Choke Canyon

INTERPRETIVE GUIDE Javelina Choke Canyon State Park is a great place to enjoy the natural world around you. Try your luck fishing, take a hike or ride a bike on one of the trails, spend the night at one of our campsites or shelters, or just explore! Any way you choose to experience the park, please enjoy it safely and responsibly! White-tailed Deer WELCOME TO CHOKE CANYON STATE PARK! • Make sure your trash and especially your used fishing line ends up in the proper waste bin. Trash can hurt animals and plants in the park. UNWIND AND RECHARGE • The nature and history of the park are here for everyone to enjoy; please don’t take anything away from future visitors. IN THE BEAUTY THIS • Please drive, bike, and hike only in designated areas so you don’t disturb any wildlife or plants. It’s their home, after all. SPECIAL PLACE OFFERS. • Make sure all of your food is secure inside so it doesn’t tempt the wildlife to investigate! NATURE • Leave feeding to nature. Feeding wild animals will make them sick and more likely to cause harm to people. LIES ALL AROUND YOU IN SIGHTS AND SOUNDS YOU WON’T EXPERIENCE IN THE CITY. WHETHER IT’S ON THE TRAILS OR ON THE NEARBY ATTRACTIONS Choke Canyon State Park – South Shore Unit Lake Corpus Christi State Park, near Mathis, TX Goliad State Park, Goliad, TX Choke Canyon State Park – Calliham Unit 358 Recreation Rd. 8, Calliham, TX 78007 (361) 786-3868 • www.tpwd.texas.gov/chokecanyon WATER, GET OUT AND ENJOY YOUR PARK! © 2019 TPWD. PWD BR P4502-0129F (7/19) 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 (TTY) at (512) 389-8915 or by Relay Texas at 7-1-1 or (800) 735-2989 or by email at accessibility@tpwd.texas.gov. If you believe you have been discriminated against by TPWD, please contact TPWD, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, TX 78744, or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office for Diversity and Workforce Management, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041. Texas State Parks is a division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. CHOKE CANYON STATE PARK C H O K E C A N Y O N S T A T E P A R K FOR THE BIRDS! Texas Tortoise A PLACE WILDLIFE CAN CALL HOME Many types of wildlife, including some special to South Texas, call Choke Canyon Reservoir and State Park home. None makes more of an impact on the imagination than the American alligator. Often seen sunning themselves on the shores or patrolling the waters of the reservoir or 75-acre Lake, these prehistoric residents can reach over 14 feet! On the furrier side of things and moving through the honey mesquite, javelinas, also known as collared peccaries, are no less interesting. Look for them foraging along the brush line, often in family units with young in tow. These are not the feral hogs taking over the south, they’re native Texans! American Alligator With its variety of habitats and abundant resources, Choke Canyon is an excellent place for you to see birds of every shape and size. Some call the park home year-round, others just visit Turkey in the winter, and some spend just a few weeks while heading north or south. The bright colors of the green jay and Bullock’s oriole and the melodic songs of the northern cardinal and long-billed thrasher remind you of how beautiful nature can be. Watch the skies for Harris’ hawks hunting in teams, power poles for crested caracaras watching for carrion, the brush line for wild turkeys strutting their stuff and listen at night for the common pauraque’s call. Crested Caracara Harris’ Hawk CREATION OF A LAKE, LOSS OF A TOWN T his area was once a part of Calliham, Texas, a small community boasting the first oil and gas wells in the south Texas area. Investors in oil and gas helped to establish the town from which a 68-mile-long pipeline was built to deliver the first natural gas supply to San Antonio. The industry continues to thrive in the area surrounding the park. As the years progressed, many people moved away from Calliham and the population fell to about 120. Meanwhile, the population of Corpus Christi grew. In order to address water needs, the Bureau of Reclamation built Choke Canyon Dam creating the reservoir in 1982. The town of Calliham was relocated three miles south of its original location to make room for the reservoir. The Choke Canyon Dam under construction, 1982. Photo courtesy U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.