State Parks Close to Jefferson
By Jeff Campbell / Jeff In Jefferson
JEFFERSON- This spring Americans across the country will be celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corp. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corp was created as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal program.
The Civilian Conservation Corp existed from 1933 to 1942 and was made up of young men from the age of 18 to 25. These unmarried men who had been unemployed built over 800 parks nation wide. Besides building parks they also built roads in remote areas, planted almost three million trees and helped upgrade the nation’s forest fire fighting capabilities.
The Civilian Conservation Corp constructed 29 of the parks in the Texas State Park system. Two of these state parks lie in close proximity to Jefferson, Texas; Caddo Lake State Park and Daingerfield State Park. Both of these parks provide excellent opportunities to get back to nature.
Caddo Lake State Park lies 13 miles to the east of Jefferson, Texas. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in Texas. To the first time visitor Caddo Lake appears very mysterious with its cypress trees and Spanish moss. The park has rental cabins which were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, hiking trails, a boat ramp and a viewing pier amongst the cypress trees and Spanish moss.
Daingerfield State Park is located 29 miles northwest of Jefferson, Texas. Located on Lake Daingerfield the park rents flat bottom boats, canoes, kayaks and hydro bikes. There is also a nature trail for hikers, camping, fishing and a swimming area.
Jefferson, with its historic inns and hotels, makes an excellent base to explore these two historic state parks. After you “get back to nature”, get back to Jefferson and enjoy a meal at our many fine restaurants and shop in our wide array of unique stores.