By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Reporter

Texans will soon have additional opportunities to hike, bike, fish and enjoy the great outdoors on public land with the opening of the first new state park in North Texas in more than 25 years.

The 4,871-acre Palo Pinto Mountains State Park is being built on former ranchland west of Strawn. That’s north of I-20 halfway between Fort Worth and Abilene.

“Palo Pinto Mountains is full of beautiful vistas from cuestas and hilltops and mesas,” James Adams, superintendent of the new park, said. “The center piece of the park is 90-acre Tucker Lake. A lot of our facilities kind of center around that lake. We’ll have trails that sort of radiate out for that. We’ll have use for hikers, mountain bikers, equestrian users and great angling and paddling opportunities. It’s a really beautiful site with a lot of rich history.”

The park is expected to have a soft opening later this year with a full opening in 2024.

“We’ll have about 25 multi-use sites that have water and electricity, and then we’ll have another 10 equestrian campsites with water and electricity that also have horse stalls,” Adams said. “In addition to those, we’ll have 12 walk-in sites. Those sites are sort of an intermediate site between the multi-use and the primitive. They have all the site furniture that you would see at the multi-use site—like a picnic table, fire ring and lantern hanger—but they don’t have electricity.”

Water will be available nearby for those camp sites but isn’t available at every site. Parking is also not available at the site but is close by.

“Then, we have another 12 primitive sites that are about a two-mile hike to get to them,” Adams said.

The park will open up reservations for the campsites closer to the soft opening, which hasn’t been scheduled yet.

The park is expected to see between 75,000 and 100,000 visitors annually.

Park goers may be able to see some of the native wildlife that call the park home, including white-tailed deer, raccoons, possums, skunks and turkeys.

“Some of the mammals that kind of surprise people are ringtail cats and porcupines,” Adams said. “Then, we also have black-capped vireos, which were recently delisted. Then we also have Golden-cheeked warblers, which are still on the endangered list.”

Adams noted that’s just a small list of the wildlife that call the park home.

“There are great opportunities, obviously, for birding to see these endangered birds and recently delisted birds,” Adams said. “We have very dark skies here, so there’s great stargazing opportunities, as well.”

The facilities at the park are expected to cover fewer than 200 acres, leaving the rest of the park undeveloped.

“It’s a chance to get out here and feel like you’re stepping back into the Wild West, into a wild Texas that kind of speaks to the heart of Texans, what we feel like Texas is and should be. This place is a chance to experience that,” Adams said.

The park’s soft opening comes during the 100th anniversary of Texas State Parks.

“Opening a new state park is not something we do frequently,” Adams said. “To be doing it during the 100 celebration of Texas State Parks really gives you a chance to stop and think about how we can continue the work of state parks into the next 100 years.”

To commemorate Texas State Parks’ Centennial Celebration, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation is hoping to raise more than $2 million to fund projects at state parks to complement existing offerings. Additional details are available at TPWF.org.