General Information
Park often reaches capacity; reservations are highly recommended for both camping and day use. To guarantee entrance reserve passes online, or by calling the customer service center
Child 12 Years and Under: Free
Caddo Lake State Park is a state park located in the piney woods ecoregion of East Texas. The park consists of 484 acres (196 ha) on Big Cypress Bayou, west of Caddo Lake itself, in Harrison County, near Karnack, Texas. The park opened in 1934 and is managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. There are two separate units, Caddo Wildlife Management Area and Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge, nearby.
Saw Mill Pond is a shallow bald cypress swamp at the north end of the park. The pond empties into Big Cypress Bayou. The pond is popular for canoeing, kayaking and fishing.
Alligators, Texas river cooters, frogs, snakes, raccoons, mink, coypu, beavers, squirrels, armadillos, and white-tailed deer inhabit the park.
The park hosts many species of migratory birds throughout the year. Permanent residents that are commonly sighted are mourning dove, great blue heron, turkey vulture, black vulture, red-shouldered hawk, barred owl, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, pileated woodpecker, blue jay, American crow, fish crow, Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, Carolina wren, eastern bluebird, northern mockingbird, red-winged blackbird, pine warbler, and northern cardinal.
Naturalists can enjoy stately cypress trees, loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, American sweetgum, Maple, American beautyberry, giant cane, American pawpaw, American lotus, greenbriar and water lilies.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Caddo Lake State Park", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
