Texas’ newest state park is situated in the Western Cross Timbers Ecoregion of the Lone Star State and offers an enormously diverse cross section of Texas topography as well as ecology, but the kicker is, it has yet to open. Palo Pinto Mountains State Park has a bounty of plants and wildlife, and it presently consists of more than 4,000 acres (thanks to a land purchase by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department together with a donation of an additional 120 acres by the City of Strawn) including property along Tucker Lake, which will play a featured role in the future park. But for the meantime, it awaits proper budgets to develop the property and turn it into another jewel in the Texas Parks crown.
Local News
Future Looks Bright for Texas Playground of Palo Pinto Mountains State Park
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Photo: Facebook/Palo Pinto Mountains State Park
Sitting in the southwest corner of Palo Pinto County and extending into the southeast corner of Stephens County, Palo Pinto Mountains State Park is presently awaiting the approval of a public use plan which will make for the greatest benefit of all users from the property which at one time was ranch land. The closest town to the park is the charming and scenic community of Strawn, which future plans could identify as the gateway to the park.
Photo: Facebook/Palo Pinto Mountains State Park
The original acreage was purchased by TPWD in 2011 with funds from the sale of Eagle Mountain Lake State Park in Fort Worth together with assistance from the Nature Conservancy. The additional lakefront acreage was donated to the park project by the City of Strawn in 2014. The TPWD has yet to identify, however, when the entire property can properly be developed in accordance with a public use plan and future budgets, hinting in a Star-Telegram article that the earliest possibility could be 2020. In the meantime, future users eagerly await access to this unpolished gem, including striking views from Raptor Ridge (a 1,400-foot peak in the park), various species of trees and plants that are native to the area, wildlife, fish, and bird species that appear fairly profuse, and not another human being for miles around!
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