![]() | Cedar HillInterpretive Guide |
Interpretive Guide of Cedar Hill State Park (SP) in Texas. Published by Texas Parks & Wildlife.
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ENJOY THE PARK
We hope you enjoy your visit to Cedar Hill State Park. Here
are some things to do at the park:
• Take a hike on the Talala Trail or Duck Pond Trail.
• Learn more about the plants and wildlife in the park by
attending an interpretive program.
• Ask for the “Birds of Cedar Hill State Park” field checklist
and go birding.
• Tour historic Penn Farm. Check the event calendar for guided
tours or explore on your own with a self-guided brochure.
• Go fishing in Joe Pool Lake or at Perch Pond in the park.
• Attend events hosted by the park, such as the Caroling at
Penn Farm in December. Check the Calendar of Events on
the website.
You can be a partner in conserving the natural and cultural
resources of the Cedar Hill State Park by:
• Leaving no trace as you camp or recreate. If you pack it in,
pack it out!
• Staying on established trails while hiking, biking or riding to
prevent soil erosion and damage to the prairie grasses; and
staying off the trails when they are closed after a rain.
Interpretive Guide to:
RICH IN DIVERSITY
Today many acres of prairie grasslands lie beneath the
surface of Joe Pool Lake as it captures the waters of
Mountain Creek and Walnut Creek. The creation of the
lake inundated a number of small family farms. However,
the farmstead established by John Wesley Penn in
1859 is preserved within the park, a reminder of the
agricultural legacy of early Dallas County.
CEDAR HILL
STATE PARK AND
PENN FARM
AGRICULTURAL
HISTORY CENTER
thIS area is named for its
rugged limestone bluffs
covered with forests
of dark green cedars.
Settlers came here for the
rich soils and abundant
• Helping create and maintain trails by volunteering for a
group such as the Dallas Off-Road Bicycle Association
(D.O.R.B.A.); visit www.dorba.org to find out more.
grasses of the TALLGRASS
• Volunteering as a park host. Hosts are needed to help in
the campgrounds or with office duties, interpretation or
maintenance.
harbors endangered prairie
Cedar Hill State Park
1570 F.M. 1382, Cedar Hill, TX 75104
(972) 291-3900 • www.tpwd.texas.gov/cedarhill/
Blackland Prairie. The park
r e m n a n t s , s m a l l pi e c e s
of the tallgrass prairie
that once stretched all
the way to Canada.
Proud Sponsor of Texas Parks
and Wildlife Programs
© 2015 TPWD. PWD BR P4503-131O (7/15)
In accordance with Texas State Depository Law, this publication is available at
the Texas State Publications Clearinghouse and/or Texas Depository Libraries.
TPWD receives funds from the USFWS. TPWD prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, disability, age, and gender,
pursuant to state and federal law. To request an accommodation or obtain information in an alternative format, please contact TPWD on a Text Telephone
(TDD) at (512) 389-8915 or by Relay Texas at 7-1-1 or (800) 735-2989. If you believe you have been discriminated against by TPWD, please contact
TPWD or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office for Diversity and Workforce Management, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041.
The park is biologically diverse due to the convergence of
two ecosystems. The grasslands of the Texas Blackland
Prairie and the upland forests of the White Rock
Limestone Escarpment create a transitional habitat zone,
supporting plants and animals commonly found in North
Central Texas, East Texas, or the Texas Hill Country.
A rich combination of grassland and forest provides an
ideal habitat for migratory birds. The park’s bird list
includes almost 200 species, including year-round residents
such as the eastern bluebird and great-horned owl, and
seasonal favorites such as the colorful painted bunting.
Red-tailed hawks are
among the many
species that rely on
the grasslands.
C E D A R
H I L L
S T A T E
P A R K
A N D
P E N N
F A R M
A G R I C U L T U R A L
H I S T O R Y
C E N T E R
UNDERSTANDING THE PRAIRIE
Texas Blackland
Prairie Ecoregion
T
he Penn family owned this farm for over a
century. It is representative of the small,
middle-class farmsteads that once occupied
this margin of Dallas County. The site shows an evolution
of structures constructed or adapted by the Penn family
as needs changed and modern conveniences were added.
It also serves as a reminder that humans made the greatest
impact on the tallgrass prairie. Farmers such as John
Wesley Penn utilized the rich natural resources of the
land to build farms and provide shelter for their families.
The Penn family grazed cattle and horses on the native
prairie grasses for over a hundred years. Over time, most
of the tallgrass prairie in Dallas County vanished—
plowed under and replaced with crops of wheat or cotton.
Perhaps because of the rocky surface and the hilly terrain
of the “cedar mountains,” prairie remnants at Penn Farm
survived. The continued survival of these prairie remnants
depends on our efforts to conserve them by managing,
appreciating and protecting them from encroaching
development.
FORMED
BY TIME
The topography of the
Cedar Hill area is the
result of the geologic
interplay of rugged
Austin Chalk limestone
with layers of erodable
Eagle Ford shale. Erosion
of the shale over millions of years created hills and valleys.
The limestone also eroded, but much more slowly, leaving
rough, rugged outcrops exposed at the top. When water
trickles through the limestone layer, it collects in shallow
pools above the layers of shale. This creates pockets of soil
where water-dependent plants such as ferns and buckeyes
may grow.
The fertile, dark clay soils of the Blackland Prairies are
some of the richest soils in the world. This attracted early
settlers who replaced much of the native tallgrass prairie
with cropland.
PHOTO: ©PAUL M. MONTGOMERY
PE N N FA M I L Y L EG A C Y
In the early 1800s a vast
tallgrass prairie stretched from
Texas to Canada, covering the
continent like an ocean.
Today, less than 1 percent of
the tallgrass prairies survive,
mostly in isolated patches
resembling scattered islands
in a great sea. In Texas, less
than 5,000 acres remain
Maximilian Sunflower
today. The first wave of
destruction came in the 1800s as farmers converted the prairie
to farmland. Today urban development consumes the vanishing
prairie landscape. Most remnant prairies like those preserved in
the park survived because farmers used them as hay meadows
or because the land was too rocky for plowing.
The word prairie comes from the simple French word for meadow.
However, prairies represent complex ecosystems composed of a
multitude of plants providing sustenance and shelter for a variety
of living organisms, from large mammals to songbirds to small
insects. Due to this complexity, not all prairies are alike. The
eastern tallgrass prairies receive more rain than do the western
shortgrass prairies. The soil type, the absence or presence of fire
and rain; all contribute to the character of a prairie.
Sometimes they were called “hogwallow” prairies because the
clay soils collected water in slick muddy pits like those created
by wild hogs. (Trails in the park are closed after a rain to
prevent traffic from turning them into a series of “hogwallows.”)
“...the black prairie soil was built by the prairie plants, a hundred
distinctive species of grasses, herbs, and shrubs; by the prairie
fungi, insects and bacteria; by the prairie mammals and birds,
all interlocked in one humming community of cooperation and
competition, one biota. This biota, through ten thousand years of
living and dying, burning and growing, preying and fleeing, freezing
and thawing, built the dark and bloody ground we call prairie.”
Aldo Leopold, Round River, 1953
Prairies may contain more than 250 different plant
species. Grasses such as Big bluestem, Little bluestem,
Indiangrass and Switchgrass dominate the Texas
Blackland Prairie. The relict prairies in the park present
excellent stands of Indiangrass and Big bluestem, also
known as “turkeyfoot” for the shape of its seedhead. A
wide variety of wildflowers burst into color during spring
and summer, including the Purple coneflower,
Maximilian sunflower and Celestial ghost iris. Deep
rooted grasses and wildflowers survive cold winters, hot
summers, drought and erosion.
Fire, an essential element in maintaining a healthy prairie
ecosystem, sparks increased plant diversity and growth
and flowering of plants. Fire prevents invasive woody
species such as mesquite and cedar elm from transforming
a prairie into a woodland. Native Americans used fire as
a tool to create islands of fresh grass to attract bison.
TPWD conducts prescribed burns to
recreate the beneficial effects of fire.