Amazing place to let your fur babies run free and play with other fur babies my fur babies have…read moreamazing time here

It was very clean and nice. Nice fairy homes decorations. Just very relaxing. A good get away from…read moreelectronics and daily life

The staff is very inviting and informative! Did you know you could book a room here for a baby…read moreshower or take wedding, prom photos ? Fall festivals every year! Spring break events are wonderful. The nature and views are so vibrant and beautiful. Calming and peaceful to experience this place. By the way, membership is the cheapest! Love this place and I know you will too!

The limited flower gardens for this Arboretum are nice. They could use some cleaning up lots of…read moreweeds. We went on the Hickory Trail and kind of got lost because the signs are not very clear. There are several places where the trail forks and there's no direction on whether to go right or left. It would really help if there were signs along the way to confirm that you are on the red Hickory Trail. And not the green one. It was nice to have benches along the way to rest on.

The Texas State Railroad is a fun way to slow down and step back in time. During Spring Break, we…read morewent on a 50 mile round trip train ride with our son and his family to Rusk and back to Palestine. The grandkids really enjoyed the adventure of being on the train and seeing all the historical displays located in both train stations. Several weeks before, we reserved tickets on the Dome train. It was awesome to be so high up and we had great visibility to see all around. I also recommend ordering the lunch beforehand so when the train arrives in Rusk, you don't have to wait in line to order food and then go wait in another line to pick up your food. You'll need to call the phone number listed to place your order for food. A very nice lady helped me and I'm sure you'll receive the same excellent customer service when you call as well. There are picnic tables to enjoy your lunch at the Rusk station. No outside food or drink is allowed on the train. Your train ticket includes a bottle of water and a healthy fruit/veggie pretzel snack. Everyone enjoyed watching the train engine switch around to the new "front of the train" for the return trip to Palestine. You'll pass by the old turnabout that was used in the past. I highly recommend this train excursion for the young and the young at heart. The rhythmic motion was putting most passengers in a restful state, with many resting their eyes after lunch on the return trip. All ages can appreciate a train ride that takes you back in time.

Love the Texas Railroad but not a big fan of the "Rocking the Rails" event...music was not our…read morestyle and the event was a bit pricey.

This park is substantial in size! It has two boat ramps (north and south), at least three fishing…read morepiers, hike/bike trails, one of the largest swim areas I've seen at a State Park, at least twenty picnic tables in the day use area, a picture-perfect swing set by the swim area, three camping loops (each includes a restroom with at least two showers per restroom), a cemetery, historic well, amphitheater - the park covers so much area that it takes around 15-20 minutes to travel from one end to the other following the park speed limits. Our first visit to this park included a first-time, somewhat terrifying spotting of a feral hog on Bird Blind trail which was creepily overgrown, eerily vacant (reminiscent of a "ghost town"- it gave us a spidey-sense...not to mention a few cobwebs we stepped through) and full of rutted dried ground. The reason this was a bit terrifying is that a park ranger at another park had recently elaborated to me just how dangerous feral hogs can be--especially if you accidentally come between them and their young! Thankfully, we were able to keep a respectfully fearful distance from the hog we spotted and must not have come between it and its young cause we survived! Following Bird Blind loop, we took a short hike on the nature trail where I was relentlessly harassed by a horsefly which regularly buzzed by my ears and then landing on me--I fully grabbed the bug at one point trying to swat her away which freaked me out more. That night I learned that female horseflies diet on mammal (including human) blood which helped me to feel justified in my drop of spirits and frightened outburst on the hike. Despite having bug spray on, my sweat, bright shirt, movement, exposed skin, breath and simply being a living being with blood in my veins...made me a prime target for that lady horsefly's advances--she wanted to slice my tender skin and have my blood for her dinner. Thankfully we were able to redeem our first visit with a mother deer and baby fawn sighting (seeing that feral hog was pretty cool too), alligator gar spotting, sunset float and picnic dinner, and refreshingly cold showers before our drive back to Dallas! On our second visit, we did not return to either trail (maybe worth a try in cooler, less COVIDy weather/times) and instead stuck to the water as our main activity which made for a much more pleasant experience. I was even able to paddle over to the swim area buoys and observe a few terns and one double-created cormorant closer than I think I've been to most any wild birds in my life! We were then treated to sightings of a white egret and two great blue herons just before and after sunset which flew to the nearly-vacant swim area to hunt! To top all of that off, we took a small, post-sunset walk from one fishing pier (south boat ramp to the other-in day use area) which was enhanced by friendly small talk with fisherpeople on that South Boat Ramp pier/dock, a random, psychedelic arrow in the middle of the woods, a tribe of adorable scavenging trash pandas and two little boys exuberant over their dad's catch of a sizable catfish just as it got dark! This warmed my heart more than I can say--seeing a family making these precious memories and making me long to fish with my far-away dad again like old times!

What a great place. I tried this because it was the only park we could get into. The reviews were…read morego so we booked. Awesome place. Camp grounds are nice, spread out and you have plenty of seclusion. Playground for kids, volleyball court and swim beach. We kayaked and fished, hiked and hit the store. Staff were all super. Highly recommended- we pull a 30' trailer. Side note - one dump station lines take too long. Go the loves at I-45 pay $10 much quicker.

Truly beautiful park with a HUGE PLAYGROUND and with RESTROOMS! There is also a trail wide enough…read morefor bikes and families to walk and a basketball court. They also have plenty of street parking. *PARENTS* Please watch your kids they can easily run off into the rest of the park and there are ditches and water near by.

Great recreational trail in nature. Beautiful trees near a creek. On the trail is a Fun Southside…read moreplayground for all ages. Annnd this playground has restrooms ! The park also has a filtered hydroboost to fill your water bottle.

What a nice little stop! Super friendly staff - I wish I remembered her name - with some great…read moreresources in a neat little historic building that had been relocated from elsewhere. My good buddy was looking for info on a saloon from the 1800s that his family owned long ago, and he got some good info and good leads. Definitely a good stop if you're looking for info on Palestine TX!

Staff is knowledgeable and provides great recommendations specific to your trip. Don't be afraid to…read morestop in and ask questions.

The drive thru Safari was a lot of fun.It's such a beautiful place! They have over 700 different…read moreanimals and some of them are huge! The animals are very used to people and some of them are pretty brave and will stick their head in tour window! The camel even bit my mirror when I didn't give it any pellets! There's a really nice welcome center with two sweet ladies that work there. Bathrooms are clean and they have some snacks and souvenirs. We'd definitely go back!

A beautiful maintained preservation with more than 600 animals about an hour away from Tyler,…read moreTexas. And 3 hours from Austin, Texas. My children aged 8 and 15 had the best time! Feeding, observing, getting a really close look and feel of these beautiful, mainly Safari animals. Some were impressively large like the bison, longhorn, buffalo, zebra's, camels with extremely long tongues and large teeth! It was quite pricey, because you get charged per person and not per car. It rang up $79 total for our party of four. I would definitely recommend to bring wipes for your hands, to clean up, and a car wash afterwards because your car will be covered in saliva. This was quite the experience and very well loved!

Run by the Corsicana Parks and Recreation Department, this Beach Park has a nice, sandy beach area…read morewhere you could potentially sunbath or swim with an alligator if you'd like - as the signs state "Swim at Own Risk" just above "Alligators Have Been Sighted in This Area". Maybe I'm not carved from the same metal as Texans from East Texas. Despite being an avid swimmer, I haven't yet warmed up to the idea of swimming in a lake where alligators have been sighted. But hey, to each their own! I've swam in the ocean many times. Sharks have been spotted there so maybe this is similar!? Just know that you can potentially knock "swimming with alligators" off of your bucket list by swimming at this lovely beach;). This beach park also includes gravel parking and four, nicely spaced shelters with picnic tables and grills, not a bad place to spend an afternoon or evening;)

this is a great spot to relax. swimming is decent. plenty of parking. would highly recommend…read morestopping by!

Mission Tejas State Park is a quiet scenic spot that is perfect for a low key outdoor escape. The…read morepark blends history and nature well with a replica mission peaceful hiking trails and tall pines that create a calm East Texas atmosphere. It is not huge or packed with amenities but that is part of its charm making it great for picnics short hikes or simply unplugging for a while.

Mission Tejas State Park is a great park that's a little off the beaten path and not too crowded,…read morewhich was great! We have an annual State Park pass (it costs $70 a year, but everyone in your car gets in free!). The Park Ranger was very knowledgeable and helpful. He asked if we had bug spray and we said yes. He said "use it!". Also asked if we had drinking water. It felt as if he truly cared about our safety. He weren't there to camp since we were staying at a nearby AirBnB. But we did drive around and then did a little hiking and saw some of the sights. There was a great look-out spot where you could see out for miles. Can't wait to come back and do more hiking!