Village Creek State Park: Village Slough and Longleaf Pine Trails et. al. (Blog Hike #1101)

Trails: Village Slough, Longleaf Pine, Water Oak, River Birch, and Bike/Fitness Trails
Hike Location: Village Creek State Park
Geographic Location: east of Lumberton, TX (30.25155, -94.17525)
Length: 2.8 miles
Difficulty: 2/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: February 2026
Overview: A loop hike over flat terrain through many types of habitats.
Park Information: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/village-creek
Hike Route Map:

On The Go Map

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming November 6, 2026)

Directions to the trailhead: On the south side of Lumberton, take US 69 to Mitchell Road.  Exit, go east on Mitchell Rd., then almost immediately turn left on FM 3513.  Drive FM 3513 north 1.9 miles to Alma Drive and turn right on Alma Dr.  Angle left after crossing the railroad tracks.  Take Alma Dr. east 0.5 miles to the park entrance on the left.  Angle softly left to enter the park, pay the park entrance fee, then drive past the developed campground to the gravel trailhead parking area on the left.

The hike: Located at the southern end of east Texas' vast area of pine woods known as the Big Thicket, Village Creek State Park protects 2466 acres along its namesake creek.  Typical of waterways in the Big Thicket, Village Creek is a slow-moving blackwater stream that loses only 102 feet of elevation over its 63 mile course.  The creek passes 3 large tracts of protected land on its way to the Neches River: Big Thicket National Preserve, the Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary, and of course Village Creek State Park.  The state park's land was acquired by the State of Texas in 1979.  The park opened in 1994, making it among the newer state parks in Texas.

            In terms of amenities, Village Creek State Park offers a 25-site developed campground, a rentable picnic pavilion, and a rentable cabin, but paddling on the creek remains the park's most popular activity.  For hikers, the park offers 12 trails, all but 2 of which are less than 1 mile in length.  I came here intending to hike the Village Creek Trail, the park's most difficult and famous trail, but that trail remains closed due to flood damage from Tropical Storm Harvey in 2017.  Thus, I cobbled together several of the park's shorter trails to form the longest possible loop without retracing my steps.  Such is the route described here.

Start of Village Slough Trail

            From the trailhead parking lot, head south to cross the park road and begin the signed Village Slough Trail, which is marked with green trail markers.  The wide dirt trail heads south with Village Slough and the park boundary on the right.  Village Slough is one of the many slow watercourses that empty into Village Creek, and several benches offer opportunities to rest and watch for wildlife beside the water.

Village Slough

            Ignore the inner loop of the Village Slough Trail as it exits left.  At 0.4 miles, the trail curves left to leave the slough's bank.  All of the terrain in this park is very flat, and the going remains very easy.  At 0.7 miles, you reach a major trail intersection.  If you wanted a short hike, you could angle left and continue the Village Slough Trail, which quickly returns to the trailhead parking area.  This hike turns right to begin the Longleaf Loop.

Entering the longleaf pine planting

            True to its name, the Longleaf Loop explores a longleaf pine forest planting.  Unfortunately, while longleaf pines with their long needles and tall, straight, stately trunks are among my favorite pines, this longleaf pine planting is very young.  Thus, while this trail will be a very scenic trail in a few decades, right now this area is more of a hot, sunny, grassy savannah than a cool, stately pine forest.

Young longleaf pine planting

            At 1.55 miles, you reach the end of the Longleaf Loop at an intersection with the Water Oak Trail.  Again with the goal of forming the longest loop without retracing steps, turn right to begin the Water Oak Trail.  The Water Oak Trail heads east into cooler shadier oak/pine forest on a wide sandy dirt track that appears to be an old road.  1.8 miles into the hike, you reach another trail intersection.  The Water Oak Trail continues southeast for almost 2 more miles, but it does not form a loop.  Thus, I turned left to leave the Water Oak Trail and begin the River Birch Trail.

Hiking the Water Oak Trail

            The short River Birch Trail quickly comes alongside Cane Slough, another slow-moving waterway that feeds Village Creek.  Less than 1000 feet after it started, the River Birch Trail ends at an intersection with the Village Creek Trail.  To the right is the closed portion of the Village Creek Trail.  A wall of yellow caution tape forbids entry, and it is never a good idea to hike on closed trails.  Turn left to begin the open portion of the Village Creek Trail.

Cane Slough

            You pass the primitive camping area to reach the canoe launch parking area at 2.15 miles, where the Village Creek Trail ends.  We will eventually angle left to do a short road walk, but first walk to the right (north) end of the parking lot to get your view of Village Creek.  More of a river than a creek at this point, Village Creek has steep and scenic white sandy dirt banks, and you can see how the deep slow water is ideal for paddling.  A picnic shelter near the creek offers a good opportunity to sit, rest, have a snack, and admire the creek.

Village Creek

            Continue by walking out the park road that accesses the canoe launch parking area, but at 2.45 miles look for the unsigned start of the Bike/Fitness Trail on the right.  The Bike/Fitness Trail offers a short loop through dense pine/oak woods, and it offers several stations with suggested exercises.  While not the most scenic trail, the Bike/Fitness Trail is better than walking along the park road and it adds some distance.  The Bike/Fitness Trail's short loop comes out at the east edge of the trailhead parking lot, thus completing the hike.