehow fishing incorrectly when it ended up being the very thing I had asked him about, but I’m his Mama and I could exact my revenge when I wrote about it later. Patience is a virtue the old possess.)

This is another spot near the boat launch on the river that we fished.

I spy The Man, who found the shade of the trees to the right of the boat launch the best place to drop a line. (That tree in the foreground? That is all I caught that day.)

THE catch of the day was this little guy caught by The Manling in the shaded water under the tree I caught.

Why We Love Fort Parker State Park

Park Staff. Truly some of the finest people on the planet! Ours hooked us up! Our hike even did double-duty, checking off the physical with the historical!
Beautiful. One of the Boy Scout leaders that The Manling had early on in his scouting career said you should always take into consideration what you’re going to be looking at when you camp. Beauty is important. FPSP has beauty in spades and around every corner. It’s just gorgeous greenery against the backdrop of the water and the bluest skies. Every location is picture perfect.
Fishing. The Park Staff can direct you to where the fish have been biting lately, but we found the river to be our luckiest spot on our visit. FPSP also loans fishing gear for use during your visit. AND…they have worms you can buy at the HQ. They go out of their way to help turn your fishing into catching.
Rentals. You can rent canoes and kayaks at FPSP and really enjoy the water on hot summer days.
Hikes. Their trails are (mostly) wide with the shade of the tree canopy overhead. Plus hiking the Springfield Trail gives you a historical tour of the place at the same time. Win-win.
Trees. There are tall trees everywhere at FPSP and because of that, most of the picnic tables and camping spots are gloriously shaded.

Must Do’s

Springfield Trail. Did I mention how much The Man loves hiking and I love exploring the history of the area? This trail combines the two and throws in beauty, shade and water features. It might just be the perfect hike, so don’t rush. Linger. Explore. Enjoy.
Fish. Start at the river. Drop a line in the shade on the right side of the boat launch using worms that you just bought at the HQ. Trust me.
Camp. They have some EXCELLENT spots! We recommend #43 and #49 in the primitive area because they are really big; spots #13-16 at the end of the camping loop are equally spacious sites and provide privacy and shade in spades.

FPSP has some of the most beautiful views. They were literally everywhere, like this view of the lake from the Springfield Trail.

Pier fishing mid-afternoon proved hot and fruitless this trip. But a group of three buzzards came hopping around the fish cleaning station and then went under the pier for some shade. They reminded us of the buzzards in The Jungle Book – remember them?

We’d love to hear about your experiences at Fort Parker State Park! Please share your thoughts on this precious piece of paradise 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.

Vanity of vanities…Knowing my selfies are a sorry collection of proof that I am über unphotogenic, I actually put on make up and decided to take my hair out of it’s pony tail every time we took photos. Even though it was a thousand degrees that morning.

The Manling and I visited Mother Neff State Park in early June 2018. Our trusty map app had trouble locating the entrance, but the reason became clear once we did. MNSP is situated on the Leon River, which sometimes floods the plains around it. In 2015, the park relocated the HQ and campsites outside of this flood plain so that the park could remain open, even when the Leon River was disagreeable to the notion. Our map app apparently didn’t get the memo.

The Manling and I were impressed by the newness of this State Park. It was all so immaculate and driving up to the HQ felt akin to arriving at the model home of a new neighborhood! As we approached the building in the early morning, I asked the Park Staffer who was tending to the flower gardens around the HQ if he’d found anything interesting. He replied that he’d already relocated them. “Them,” I asked? The snakes, he replied with a mischievous grin. “For real,” I asked again, to which his smile only widened. The Manling passed him by and kept walking the paved garden path to the doors of the HQ to register our visit.

Per our usual, we chatted with the State Park Staff on-duty and learned that we had underestimated the extent of closures in this particular park due to the recent floods. While several short trails, the Cave, the Tower, and Wash Pond were still accessible, the big attraction for The Manling was and always will be water access for fishing. (Did I mention that fishing is his love language?) And that part of the park was completely & disappointingly inaccessible to park visitors.

Tourist Tip #1

Don’t choose a destination based on proximity and assume everything will be kosher when you show up. Actually visit the website and do your research because the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department is fantastic at keeping you up-to-date on information that will be important to know for your visit – like the inaccessibility of the water feature due to flood damage. Lesson learned.

Park Map in hand, we went back to the car to drive to the trail head of the Cave, our first stop. After circling half of the roundabout, we saw a somewhat towering gate extremely reminiscent of Jurassic Park, toward which we pointed the Tiny Toyota Tardis (because the Yaris is bigger on the inside). I would be remiss to not point out here that we both began humming Welcome to Jurassic Park (and continued to do so until we parked at the Cave’s trail head!).

Tourist Tip #2

Download Welcome to Jurassic Park to your phone, buy the soundtrack for your car, or download it on Spotify in case you don’t have service (We didn’t.) because this is the perfect score for that gate and the tree-canopied drive through the park. It will elevate the ride to epic instantly.

To abbreviate our short, uneventful trip for you, dear reader, we visited The Cave (which was kind of neat), The Tower (which was our longest hike at the park, but super short compared to our hikes at other parks), and Wash Pond (which was super low on the day we visited). To be honest, The Manling wasn’t feeling MNSP because of the closure of the river end of park and our brief hikes consisted of a lot of quiet punctuated by me either stomp-walking or making noise with my water bottle (you know, to scare the snakes) with the occasional “Are you okay? You seem upset with me” thrown in because, well, The Manling seemed upset with me and all brooding teenager, which is unlike him. So, after our third mini-hike (to the Tower), I asked if he just wanted to head home and plan to come back when more of the park was open (ie the river for fishing). In his funk, he managed to deliver a heart-warming reply in a half-hearted tone – “I’ll do whatever you want to do, Mom. This is your trip, too.” Bless him. We hit the restrooms and then pointed the Tiny Toyota Tardis for home, vowing to revisit Mother Neff when she was recovered from the flood.

The Cave. The Manling offered to explore, but since it didn’t seem trail-like enough at either end of the Cave, I politely declined his offer.

Note the rocks (good camo for rattlesnakes) and the tall grass ahead (good hiding spots for rattlesnakes), both of which may have made me annoying to The Manling because I walked behind him in a “heard” manner, like the Park Staff suggested.

Taken atop the Rock Tower, which was pretty cool and the only time I wasn’t attempting to “make us heard” by any snakes in the vicinity, which The Manling appreciated because my noise may have fanned the flames of his disappointment with the park’s river closure.

Why We Love Mother Neff State Park

It’s new. I confess that I was digging the new digs at MNSP. The HQ was awesome, cold (important in 100 degree temps!) and homey with ginormous windows overlooking the brand new porch with an assortment of chairs welcoming you to sit a spell.
It’s historical. I love experiencing the places of yesteryear. I enjoy reading about it and imagining what it would have been like so many years ago. MNSP is steeped in history!
It’s road. We are a sucker for a beautiful drive and the main road through the park offers a delightful canopy of trees over the small road, punctuated on one end by the fabulous Jurassic Park-esque gate and by the Leon River on the other (though at the time of this publication, that part of the park was closed due to flooding).
It’s possibilities. The Manling loves state parking for the fishing. The Man loves state parking for the hiking. I love state parking for the history. This little park offers a little of each of these.

Must Do’s

The Cave. This was a short little hike from the main road and it was pretty cool to contemplate people actually living there. Read the information posted at the entrance to the cave.
The Tower. It literally is a tower in the middle of trees that you can climb to get a 360 degree view of the park. Neat trail that includes a bird blind if you use the trail head across from the restrooms in the new camping loop.
The Pond. You’ve got to see the pics on-site and read the info about Wash Pond in order to appreciate it when the water levels are low (like they were when we visited).
Fishing. Once the river portion of the park reopens, we plan to return and take our own advice on the Leon River.
Camping. The new campsites look fantastic and there were quite a few campers enjoying them during our visit, even though it was in the 100’s. There are two playgrounds nearby, as well as the Live Oak Trail, which leads to a shaded bird blind and The Tower.
Sitting. Spend some time just sitting and enjoying the flower gardens and the view from the HQ’s porch on those lovely new chairs.

We’d love to hear about your experiences at Mother Neff State Park! Please share your thoughts on one of Texas’ oldest State Parks 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.