Lake Whitney State Park: Towash Forest Trail (Blog Hike #1048)

Trail: Towash Forest Trail
Hike Location: Lake Whitney State Park
Geographic Location: west of Hillsboro, TX (31.91680, -97.35494)
Length: 1.2 miles
Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: February 2025
Overview: A flat lollipop loop partly along Lake Whitney.
Park Information: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/lake-whitney
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=980088
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming March 10, 2026)

Directions to the trailhead: South of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, take I-35 to SR 22 (exit 368B).  Exit and go west on SR 22.  Drive SR 22 west 15 miles to FM 933 in the town of Whitney and turn right on FM 933.  Drive FM 933 north 0.7 miles to FM 1244 and turn left on FM 1244.  FM 1244 dead-ends at the park entrance in another 2.3 miles.  Pay the park entrance fee, then turn left at the next 2 intersections, heading for the Sunset Ridge Camping Loop.  Drive through the Lake View Camping Loop.  The small parking lot for the Towash Forest Trail is on the left just before you reach the Sunset Ridge Camping Loop.

The hike: Built in 1951 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Whitney Dam is a 166-foot tall concrete and earthen dam on the Brazos River in north-central Texas.  The dam was built to control river flooding, especially in the City of Waco located a few miles downstream.  The dam also produces hydroelectric power by releasing water from Lake Whitney through a system of turbines.  Lake Whitney is large but shallow: it covers 23 square miles but has a maximum depth of only 108 feet.  

            In 1954, the State of Texas leased 775 acres along the lake to create the park, and Lake Whitney State Park opened in 1965.  The park offers several campgrounds totaling 137 sites, some picnic areas, boating and swimming on Lake Whitney, and 2 short hiking trails.  The 2 trails are located at opposite ends of the park, and therefore there is no easy way to combine them to form a longer hike.  This hike describes the Towash Forest Trail, which is the longer of the 2 trails.

Vehicle gate at trailhead

            Start by walking around the vehicle gate and heading northeast on the wide arrow-straight dirt trail.  If you observe this treadway carefully, you will notice a couple of old culverts, which suggest that this trail used to be a vehicle road.  The trail is named for the former town of Towash, the foundations of which now lie submerged under Lake Whitney a few miles southeast of here.  There is little noticeable elevation change anywhere on this hike.

Old culvert

            At 0.3 miles, you reach the trail intersection that forms this hike's loop.  I turned right to hike the loop counterclockwise.  There is surprisingly little forest on this trail, and most of this trail passes through grassy prairie.  The forest that does exist is of the dense shrubby variety that obscures most birds.  I came here on a chilly and gloomy late afternoon in mid-February, and I saw only a cardinal and a few ducks.

Lake Whitney

Hiking through the prairie

            0.6 miles into the hike, you reach the edge of the Whitney Creek inlet of Lake Whitney, where this hike's best lake views emerge.  The trail goes right to the edge of the lake bank, but don't get too close to the edge: erosion from the lake has undercut this bank.  The trail curves left and begins heading north with the inlet to your right.  At 0.9 miles, you return to the old road you hiked in on, and just shy of 1 mile you close the loop.  Hike the arrow-straight old road back to the trailhead to complete the hike.

Meridian State Park: Bosque Hiking Trail (Blog Hike #1047)

Trail: Bosque Hiking Trail
Hike Location: Meridian State Park
Geographic Location: southwest of Meridian, TX (31.89288, -97.70200)
Length: 2.3 miles
Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: February 2025
Overview: A loop hike, mostly easy but with some short steep and rocky sections, around Meridian Lake.
Park Information: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/meridian
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=980087
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming November 7)

Directions to the trailhead: From Meridian, take SR 22 southwest 3.2 miles to the state park entrance on the right.  Turn right to enter the park, and pay the entrance fee.  Drive past the campground, then angle right on Park Road 7 as it becomes one way.  Drive 0.75 miles total from the entrance station to the small parking lot on the right that serves Bee Ledge.  Park here.

The hike: Built between 1933 and 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Meridian State Park protects 505 acres on the northern fringe of Texas Hill Country.  The park is centered around Meridian Lake, which was formed when the CCC dammed Bee Creek.  The park and lake are named for the nearby City of Meridian, which in turn was named for its proximity to the 98th Meridian.

            The park evokes a rural and rustic ambiance that is enhanced by its 3 small campgrounds totaling 22 sites and several rustic picnic areas.  For hikers, the park offers 4 short trails, the longest and most popular of which is the Bosque Hiking Trail described here.  The Bosque Hiking Trail circumnavigates Meridian Lake, and it offers an unusual and interesting mix of scenery and history, ease and difficulty.

Trailhead at Bee Ledge

            Start by walking across the road and following signs for Bee Ledge, thus beginning a counterclockwise journey around the Bosque Hiking Trail.  In only a couple hundred feet, you reach Bee Ledge.  Bee Ledge is a lumpy slab of rock that stands about 50 feet above Meridian Lake, and it provides an excellent view to the south down the length of the lake.

View from Bee Ledge

            Exit Bee Ledge to the right, but then angle left to begin following the blue blazes of the Bosque Hiking Trail; the orange blazes going right are for the shorter Little Forest Junior Trail.  Next comes a steep rocky descent that brings you down to lake level.  Take your time and watch your footing while you descend.  Upon reaching lake level, the trail heads northwest to embark on a level streamside course that heads upstream past the headwaters of Meridian Lake.  Lots of cedar/juniper trees live here, and traffic noise from nearby FM 1473 filters in from ahead and the right.

Crossing Bee Creek

            At 0.4 miles, the trail curves left to cross Bee Creek on a wooden footbridge.  A few muddy areas need to be negotiated, but overall the going is flat and easy.  Just past 0.5 miles, you begin a steep rocky climb up some steps carved out of the rock.  After passing a viewpoint that is narrower than Bee Ledge, you descend back to lake level where this hike will more or less stay for the next 1.3 miles.

Rocky climb

            1 mile into the hike, you reach a lakeside picnic area and primitive campground.  Some benches make nice places to sit, and I saw many birds here including meadowlarks, vultures, several types of ducks, and a red-headed woodpecker.  Next the trail heads up an inlet of Meridian Lake and intersects the park road at 1.2 miles.  Though no signs or blazes appear here, you need to turn left and walk about 500 feet along the park road to find where the trail reenters the forest on the left.

Hiking across the dam

            Just past 1.5 miles, you reach the earthen dam that forms Meridian Lake.  Turn left to walk across the dam, and then turn left again to cross the spillway on some awkward concrete stepping blocks.  Angle right and rise slightly to reach the old CCC dining hall at 1.8 miles.  Made of locally quarried limestone, the architecture and workmanship of this building are quite impressive even by the CCC's high standards.

CCC dining hall

            The trail leaves the developed area to the northwest and heads through a narrow strip of woods between the lake on the left and the park road on the right.  Near 2 miles into the hike, you cross the park road, but before crossing the park road angle left to see some more history: a CCC-built stone bridge with timbers dating to 1934.  Though the bridge has been updated in several ways, it still carries the park road over this small creek.  How many bridges being built today will still be in use 100 years from now?

CCC-built stone bridge

            After crossing the park road, the trail crosses the same creek as the CCC-built stone bridge crossed but on stepping stones.  Next comes a steep rocky climb that mirrors the descent from Bee Ledge near the start of this hike.  At the top of the climb, you reach an intersection with the Little Forest Junior Trail, a somewhat rocky but fairly flat 0.8 mile ridgetop loop.  If you wanted to extend this hike, you could turn right to add-on the orange-blazed Little Forest Junior Trail, but this hike turns left to keep following the blue blazes of the Bosque Hiking Trail.

Final segment of trail

            The final flat and easy 0.2 miles stay very close to the park road that accesses the picnic shelters.  Soon you pass a rustic log bird blind.  Just past the blind, you return to the Bee Ledge parking lot to complete the hike.