If you’re tired of marsh & pine trees, why not cross the state line & head to Texas? Their State Parks are a great option for day hikers, ensuring well-maintained trails, bathroom facilities, & more. Oh, & they’re your best option if you’re trying to avoid hunters.
If you want to combine these state parks with driving tours and other parks, visit Great Texas Wildlife Trails — it’s an amazing site that makes it easy to plan driving trips to specific regions!
The following Texas State Parks are in order of closest vicinity to Lake Charles, Louisiana:
3-HR > Brazos Bend, Houston area
- All trails are less than 2 mi each but can be combined for a total 37 mi
- Multi-use trails for hiking, biking & horseback; most are Moderate
- Good choice for nature viewing & water trails
- Camping, screened shelters, cabin (only 1)
3-HR > Huntsville State Park, Central TX
- 18 mi of trails, Easy to Challenging
- Good choice for longer & more diverse trails
- Camping & screened shelters, NO cabins
3.5-HR > Martin Creek Lake State Park, NE TX
- 4 mi of trails, Easy & Moderate
- Camping, screened shelters, cabins
- Combine this with Tyler & Daingerfield for more trails
4.5-HR > Daingerfield State Park, NE TX
- 4 mi of trails, Easy & Challenging
- Combine this with Tyler & Martin Creek Lake for more trails
4.5-HR > Tyler State Park, NE TX
- 13 mi of trails, Easy to Challenging
- Good choice for a chance to see Beavers & for diverse trails
- Multi-use hiking & mountain biking trails
- Camping, screened shelters, cabins
5.5-HR > Pedernales Falls State Park, Central TX
- 25 mi of trails, Easy to Challenging
- Good choice for waterfall hike plus tubing & swimming
- Multi-use trails for hiking, biking & horseback
- Camping & horse camps
5.5-HR > Inks Lake State Park, Central TX
- 7 mi of trails
- Camping & RV
- Hunting – Check website for closures
- Combine with Colorado Bend State Park for more trails
6-HR > Colorado Bend State Park, Central TX
- 30 mi of trails
- Excellent choice for a full weekend of hiking with diverse trail levels
- Camping; lodging available in Lampasas
- Open to hikers from Fri, 2p thru Tues, 8p (closed other days for permitted hiking)
6-HR > Cleburne State Park, Ft. Worth area
- 13 mi of hiking & biking trails
- Good choice for short Challenging trails; also has Easy & Moderate
- Combine with Ray Roberts & Lake Mineral Wells for more trails
- Camping, screened shelters, cabins
6-HR > Ray Roberts Lake State Park, Ft. Worth area
- Over 20 mi of multi-use trails for hiking, biking & horseback
- Great choice for long trails & combining water activities
- Camping & a Lodge
6-HR > Lake Mineral Wells State Park, Ft. Worth area
- 12.8 mi of trails + 20 mi multi-use Trailway
- Combine with Ray Roberts & Cleburne for more trails
- Camping, screened shelters & horse camps
6-HR > Dinosaur Valley State Park, Ft. Worth area
- 20 mi of trails, Easy to Moderate
- Good choice for seeing dinosaur tracks
- Multi-use trails for hiking, biking & horseback
- Camping
- Combine with Cleburne
6-HR > Enchanted Rock Natural Area, West of Austin
- 11 mi of trails, Easy to Difficult
- Good choice for a steep climb up a giant rock with great views
- Combine with South Llano River
6.5-HR > Lost Maples State Natural Area, West of San Antonio
- 13 mi of trails, Easy to Challenging
- Good choice for Challenging steep trails; combine with Garner
- Go in the Fall to see the Maple trees change color
6.5-HR > Garner State Park, West of San Antonio
- 11 mi of trails, Easy to Challenging
- Good choice for short Challenging hikes, tubing & swimming
- Combine with Lost Maples
- Camping & cabins
7-HR > South LLano State Park, West of Austin
- 22.7 mi of trails, Easy to Moderate
- Good choice for rugged backcountry trail or tubing & swimming
- Camping
8-HR > San Angelo State Park, Middle of Nowhere Central TX
- 25 mi of trails, Easy to Challenging
- Good choice for desert landscape & chance to see Bison
- Hunting – Closed only 2 days in April
- Camping
10-HR > Caprock Canyons State Park, TX Panhandle
- 25 mi of trails, Easy to Very Challenging
- Good choice to see Bison & for challenging trails with great views
- Park also offers ‘Trailway’ which is a rails to trail hike of 60 mi
- Camping
11-HR > Palo Duro Canyon State Park, TX Panhandle
- 35 mi of trails, Easy to Difficult
- Good choice for challenging trails with great views
- Camping & cabins
