Visiting Daingerfield State Park

My favorite groups of state parks to visit are the parks that were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). President FDR created the CCC in 1933, during the Great Depression. The CCC was created to provide jobs and teach young men and veterans to work on conservation and park development projects. The workers were paid $30 a month, $25 of that which was sent back to their families. There is just so much history behind things that were built by the CCC. One of my favorite parks that were built by the CCC is Daingerfield State Park.

Daingerfield SP is located in between Tyler and Texarkana, Texas. The park was built by two CCC companies, 2891 and 1801, between the years of 1935 to 1939. Still to this day you can still see a lot of the things that the CCC built for the state park. Some of the things include the scenic road, Bass Lodge, trails, chairs, tables, benches, entry sign and the lake being the largest thing they built at the park.

My favorite trail at Daingerfield SP is the Rustling Leaves Trail. This is the trail that loops around Little Pine Lake. The best time to go on a hike on this trail is in the fall when the leaves are changing colors. You are in deep East Texas so you are surrounded by pine, sweetgum, oak, maples and elm trees everywhere that you turn. Some the trees that you will see on this hike were actually planted by the men who were a part of the CCC. The trail is roughly 2.4 miles long and will take you about 2 hours to complete the hike.

If you packed a lunch and you are out on the trail, I recommend stopping at the CCC picnic area and having lunch there. The picnic area is on a peninsula and has an amazing view of the almost the entire lake from there. Like I said before trail follows along the lake for most of the trail so you get to see every side of the lake when hiking. Another amazing thing you will see on the trail is the bridge and the CCC dam on the trail. This is a great spot to look for turtles, birds, or wildlife, maybe even snap some pictures for your Instagram account as well.

I don’t want to give too much away about the park and all the cool things that they have to offer for you. If you want to plan a visit out to the park I suggest checking out their website and Facebook for upcoming events they might be having. "Cheers"