Palo Pinto Mountain State Park

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department acquired the original acreage for the park in October, 2011, using funds from the sale of Eagle Mountain Lake State Park (located near Fort Worth). With the acquisition of several smaller parcels, the property now encompasses 4,871 acres of beautiful, rugged, undeveloped terrain.

The newest state park in Texas, is located in the Western Cross Timbers Ecoregion of North Central Texas. The property offers great topographical diversity as well as a great variety of plants and wildlife. As the name implies, the Park is situated in the Palo Pinto Mountains. The name Palo Pinto roughly translates to “painted stick” in reference to the juniper trees of the area. The isolated, rugged mountains have been called a northern extension of the Hill Country and indeed they are both dissected plateaus featuring karst topography with similar vegetation, including Post Oak, Mesquite, Live Oak, Blackjack Oak, Texas Ash, Cedar Elms, Cedar and Ash juniper and native Pecan. The park is mostly rugged and hilly with sandstone and limestone escarpments, steep slopes, with intermittent small areas of prairie. The topography is such that there are a great number of striking scenic overlooks, where you can see for miles and miles. Two great features of the park are Palo Pinto Creek and Tucker Lake:

• Palo Pinto Creek, which runs along the northern edge of the park, is a major tributary to the Brazos River. It is a very scenic creek with several deep pools that are good for swimming and fishing.
• Tucker Lake – The centerpiece of the park is Tucker Lake, a 90-acre lake that was built in 1937 by the WPA as the water supply for the nearby city of Strawn. This beautiful, deep lake is set in a bowl surrounded by green hills covered in juniper, oak and elm. The Lake not only provides beautiful scenery and serene solitude but also fantastic fishing.

Wildlife observers to the park will see such animals as white-tailed deer, turkey, birds of prey, waterfowl, songbirds, reptiles and various small mammals. Fish found in the park include bass, catfish, crappie, bluegill and sunfish.

Palo Pinto Mountains State Park has attracted a great amount of interest throughout the state:

• KERA (PBS) – http://keranews.org/post/take-sneak-peek-newest-state-park-texas
• TPWD – https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20140522d
• Fort Worth Star-Telegram – http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article3867741.html
• Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial – http://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/editorials/article3868569.html
• TETRA – http://tetra.memberlodge.org/page-1690536
• Breckenridge American – http://www.breckenridgeamerican.com/news/ci_25520869/
• Fort Worth Star Telegram Op-ed – http://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/other-voices/article16541441.html

For More Information

Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/PaloPintoMtns
Website: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/palo-pinto-mountains

Superintendent James Adams at 254-210-3015 or via email at [email protected] 

For information about Palo Pinto Mountains State Park Partners:

text– 817-688-5157
email –[email protected]
address – P.O. Box 201, Strawn, TX 76475