The Texas Forest Trail Region
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panning 35 East Texas counties, from the Oklahoma-Arkansas border to the Gulf of Mexico, the Texas Forest Trail Region was the “Gateway to Texas” for Caddo Indians, Spanish and French explorers, Anglo pioneers, European immigrants, and enslaved and freed African Americans. Shadows of early Caddo and Spanish occupation linger, and the stories of Texas’ emergence from a wilderness to a great state unfold in the region’s numerous towns, many among the state’s oldest. Everything you expect from Texas is here: rugged landscapes, oil derricks, diverse heritage, and that proud-to-be-Texan spirit— all found throughout its many cultural traditions. But there’s more. Add four national and five state forests, abundant lakes and rivers, the incomparable Big Thicket, historic courthouse squares, notable stately homes, festivals galore, and spectacular spring and fall colors. The Texas Forest Trail Region is the perfect place for tourists to indulge their appetites for history, culture, and nature. The Texas Forest Trail Region ★ ★ ★ Gateway to Texas ★ ★ ★ Texas heritage is everywhere—from historic downtowns with antique shops, restored Victorian buildings, soda fountains, museums, and monuments to state historic sites, railroads, sawmill towns, and oil boomtowns. East Texans love their heritage, and if sometimes they get carried away, it’s because they’re good storytellers not averse to embellishing the already colorful facts. Legend has it East Texas is home to the invention of the hamburger, and some believe a biblically inspired flying machine took to the air in this region before the Wright brothers’ famous flight. A source of regional pride is one of Texas’ greatest heroes, Sam Houston, who made his home in East Texas for many years. A complex man, he lived with Cherokees in Oklahoma and was governor of Tennessee before leading Texas’ fight for independence from Mexico in 1836. Houston became the first elected president of the Republic of Texas, and when Texas became a state, he served as both a U.S. senator and governor. Visitors to Huntsville are greeted by a larger-than-life Sam Houston. TxDOT TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Among the area’s earliest inhabitants were the Caddo Indians, an Western expansion and European immigration brought many advanced civilization of mound builders with sophisticated trade people to and through East Texas beginning in the mid-1800s. networks. The state owes its name to Native American tribes in Most Native American tribes were driven out, but relative East Texas. When Spanish explorer Alonso de León met these newcomers the Alabama-Coushatta remain on a reservation tribes in 1689, they were referred to as “tejas,” or friends. near Livingston. Texans declared independence from Mexico in 1836, but the During the Civil War, Texas chose secession. Passions ran spirit of liberty flared earlier in East Texas. Nacogdoches was the high in East Texas. Some towns were suppliers and mustering site of three separate rebellions dating to the early 1800s. After points for the Confederate Army, and most lost a significant the fall of the Alamo, settlers from all over Texas fled their homes number of men. during the Runaway Scrape. Many headed toward the Louisiana border and took refuge in East Texas towns until word came of Around the 1870s, railroad expansion in East Texas the decisive victory at San Jacinto. and the depletion of forests in Northern states gave rise to the timber industry. Clear cutting destroyed many old-growth forests, but eventually modern forestry and conservation practices were adopted. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 2 TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION When the Lucas Gusher blew in at Spindletop near Beaumont in 1901, the word Texas became synonymous with oil. In the Where history 1930s, the discovery of oil in Gladewater and Kilgore brought fortune hunters as well as desperate families seeking relief from and culture the Great Depression. Boomtowns sprang up overnight. Historically, the Texas Forest Trail Region’s climate, natural come naturally— beauty, wildlife, and abundant water attracted settlers and visitors. from historic downtowns with antique Today, the development of lakes, parks, and trails; the creation of cultural and heritage attractions; and the historic revitalization shops, restored Victorian-era buildings, of many Texas Main Street cities make the region more inviting than ever. soda fountains, museums, and monuments to state historic sites, railroads, sawmill to wns, and oil boomtowns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Downtown Jefferson skyline TxDOT 3 Red River THE TEXAS FOREST TRAIL REGION Pat Mayse The following cities are Lake 37 ARKANSAS OKLAHOMA highlighted in this guide and Lake Crook 259 37 the number refers to the Lake 82 Clarksville Bonham 1 Red River city’s location on the map. New Boston Texarkana 82 30 North Sulphur River 2 37 67 ALTO 28 Sulphur River 8 ATHENS 32 67 271 Mount Wright Patman 59 30 Lake ATLANTA 3 Cooper Vernon 77 Lake Mount 67 37 BEAUMONT 17 38 Pleasant Atlanta 3 Lake Monticello 49 259 77 KANSAS CARTHAGE 8 30 Lake Cypress 8 AR Springs Daingerfield UISIANA 39 4 LO 11 Linden CENTER 9 11 40 Pittsburg Hughes 43 Lake 36 CLARKSVILLE 1 Fork Winnsboro Lake Bob Springs Lake Sandlin 30 Reservoir 155 Quitman 59 Lake 271 COLDSPRING 22 154 Winnsboro Lake 49 37 Gilmer 155 CONROE 23 182 35 5 Lake Jefferson Quitman 154 41 Lake O’ the CROCKETT 26 Tawakoni 37 Pines Lake Gilmer 154 Karnack 6 Holbrook Caddo 34 Mineola Lake Lake To Shreveport 20 DAINGERFIELD 39 Cross Hawkins Lake 259 43 80 Gladewater Lake 69 Hallsville 7 Marshall GILMER 41 To Dallas/Fort Worth Sabi Longview ne River Hawkins 43 42 80 20 20 155 Waskom GLADEWATER 43 Gladewater 31 42 43 59 Sabine HEMPHILL 11 271 44 149 31 HENDERSON 46 Kilgore 33 42 259 River 64 Lake Tyler Lake 49 31 Tyler Cherokee HUNTSVILLE 25 Cedar Creek 19 East New Reservoir London 45 Lake Lake 155 45 43 Martin 149 198 135 323 JACKSONVILLE 31 Athens Tyler Lake 8 274 Athens 32 64 Joinerville 46 79 Carthage JASPER 12 Lake Henderson Lake 175 Palestine 69 42 259 Murvaul 135 Lake 59 JEFFERSON 5 Striker 79 KARNACK 6 84 31 59 Jacksonville 7 19 204 155 KILGORE 44 Lake 84 96 Richland Chambers Jacksonville 87 FAIRCHILD 9 Center KOUNTZE 19 Reservoir STATE 204 29 Attoyac 287 79 FOREST A Fairfield Rusk ngelina 59 SABINE LINDEN 4 259 Lake Palestine 30 NATIONAL Toledo Bend 7 FOREST Reservoir 147 LIVINGSTON 21 Trin TEXAS STATE RAILROAD Nacogdoches Bayo ity Alto 28 21 River 294 u TEXAS FOREST TRAIL REGION River LONGVIEW 42 294 Lake 47 Weches 69 Nacogdoches Miles 0510 20 30 21 10 San Augustine Neche LUFKIN 48 19 27 s Km 02030405 10 River 147 103 Milam MARSHALL 7 87 Houston 59 21 20 INTERSTATE HIGHWAY County Lake 287 103 184 103 11 MINEOLA 34 Lake Lufkin ANGELINA Hemphill 59 U.S. HIGHWAY Limestone N 48 NATIONAL 96 FOREST 45 69 MONTGOMERY 24 7 Crockett 7 21 STATE HIGHWAY 26 DAVY CROCKETT NATIONAL FOREST MOUNT PLEASANT 38 TRAVEL INFORMATION CENTER 94 147 87 Sam Rayburn 48 NUMBERS ON MAP MATCH MOUNT VERNON 37 Reservoir CITIES IN GUIDE NACOGDOCHES 47 21 96 TEXAS FOREST TRAIL Groveton 63 Navasota River 19 287 87 NEDERLAND 15 94 B.A. 63 12 Jasper NEW LONDON 45 Trinity Steinhagen Lake Lake 13 45 Trinity River Livingston 287 NEWTON 13 69 Newton 190 ALABAMA— 190 COUSHATTA 59 RESERVATION 20 ORANGE 14 190 Woodville E.O. 75 19 Ne ches SIECKE 21 Livingston KIRBY STAT E PALESTINE 30 River 25 156 STATE FOREST Gibbons Huntsville 19 SAM HOUSTON FOREST PITTSBURG 40 Creek 30 69 NATIONAL Coldspring BIG THICKET 287 Lake FOREST 96 87 22 NATIONAL PORT ARTHUR 16 75 PRESERVE BIG THICKET Brazos River MASTERSON VISITOR STATE Lake 150 150 STATION QUITMAN 35 Conroe 45 FOREST Trinity River RUSK 29 Silsbee Kountze 19 62 Sabi 18 24 69 ne 287 River SAN AUGUSTINE 10 105 96 San Jacinto BIG THICKET Montgomery 23 105 Lumberton NATIONAL 87 SILSBEE 18 Conroe 326 PRESERVE Shenandoah 105 JONES Wes 59 Beaumont 62 TEXARKANA 2 t Fork Ri 90 14 STATE ver 10 249 105 17 FOREST San Jacinto TYLER 33 Orange Spring Creek Lake 45 Houston WECHES 27 124 15 Nederland Sabine 10 96 Lake 287 WINNSBORO 36 River Brazos 16 Port To Houston San Jacinto WOODVILLE 20 Arthur 73 87 4 10 Trinity 87 Bay Gulf of Mexico ALTO For centuries, travelers followed El Camino Real de los Tejas, or the Royal Highway, which roughly follows Texas State Highway 21 through Alto. It was blazed by Spaniards in the 1690s with the help of Ais Indian guides who traced their ancestors’ footpaths. Southwest of town, the scenic highway opens onto the spectacular Neches River Valley and the area occupied by Caddo Indians from A.D. 800 to 1300. At the interpretive center of the Texas Historical Commission’s Caddo Mounds State Historic Site, learn how the Caddo worked and lived. A short walking trail leads to ceremonial mounds and a village site. ATHENS TxDOT Discover history and nature in this spirited town. Local celebrations Grand historic homes, such as the McFaddin-Ward House in Beaumont, can be found throughout the region. include Uncle Fletch’s Hamburger and Bar-B-Q Cook-off, which is now part of the East Texas Arboretum’s annual fall festival. The competition is named after the café owner who, legend has it, BEAUMONT invented the hamburger and introduced it at the 1904 World’s Fair Historic pride flourishes in this Texas Main Street city, especially in St. Louis. Step into the past in the recreated law office, kitchen, in the Crockett Street Entertainment District, where abandoned and schoolroom at the Henderson County Historical Museum, historic buildings have become restaurants and nightclubs.