Cooper State Park, Doctors Creek Unit (Blog Hike #1116)

Trails: Cedar Creek South, West, East, and North Loops
Hike Location: Cooper State Park, Doctors Creek Unit
Geographic Location: south of Cooper, TX (33.34136, -95.66988)
Length: 2.1 miles
Difficulty: 2/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: February 2026
Overview: A loop hike through young shrubby forest on the north side of Jim Chapman Lake.
Park Information: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/cooper-lake
Hike Route Map:

On The Go Map

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming March 2, 2027)

Directions to the trailhead: From Cooper, take SR 154 east 1.4 miles to FM 1529 and turn right on FM 1529.  Drive FM 1529 south 1.6 miles to the park entrance on the right.  Turn right to enter the park, pay the entrance fee, and drive the main park road 0.7 miles to the Pelican Point Day Use Area on the left.  Park in the right (west) side of this parking lot.

The hike: Formerly known as Cooper Lake State Park, Cooper State Park occupies 3026 acres on the shores of Jim Chapman Lake, which had a somewhat tortured beginning.  Area residents first proposed building the lake in the late 1930s, and a favorable feasibility study was published by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1950.  Due to planning snafus and administrative delays, construction on the dam that would form Jim Chapman Lake did not start until 1986.  The lake was finally completed in 1991, and the park, consisting of land leased from the Corps, opened in 1996.

            Cooper State Park consists of 2 separate units on opposite sides of the lake: the 466-acre Doctors Creek Unit in Delta County and the 2560-acre South Sulphur Unit in adjacent Hopkins County.  Both units have camping and recreation on Jim Chapman Lake, and both units offer several miles of trails.  Yet most of the trails at the larger South Sulphur Unit are designed for horses or mountain bikers.  Thus, I went to the Doctors Creek Unit and hiked the Cedar Creek Trail, which is open only to hikers.  The Cedar Creek Trail is organized as 4 loops, one named after each cardinal direction.  This hike uses parts of all 4 loops to form a grand tour of the Doctors Creek Unit's trail system.

Trailhead at Pelican Point Day Use Area

            From the Pelican Point Day Use Area parking lot, pick up the Cedar Creek Trail's south loop as it heads west; a simple wooden sign marks this trailhead.  The trail heads through a wetland area, and I saw several frogs and turtles in these wetlands.  Where the trail splits to form the south loop, stay left to head clockwise around our loop.

Jim Chapman Lake

            At 0.2 miles, a spur trail that leads a short distance to the shore of Jim Chapman Lake exits left.  This spur is your only opportunity to get a view of the lake on this hike, so I recommend hiking the short spur to the sandy lakeside area.  Back on the main trail, continue northwest through young forest that is a mixture of cedars and oaks.

Hiking through young forest

            0.5 miles into the hike, you cross the main park road.  3 trails continue on the north side of the road, and you want to take the left-most trail, which is the Cedar Creek Trail's west loop.  The trail soon crosses an old dirt road that used to be CR 1007, and then the park's main campground comes into view through the trees on the left.  Ignore spur trails that head into the campground, and ignore a short-cut trail that exits right.

Starting the east loop

            At 1.1 miles and just before you close the west loop, turn left to begin the Cedar Creek Trail's east loop; another simple wooden sign marks this intersection.  Soon the trail breaks out of the young forest and enters a prairie area with a thick grassy understory.  I saw a large number of vultures in this area.  Also, the persistently flat terrain ensures that rainfall has nowhere to drain.  Thus, heavy rains the previous night left parts of this trail submerged when I came here on a sunny afternoon in mid-February.

Hiking wet trail

            An old farm pond comes into view on the left while the trail curves right as you round the east end of the trail system.  At 1.9 miles, you reach a trail intersection where the east and north loops cross.  Turn left to leave the east loop and begin the north loop.  Very quickly you cross the park road and return to the south loop.  A left turn and short walk past the wetlands returns you to the Pelican Point Day Use Area and completes the hike.

Bonham State Park: Bois d'Arc Trail (Blog Hike #1115)

Trail: Bois d'Arc Trail
Hike Location: Bonham State Park
Geographic Location: southeast of Bonham, TX (33.54641, -96.14575)
Length: 2 miles
Difficulty: 2/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: February 2026
Overview: A loop hike through cedar forest passing many CCC-built structures.
Park Information: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/bonham
Hike Route Map:

On The Go Map

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming December 18, 2026)

Directions to the trailhead: From Bonham, take SR 78 south 1.4 miles to FM 271 and turn left on FM 271.  Drive FM 271 east 1.9 miles to the signed park entrance on the left and turn softly left to enter the park.  Drive the one-way main park road to the park headquarters on the north side of the park's lake.  Park in front of the headquarters.

The hike: Tucked in a corner of northeast Texas that time seems to have forgotten but hasn't, Bonham State Park consists of 261 rolling acres northeast of Dallas.  The park was established in 1933 when the State of Texas purchased the land from the City of Bonham.  The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to develop the park between 1933 and 1936.  The CCC built many of the park's structures that still exist today, including the dam that forms the park's small 65-acre lake.

            True to a small park, Bonham State Park is light on amenities.  The park offers a cozy 20-site campground, swimming, paddling, and fishing on its lake, and 4 hiking trails totaling 6.8 miles.  Part of the trail that goes around the lake was closed when I came here, so I chose to hike the Bois d'Arc Trail, which explores the eastern side of the park.  Pronounced by locals like "bo dark," the Bois d'Arc Trail features the CCC history this park has to offer, and it also shows how much this land has changed since 1933.

            The Bois d'Arc Trail does not form a loop, so your hike will either start or finish with a road walk; I chose to do my road walk at the start.  Head east to begin walking clockwise and against traffic around the park's main loop road with the campground and lake on the right.  At 0.25 miles, turn left to leave the road at the trailhead for the Bois d'Arc Trail; a large information board and a round blue aluminum trail marker mark this trailhead.  The park ranks the difficulty of the Bois d'Arc Trail as challenging, but for the most part it is pretty easy.

Loop road trailhead for Bois d'Arc Trail

            Head gradually uphill and angle right to quickly reach the first of several CCC-built stone fireplaces and seatings.  You may wonder why the CCC or anyone would build a construction like this in the middle of the woods, but these constructions are older than any of the surrounding cedar trees.  Thus, when these constructions were built, they would have had a clear ridgetop view of the park's lake.  Time has not forgotten this land as much as you may think, and some interpretive signs describe this area's history.

CCC-built fireplace and seating

            The Bois d'Arc Trail continues its gradual climb through dense cedar forest, and just shy of 0.5 miles you reach a trail intersection, where you need to turn left.  You can kind of follow the Bois d'Arc Trail's blue markers on this hike, but the Bois d'Arc Trail has several arms, all of which are marked with the same blue aluminum circles.  Thus, a trail map comes in handy, and you have to carefully keep track of your location to avoid missing this turn.  After you make this turn, there are fewer trail intersections, and the navigation becomes easier.

Hiking the Bois d'Arc Trail

            For the next mile the Bois d'Arc Trail embarks on a winding course with gradual ups and downs.  The cedar forest remains dense, and some rows of hedgeapple trees mark old property boundaries.  Just past 1.4 miles, you come out at the fire road that traces the perimeter of the property.  While it might be easier to walk on the fire road, astute hikers will stay with the fire road for only a short distance while continuing to follow the blue trail markers for the Bois d'Arc Trail.

CCC-built water pump house

Old water tank (on its side)

            At 1.7 miles, you reach the old CCC barracks and group hall.  The picnic shelter makes a nice place to sit and rest, but perhaps the most interesting structure in this historic area is the old CCC-built water tank and pump house, which dates to 1936.  The old metal water tank no longer stands on its stone supports, and a chain-link fence prohibits a close inspection of the stone structure.  Continuing west for another 0.3 miles returns you to the park headquarters area and completes the hike.