Lake Tawakoni

Lake Tawakoni SP https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/lake-tawakoni https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Tawakoni_State_Park Lake Tawakoni State Park is located in Hunt County, Texas, 11.2 miles (18.0 km) north of Wills Point. It is on the south central shore of Lake Tawakoni. The park came to media attention in 2007, because of a giant communal spider web on the premises of the park.

For assistance using this map, contact the park. Lake Tawakoni Trails on this map are not to scale. Please use Trail Map (available at Park Headquarters) for detailed information. State Park TexasStateParks.org/App TexasStateParks.org/SocialMedia #TexasStateParks #BetterOutside LEGEND N Osage Orange Trail .82 mi. Headquarters BlackjackTrail 1.54 mi. Lake Tawakoni Restrooms Showers Swim at your own risk. NO LIFEGUARD on duty. Children must be supervised by an adult that can swim. Always swim with a friend. Water and Electric Sites Full Hookup Sites Red Oak Trail .39 mi. Dump Station Swim Beach Group Camping Farkleberry Trail .51 mi. Hiking Trail Biking Trail Trailhead PLEASE NOTE FM Picnic Area Park Entrance 247 Pair-O-Trees Pond 5 Campsites 73 47-51, 68-78 • CHECK OUT time for campsites is 12 p.m. Permits must be renewed by 9 a.m. (pending site availability). • A maximum of eight people permitted per campsite. Guests must leave the park by 10 p.m. Quiet time from 10 p.m.– 6 a.m. Gate is locked from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. • An excess parking fee is required at campsites with more than two vehicles (including trailers). • Campsite must be kept clean; all trash must be picked up before leaving. Dumpsters are conveniently located on all camping loops. • GRAY WATER AND BLACK WATER MUST BE DISCHARGED ONLY AT DUMP STATIONS. • Pets must be kept on leash no longer than six feet. Please pick up after them. • Valid permit required on windshield of each vehicle in park. All vehicles are to remain on pavement. 29 30 46 31 45 44 1 • Numbered sites for overnight camping only. NO PICNICKING. 2 3 4 • Campfires are permitted only in fire rings provided at each site. No ground fires are permitted. Please use extreme caution with any burning materials during the high-fire danger summer brings. • Swim, at your own risk, in designated area only. NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY. 35 43 42 5 6 • Gathering of firewood is prohibited. 77 76 48 24 32 33 34 7 8 10 11 67 62 61 20 12 13 19 14 16 60 Campsites 52 52-67 53 21 Group Camping Area Spring Point Branch Trail Spring Point Trail .43 mi. 57 54 55 Dumpster Spring Point Camping Loop Wheelchair Accessible Spring Point East Trail .35 mi. 17 White Deer Reach Camping Loop This publication can be found at tpwd.texas.gov/spdest/parkinfo/maps/park_maps/ Park Host Residence Maintenance • No pets or glass containers allowed in swimming area or on adjacent beach. • Stop the spread of invasive species. CLEAN, DRAIN and DRY your boat. Boat Ramp Amphitheater 59 58 56 Parking Wildlife Viewing .11 mi. 18 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. © 2023 TPWD PWD MP P4508-142 (2/23) 69 68 51 15 White Deer Trail .43 mi. 63 50 22 41 40 39 38 9 64 65 70 66 75 49 23 36 37 71 74 47 Bridge 28 27 26 25 Campsites 1-46 i. 72 78 • Public consumption or display of an alcoholic beverage in a public place is prohibited. Designated Swimming Area .16 m 10822 F.M. 2475 Wills Point, TX 75169 (903) 560-7123 Lake Tawakoni PARK RESERVATIONS TexasStateParks.org ParquesDeTexas.org (512) 389-8900 Proud Sponsor of Texas State Parks 

For assistance using this map, contact the park. For a web version of the map text, visit our Trails Information page. For information on #TexasStateParks, visit texasstateparks.org Sign up today for free email updates: texasstateparks.org/email /TexasStateParks @TPWDparks @TexasStateParks Sponsor: Whole Earth Provision Co. 

INTERPRETIVE GUIDE LAKE TAWAKONI THANK YOU FOR VISITING! ESCAPE TO THE LAKE AND LEAVE YOUR WORRIES BEHIND. JUST FIFTY MILES EAST OF DALLAS, AN OASIS AWAITS. IMAGINE: THE SHADE OF TALL TREES, BIRDS CHIRPING, AND THE WATER GENTLY LAPPING ON THE SHORES OF LAKE TAWAKONI. SOUND TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE? COME While enjoying this natural beauty, please remember that everything you see in the park is protected. Artifacts, rocks, plants, and animals (even snakes) are all part of the region’s rich cultural and natural heritage. Help us keep recreational use sustainable for the future and protect these resources by leaving things as you find them. NEARBY STATE PARKS • Bonham State Park 1363 State Park 24, Bonham, TX 75418 (903) 583-5022 • Cedar Hill State Park 1570 W FM 1382, Cedar Hill, TX 75104 (972) 291-3900 • Purtis Creek State Park 14225 FM 316, Eustace, TX 75124 (903) 425-2332 Lake Tawakoni State Park 10822 FM 2475, Wills Point, TX 75169 (903) 560-7123 • www.tpwd.texas.gov/laketawakoni SEE FOR YOURSELF WHY LIFE IS BETTER OUTSIDE. © 2022 TPWD. PWD BR P4508-0142C (7/22) 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. This publication can be found at tpwd.texas.gov/park-pubs STATE PARK L A K E T A W A K O N I S T A T E P A R K RESTORING THE PAST A DROP IN TIME A heavy raindrop falls from the sky and lands with a splash into the Sabine River. It’s more than 5,000 years in the past; the lake, buildings and park roads don’t exist. The drop of water flows downstream, until rough hands plunge into the river, splashing the drop onto the riverbank. In search of resources, prehistoric peoples frequented the banks of the Upper Sabine River for thousands of years. The same water droplet that splashed into the Sabine helped water the crops planted by descendants of those prehistoric peoples. Shifting from nomadic life to raising crops and living in a fixed location allowed populations to grow, and complex societies developed. Among the many tribes that settled in this area were the Tawakoni, for whom the lake is named. Our same droplet, having watered the crops, now escapes from a leaf and reenters the atmosphere as vapor through the process of transpiration. By the end of the nineteenth century, almost all the native groups in the area had been forcibly relocated to Oklahoma, and the first attempts at large-scale agriculture by Anglo settlers started in the early twentieth century. Formerly vaporized, our water droplet joined others in the air, creating a cloud. This cloud might have shaded a tenant farmer or sharecropper, as they tilled the land, farming corn or cotton. Pressure builds in the sky, causing the clouds to swell with water droplets until they can hold no more; precipitation happens, and the water droplets start to rain down again. By this time, it’s 1960 and the Iron Bridge Dam has been constructed, stopping the Sabine’s flow and forming Lake Tawakoni. Flooding this much land is not without cost, but the benefits are vast: flood control, water for recreation and agriculture, and a clean supply of drinking water for the city of Dallas. Access to water has brought people here for thousands of years; how can you help protect this extraordinary natural resource for the next thousand? The Iron Bridge Dam restricts the flow of the Sabine River, forming Lake Tawakoni. Photo by Ine Burke, Edgewood, Texas. L ake Tawakoni State Park lies within the Post Oak Savannah. Historically, this region was open grassland, dominated by native bunch grasses and forbs with scattered clumps of trees, primarily post oaks. Forested areas were generally restricted to bottomlands along major rivers or creeks – typically areas protected from fire. These landscapes require two major forces to exist: frequent fire and grazing bison. In the past, recurrent fires ignited by either lightning or Native Americans served as the major force molding the savannah landscape. Typically, the fires spread across the countryside eating up grasses until flames reached the river bottoms and fizzled out. By suppressing invading woody species and stimulating the growth of prairie grasses, fire helped maintain the plant communities of the Post Oak Savannah. Large herds of bison roamed, consuming large quantities of grass, trampling organic matter and stomping seeds into the disturbed soil, ensuring the future growth of those plants. Early

-Official- FACILITIES Get the Mobile App: MAPS ACTIVITIES TexasStateParks.org/app T O Y O T A T U N D R A The Toyota Tundra is built to explore the great outdoors. No matter what the weekend throws at you, your Tundra takes it on with ease. | toyota.com/tundra Official Vehicle of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation CONTENTS 4 100 Years of Texas Parks 6 Parks Near You 8 90 Checklist DIRECTORY TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT 52 68 20 38 60 30 84 68 David Yoskowitz, Ph.D. Executive Director Rodney Franklin State Parks Director Mischelle Diaz Communications Director TPW COMMISSION Arch “Beaver” Aplin, III, Chairman Lake Jackson Dick Scott, Vice-Chairman Wimberley James E. Abell Kilgore Oliver J. Bell Cleveland Paul L. Foster El Paso Anna B. Galo Laredo Jeffery D. Hildebrand Houston Robert L. “Bobby” Patton, Jr. Fort Worth Travis B. “Blake” Rowling Dallas T. Dan Friedkin, Chairman-Emeritus Houston Lee Marshall Bass, Chairman-Emeritus Fort Worth 52 Panhandle Plains 48 State Parks Map Special thanks to Toyota and advertisers, whose generous support made this guide possible. Texas State Parks is a division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Cover illustration: Brad Woodard, bravethewoods.com Texas State Parks Official Guide, Nineteenth Edition © TPWD PWD BK P4000-000A (3/23) TPWD receives funds from DHS and USFWS. TPWD prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin (including limited English proficiency), disability, age, and gender, pursuant to state and federal law. If you believe you have been discriminated against by TPWD, visit tpwd.texas. gov/nondiscrimination or call (512) 389-4800 for information on filing a complaint. To obtain information in an alternative format, contact TPWD on a Text Telephone (TTY) at (512) 389-8915, by Relay Texas at 7-1-1, (800) 735-2989, or by email at accessibility@tpwd.texas.gov. If you speak a language other than English and need assistance, email lep@tpwd.texas.gov. You can also contact Department of the Interior Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Civil Rights, 1849 C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240, and/or U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), Mail Stop #0190 2707, Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E. Washington, D.C. 20528. In accordance with Texas State Depository Law, this publication is available at the Texas State Publications Clearinghouse and/or Texas Depository Libraries. WELCOME from Rodney Franklin, State Parks Director This year is very special for Texas State Parks: We are celebrating our 100-year anniversary in 2023. More and more Texans are discovering the beauty of State Parks and exploring the outdoors in new and adventurous ways. Our teams across the state are incredibly excited to welcome outdoor enthusiasts, especially those who have yet to discover what our parks have to offer. The variety of Texas’ lands is unmatched; from the mountains of west Texas to the Gulf shores, the Texas State Park system celebrates and preserves the natural and cultural treasures that make Texas such a special place. The 640,000-plus acres that make up the state park system are nearly as diverse as the people of Texas. Since 1923, our mission has been to help connect our visitors with the outdoors. As we honor those who have come before us, I invite a new generation to be a part of the story of the lands that connect us all. There is more to enjoy in our parks than you know, so please join us in our celebrations and activities. Every day we look for new and better ways to ensure your state parks are welcoming to every Texan, regardless of their background or experience being outside. I hope you’ll visit soon and often, while bringing your friends and family along. YOU are a natural and we’re looking forward to celebrating the 100-year anniversary of state parks with you! WHAT’S NEW IN STATE PARKS Galveston Island State Park reopened the beachside of the park with a new headquarters, campsites, restrooms, and more. Bastrop State Park unveiled an extensive new group of trails, the “Tree Army Trails,” many of which are ADA-accessible. Improvements and major repairs are planned for Indian Lodge, Tyler, Inks Lake, Cedar Hill, South Llano River, Eisenhower and several other state parks All-terrain “GRIT” wheelchairs are now available at 10 parks with more adaptive equipment on the way to help people of all abilities experience Texas State Parks. Learn more about our accessibility efforts, page 14. More information: TexasStateParks.org/whatsnew 100 Years of Texas Parks The crown jewels of Texas road trips started as an unfunded wish list before the Depression. Back in 1923, Governor Pat Neff realized rising numbers of new car travelers needed places to camp overnight on multi-day trips. Neff convinced the state legislature to create a six-member State Parks Board, half men, half women. Isabella, the Governor’s mother, and her family donated acreage on the Leon

Guía de Parques INSTALACIONES Descarga la Aplicacíon Móvil MAPAS ACTIVIDADES texasstateparks.org/app ¡Los niños entran gratis! La entrada es gratis para los niños de 12 años y menores. Encuentra un parque: parquesdetexas.org Contenido Estero Llano Grande SP 2 Actividades y Programas 4 Parques Cercanos 6 Lugares para Quedarse 8 Tarifas y Pases 9 Directorio 10 Mapa de Parques 18 Instalaciones y Actividades BIENVENIDO Rodney Franklin, Director de Parques Texas tiene algunas de las tierras públicas más diversas del país, con una gran riqueza natural y cultural. La vida silvestre está por todas partes, los paisajes florecen con belleza, y la historia es abundante. Sus parques estatales son parte del legado que nos enorgullece. La gente de Texas ayuda a asegurar ese legado para las generaciones futuras al visitar y ser voluntarios. ¡Gracias! Estos más de 630,000 acres exhiben algunos de los grandes tesoros del estado. Los parques nos ayudan a crear recuerdos con la familia y a encontrar consuelo en la naturaleza. Los parques fortalecen las economías locales y unen a las comunidades. Sobre todo, los parques nos permiten pasar tiempo al aire libre para recargar energías, estar saludables y relajarnos a nuestra manera. Les invito a disfrutar de sus parques estatales, explorando lo mejor de Texas con amigos y familia. Los parques están aquí para todos. Nos pertenecen a todos. ¡Visítelos, diviértase y ayude a protegerlos para siempre! Foto de portada: Estero Llano State Park, Chase Fountain © 2021 TPWD PWD BK P4000-000A (5/21) TPWD recibe fondos del Servicio de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de EE.UU. (USFWS por sus siglas en ingles). TPWD prohíbe la discriminación por raza, color, religión, nacionalidad de origen, discapacidad, edad y género, conforme la ley estatal y federal. Para solicitar un acomodo especial u obtener información en un formato alternativo, por favor contacte a TPWD en un Teléfono de Texto (TTY) al (512) 3898915 ó por medio de “Relay Texas” al 7-1-1 ó (800) 735-2989 ó por email a accessibility@tpwd.texas.gov. Si usted cree que TPWD ha discriminado en su contra, favor de comunicarse con TPWD, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, TX 78744, o con el Servicio de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de EE.UU., Office for Diversity and Workforce Management, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041. De acuerdo con la Ley de Depósito del Estado de Texas, esta publicación está disponible en el centro de Distribución de Publicaciones del Estado de Texas y/o las Bibliotecas de Depósito de Texas. ACTIVIDADES Y PROGRAMAS ¿Qué puedo hacer en los parques estatales? ¡Disfruta de un día de campo, visita un sitio histórico o elige entre muchas otras opciones! Bicicletas Pedalea a lo largo de los parques a cualquier velocidad, en cualquier estilo, con cualquier grupo. Elige las rutas, el tipo de terreno y las distancias que cumplan con tu zona de confort. Caminatas Empieza con un circuito más corto, avanza a terrenos más difíciles o únete a una caminata guiada. Pescar Puedes pescar sin licencia en tantos como 70 parques estatales. Muchos parques ofrecen equipo para pescar a manera de préstamo y eventos especiales para aprender a pescar. Barcos Renta canoas y kayacs y explora uno de los senderos acuáticos en Texas. Nadar Animales Silvestres Acampar Descubre aves, mamíferos y plantas que tienen su hogar en Texas. Muchos parques tienen señalamientos y listados que te ayudan a aprender más. Encuentra un lugar que cumpla con lo que quieres. Prueba nuevas recetas, comparte historias favoritas y disfruta de las estrellas. 2 Más información y reservaciones: parquesdetexas.org Escape del calor en arroyos, ríos, lagos, manantiales, piletas y playas del mar. Tu seguridad en el agua es muy importante. Lleva el chaleco salvavidas. Aprende a nadar. Guarda a los niños. (512) 389-8900 ¡Pregunta en tu parque cuáles están disponibles! Los niños de 12 años y menores entran GRATIS Cielos Estrellados Escapa de las luces de la ciudad y goza de maravillosas vistas del cielo que no encontrarás en ninguna otra parte. Ven a una fiesta de estrellas o toma una excursión de constelaciones auto-guiada. Familias en la Naturaleza Elige un taller o diseña tu propia aventura. ¡Monta una tienda de campaña, cocina al exterior, prende una fogata y juega al exterior! Nosotros te Toma una publicación gratuita de actividades o pregunta por los paquetes gratuitos con los parques proporcionamos todo el equipo. No es necesario tener experiencia. participantes. Usa los binoculares, lupas, libros de bosquejos y libros de guías para explorar el parque. Mochilas para Exploradores Soldados Búfalo de Texas Descubre la historia con cuentos, vestuarios y herramientas. Sigue la pista de un animal, pesca con caña, cocina sobre una fogata, visita los fuertes y más. Adéntrate en las historias de vida de aquellos que sirvieron valientemente en los primeros regimientos Áfrico-Americanos de las Fuerzas Armadas. ! Seguridad en el Parque Ten cuidado con el agua Pre