The refuge is the perfect spot for a walk, hike, run, or biking adventure! Each of the trails offer…read morea different perspective of the refuge and there's amazing birds and wildlife that you could see along the way! I love taking my puppy here to hike and enjoy the lake and river. It is pet and kid friendly! Please sign in at the visitors center when you first come! Signatures keep the refuge open and able to enjoy :)

The walking trails are very nice and I really liked the sitting areas overlooking the water. Every…read moretime I go the little place to go into with all the habitat information is closed but it looks interesting. Parking is good and the location isn't bad.

Very pretty park. Pay for the deluxe back in on the lake spots - worth it! Beautiful. Very safe,…read moreall just families camping. We stayed in the RV spots but the tent spots look nice too - but there are lots of trees so I bet mosquitos could get bad in the tent spots.

Great level sights, beautiful scenery, trails,bike paths,clean public bathrooms. Dog friendly,…read morestaff are wondeeful,happy,helpful. Park is well played out,the flow,walk around lake, is user friendly,wheel chair friendly. Lots of even ground on trails both walking hiking. Just a really nice must see,stay park. Has tent sites too that are level well maintained.

Looking for a place to hike? Bike? Kayak? Bird? Bring horses for a trail ride?…read moreThis is it. Several marked trails, about 65 miles of paved and unpaved roads with old concrete ruins rising out of the forest. This was once the Longhorn Ammunition Plant and has a lot of history that you can read about in the visitor center (if you can find it!). The visitor center is behind the Refuge offices. Take the first right after you enter the gates, then the first left to find it.

This was a great find by accident. We found out about it while at the state park and it was…read moredefinitely worth the stop. It is an old army ammunition factory that was turned over to the wildlife and fisheries department. Shells of some of the old buildings still stand. Lots of birds and wildlife, but very, very few people.

Buituful scenery park staff is super kind and the shower facilities are really really awesome…read more This place is so peaceful I love it there!!

Good park the fishing is not that good I think it's over fished good to walk and swim.read more

This place is surreal. Extremely peaceful and well worth the drive. We stopped here on the way back…read morefrom Mississippi to take some pictures of the trees. The admission to the park is really affordable (like $4 per adult) and free for prior military. They have cute little cabins for rent and even canoes if you'd like to paddle around the lake. This place is a great day trip from DFW.

Awesome park Great…read moresites Lovely trees and water Nice park employees Canoes Boat ramps Hiking trails

Chillin' in the ATL! I came through here camping in the…read morewoods in Atlanta- and loved it here! This place is out in the boonies, far enough where you can hear the nature and the wind whipping through the trees. I managed to score a great spot overlooking the lake. There wasn't really good access to the water where I was, it was a steep climb down to the waters' edge, but the spot was fantastically beautiful. It was covered in leaves but with lots of shade from trees still. There was a picnic table set up for us, a fire ring, and a BBQ grill. The park rangers were nice, and the place felt well patrolled. The showers were clean and the facilities were nice. I really appreciated camping here! There was so much nature- including deer and armadillos! I'd certainly return!

Atlanta State Park is a nice park with good hikes. The largest number of people were gathered in…read moredifferent spots on the lakefront of Atlanta State Park. I enjoyed the hikes and was by myself for the most part on the trails. The Volksmarch Trail was probably my favorite.

Went camping with my mom and my kids for a weekends trip. We stayed in one of the 2 cabins because…read moremy mom needs her sleeping machine. It was a nice little trip. I took a hike with my little man to see the pine trees lined up and then the next morning took my daughter the short way. The kids loved the lake and my mom loved the fishing. The power plant across the lake lights up pretty but the constant hum coming from it is a bit strange. All and all it was a nice little trip and I'm looking forward to going back. I didn't get a chance to go on the island and I'd really like to go back to do that trail.

Fairly small park with not much to offer. I was supposed to do a campout here with my hiking group…read morelast year in December, but I was moving. So, after Thanksgiving, I was already in East TX and decided to drive to the park to check it out. Checkin was easy at the ranger headquarters. I went inside to purchase a magnet. Their stickers selection was limited and the designs were unappealing. My first impression with the creek lake that it was very beautiful and reminded me of Lake Catherine State Park in Arkansas. The beach portion doesn't allow dogs, so I just viewed it from the park. There's a total of three trails. I found one, but not the other. I searched high and low to find it, but was unsuccessful. I ended up going on the Island Trail. The view of the power plant was nice. The plant was loud. The Island trail was a smooth hike. The path is covered in pine needles and if you look closely, you can find armadillos, rabbits, and field mice. Now the camping portion was very crowded and the sites were close to each other. I didn't see any private sites. It reminded me of Blanco State Park; where you're just close enough to your neighbors where you can see and hear them. How fun! This park isn't worth coming back to explore. I didn't like it much.

Definitely not the reviewer type, but this company cares more about their bottom line then their…read morecustomer's safety. We called to ask about the process twice before coming because we had several kids, one very young and we openly had little to no experience. We took four kayaks out and while driving to the river entrance asked for tips and advice and the only thing we got was that there was a small 2 to 3 foot drop and to keep left until after the falls. This was absolutely not the case and the trip was way more advanced than we were prepared for as beginners. We were scared most of the time and there were several moments we were thinking we'd have to leave the kayaks behind and save ourselves. We did lose a paddle, but not because we were careless, we were literally trapped with an over turned kayak and trying to hold on because the current was so strong it was either hold on for safety or let go of the paddle. This was made extremely worse because of the weather. It began raining with thunder and lightening and this only made the current force even stronger. The worst part is that they didn't even send us out on functioning equipment. They did quick repairs with duck tape before putting the kayaks in the water and assured it was ok. One of our kayaks had a hole that hadn't been found yet and was taking on water and had to be emptied several times throughout the trip. When we did get to the falls, this kayak was so full of water inside the kayak that it flipped causing the young child and his parent to go under water. When we got back, the owner would kind of apologize, but then blamed it all on the office person Ashley. Then made excuses and tried to talk away the complaints as a non issue. I was very surprised that none of the employees seemed phased by what we were telling them; like they had experienced this reaction before. I realize that there were several circumstances that factored into our experience and not all were completely in their control, but I don't think they cared about our safety at all. They consistently failed to provide a safe recreation environment, they never displayed any real remorse or concern for our scary experience and when all we wanted to do was go home, they lost our keys, which were supposedly meant to be securely stored while we were gone. I obviously wouldn't recommend this company to anyone, but I urge you to consider going elsewhere for you kayaking needs if you want to keep your family and friends safe.

Typically, I don't write negative reviews of restaurants, companies, and small businesses because I…read moreunderstand that all businesses and their employees have their fair share of good days and bad. However, I feel compelled to warn future/potential patrons of Beavers Bend White Water Canoe Rentals and its owner, Kenneth ("Ken") Byers, based on the recent experience of my students during a church youth retreat in Broken Bow. Due to slow business and making a reservation as a large group, we were able to agree to $35/double-kayak (which is $10-15 below what they usually charge to individuals renting only one double-kayak). Initially over the phone, when i had called weeks in advance of our youth group's retreat, Ken mentioned that we did not need to worry about availability of kayaks/canoes for 23 people, as he had "plenty of inventory." On the day of the retreat, of course, we ran into a bit of a hiccup where they only had 10 double-kayaks and required the remaining kids to use single kayaks. A small annoyance, but nothing worth really griping about. Ken then asked that we arrive before 2pm. We arrived at 1:30, only to be forced to wait for over 2 hours before they finally got us to the river. A slightly bigger annoyance, but something we were willing to overlook so as not to dampen the mood of the outing. Once we were out on the river, there were 2 employees assigned to our group, and these two were responsible for directing the kids along the river. We did not realize until much later that this was their first day on the job. Of course, no one told us this important fact initially, and they acted like they knew the river well. Our youth group consists of middle school and high school students, so we made sure to rely on these 2 "experts" employed by the company, trusting their every direction. After an hour or so, the route seemed unreasonably difficult and arduous for kids who were certainly beginners at kayaking, so we made sure to ask: "Are you sure this is the right way? This seems too hard..." to which the 2 employees confidently responded their directions were accurate. It felt like we were traveling upstream and the rowing was incredibly arduous for the adults, let alone the young middle school students. So we constantly asked if the direction we were heading was correct, and they consistently assured us that it was. After a few more hours of rowing (the river route should only have taken 1.5 hours), we asked them to call Ken and help us out because by this point, the sun was setting and our kids were crying, bruised, bleeding, and/or exhausted from being out on the river for more than 4 hours. Ken was unable to locate us and we were officially lost and stranded when the 2 staff members finally acknowledged that it was their first day and they had no idea where to go. It was traumatizing for our youth students, and we ended up being out there well past 9pm while it was getting very dark, creating a very dangerous situation for a group of minors who had already been out on the river rowing up/down/side-stream, and any which way to try to keep each other safe. With all the dangerous areas that the 2 staff members led our group towards, we were incredibly grateful to have ultimately been back safely on land at the end of the night. But our entire day had been ruined; we no longer could carry out the other programs we had planned for the day; and we ended up getting back in our cabin well past 10pm in what would be the most unforgettable and regrettable day. As bad as that was, the worst part was the unapologetic attitude of Ken Byers. His staff members apologized profusely for leading us in the wrong direction and putting that many kids in harm's way, but we wanted to hear a better explanation from the owner as to how this could happen. We were unable to reach him all weekend, and by the time he called back the following Monday, he was incredibly defensive and kept explaining how much of a pain it was for him to have to pay his staff overtime for the additional hours spent on the river, as well as the extra hassle he went through to go out the next day to recover the boats that he had yet to pick up off the shore where we finally had reached the previous day. Not once did he say "I'm sorry." Not once did he acknowledge how hellish that experience was for our kids. It's like he was afraid of a potential lawsuit while disclaiming all responsibility and fault. All we wanted was for him to be sincere in his apology, but he was more interested in explaining how much money we saved and how much of a hassle it was for him than being a decent human being. I highly doubt very many people will see this review before booking with Ken and Beavers Bend White Water Canoe Rentals, but on the off chance that this helps one other person/group realize the mismanagement, poor attitude, and lack of compassion shown by this company, the time I just wasted writing this review will have been worth it.

About 15 minutes drive outside of Nacogdoches is a lovely, secluded forest trail that's free and…read moreopen to the public. It's part of the Angelina National Forest. The Jack Creep loop is about a mile, flat path and is a well maintained path with benches along the way. There are a few signs along the way identifying different kinds of trees. There's also a "management loop" trail that's a couple of miles long, but when we visited, it was so overgrown that you couldn't hike much on it. However, it was really lovely to walk along the roads (FS 400 and FS 401 on the map) that are actually meant for cars. They were closed to vehicles when we were there because of recent rain, but I don't think they get any traffic most of the time, and the path is very wide and pleasant. There's a lot of shade, and the trees are tall and simply beautiful. I was so happy in the forest that I literally hugged a tree. There's a small parking lot - turn left when you reach the main gate; if you go straight, you'll wind up far from the trail around a bunch of research buildings. There is a water fountain at the trail head, and bathrooms, though the bathrooms were still closed in June 2021 because of the COVID pandemic. We visited on a weekday morning and saw only two other people on the trail the entire time. Check it out!

I'm always looking for places to run when I travel, so I was fortunate to find the Creekside Trail…read morewhen I was in Kilgore, Texas visiting my family. I didn't cover the entire trail when I was there. There are maps in multiple places showing you where this trail goes. One map is next to a dog park and parking lot, the other is next to another parking lot. The trail is paved and flat where I ran, other parts take you under a bridge and through some areas with lots of trees. I definitely enjoyed my morning runs here, a very good place for runners and walkers to go in this city!!