State Parks
Texas State Parks
Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site
2/23/2011 ... then continued to the Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site. We checked out the small museum, then walked over to the neat white house where Ike was born in 1890. Outside the house is a larger-than-life bronze statue of Eisenhower as General.
Franklin Mountains State Park
5/22/2004 ... then up into the Franklin Mountains State Park on the Wyler Tramway. Beautiful weather, but winds kicking up dust made for hazy views.
Hueco Tanks State Historic Park
5/29/1994 Drove to Hueco Tanks State Park. Huge rock formations that hold water, also contain Indian pictographs about 6000 years old. Walked/climbed around, saw water and pictographs.
Palo Duro Canyon State Park
5/25/1997 Drove north to near Canyon to Palo Duro State Park. After the dead flat of this part of Texas, all of a sudden a deep canyon with multi-colored layers of rock appeared. Drove to the bottom of the canyon and walked about 1.5-2 miles in to see the Lighthouse formation. Nice trail over very red soil, with cactus and flowers.
Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site
2/23/2011 Back on the road east to Bonham and the Samuel T. Rayburn House NHL [and SHS]. This was the home of the famous 20th century statesman and politician, looking somewhat Greek Revival but suspected of being a Sears house. As we really didn’t know much about then guy we elected to not take the tour but rather just checked out the house and grounds.
San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site
4/12/2018 First stop, San Jacinto Battlefield NHL (and San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site). The April 21, 1836 Battle of San Jacinto was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution, where General Sam Houston’s Texian Army defeated General Santa Anna's Mexican army in an 18 minute fight. The main feature here is a huge tower monument where we took an elevator to the top for views over the bay, bayou and battlefield area. Back down on the ground we drove around the park road checking out interpretive signage but really looking for the NHL plaque.
Seminole Canyon State Park
5/18/2004 Continued to Seminole Canyon State Park. Saw good educational exhibits, then enjoyed a nice picnic under a ramada looking at the canyon. Weather had started overcast, but cleared fast and by midday was hot and very breezy. Took a short nature trail, then on the road ...