Mission Tejas State Park

It was late evening when I finally arrived at the park entrance, and as I made my way through the towering pines, I reflected on the many times I had driven by as a younger person on my way to San Antonio, never stopping but always wondering what this obscure state park in Weches, Texas, was all about. With no lake to speak of, no clear running streams, no panoramic views, what was the why?

My initial reason for going was the lure of a dark sky relatively close to my home. Mission Tejas is recognized as a Bortle Scale Class 3 park, and my hope was to take advantage of that. And while some may say 350 miles is not close, it’s the closest dark state park we have in the southern and eastern parts of the state. Seems a shame, but light pollution is a real deal in Texas, and Mission Tejas takes it seriously. A short stop at the entrance verified that with unobtrusive lighting softly illuminating the various pathways, offering enough to safely see but not so much as to take over the beauty of the surrounding landscape.

Little did I know that the real reason I was there, hidden from me at the time, would also answer my why, and I would find that answer on the trail the following day. I love it when that happens.

Rain sprinkles down onto the park’s pond built by the CCC in the 1930’s. The pond is located near a picnic area complete with playground equipment and a group picnic pavilion.

The History

Mission Tejas is the recognized site of Mission San Francisco de los Tejas, which was built by Spaniards in 1690 in a Caddo Indian village. Also located in the park is a portion of the El Camino Real, or The Royal Road. Built in the 1600′, the road stretched 2500 miles from Guerrero, Mexico, to Louisiana. It was in use into the 1800’s. You can read more about the park’s history here.

The Trails

The park contains 13 listed trails in rated easy to challenging that cover over eight miles of East Texas forest land. Because they intersect in various places, the distance can easily surpass what is listed. I decided to start my hike on the Big Pine Trail and parked at a designated area near the Rice Family Log Home. This log home was built circa 1828 and was moved to Mission Tejas from a location about 16 miles away. It was a well-known stopover for travelers on the El Camino Real. You can read about it here and here.

Listed as challenging, the Big Pine trail moves along steep ravine drops, over bridges, and onto highland areas dotted with pine trees. The trail intersects with many other trails including the Olin Hatchet trail, which is a detour I took. You can view the park trail map here.

Capturing birds is a priority for me, and I quickly realized that this would be a challenge at Mission Tejas because unlike Corpus or Falcon, where most of our feathered friends can be seen moving about in the brush and short trees, the predominant canopy forms over 100 feet above your head. Try as I might, the birds managed to continuously avoid the camera. As a result, the four-pound telephoto went in the bag and out came the little 17-40.

From the Olin Hatchet Trail, I switched to the Steep Step and the Lightning trails, which took me to one of the points of interest in the park, the Sentry Pine. It is one of the oldest in the park and has survived for over 100 years.

Next, I switched to the Tejas Timber Trail. This trail skirts the park’s pond, which is where I decided to take a short break before finding my way to the Big Pine Trail and back to the truck. The morning hike took me up and down two miles of hills, stone steps, dark canopy-covered ravines, foot bridges and lush forest pathways.

After a short rest at camp, some water, and a protein bar, I decided on the Chimney Loop Trail. This one-mile trail skirts around an old home place with a lone surviving chimney.

A chimney stands solo against the elements of time. The swing frame and what I can only guess is an old merry go round frame suggests this may have been a happy place at one time.

From here, I continued to follow the Chimney Loop trail until it crossed over to the Nabedache Loop. As I came down the hill on a switch back trail, I noticed some culverts and old barbed wire fencing. This, I felt, must be some sort of property line or access to private property, but a look at the map showed the park boundaries to be significantly beyond the immediate area. So, I followed the road/trail and came upon the highlight of my trip. I was standing on the actual El Camino Real, not driving down Highway 21, but standing on the actual path followed by many travelers over quite possibly several hundred years. Just imagine who in Texas history must have traveled here.

There were multiple paths in the area, and one of them led to a small mound next to low-lying wet area. The map did not show the trail, and it looked to be a dead end, but intrigued, I followed it and found something quite special. Leaning against a tree and surrounded by red rocks was a metal ammo box. Could it be a geocache? Yep, my first ever.

Sometimes going on a trail less traveled has its rewards.
And of course, I had to fill out the little note pad.

From then on, I was going down any possible dead end side paths, adding some walking distance no doubt, but you never know what waits just around the corner.

The map showed that I would next come up on a wildlife viewing area. This usually means there will be some sort of blind. And there was.

This blind was built by a school’s ag shop. I believe it was Grapeland High School, but I cannot be sure.. I apologize for not taking a picture of that to document and give credit to the school and class, but it was very well built. It would make one heck of a deer blind for sure. And I guess in a way it still is but just for a different kind of hunting.

I continued down the Nabedache until I came upon the San Pedro Creek by taking the small access trail that leads to it from the trail. This was a nice place for short rest before moving onto the Hardwood Trail.

It was on the Hardwood Trail that I hoped to find some birds. This was a bottomland with mud, standing water, and MOSQUITOS. At this point, I had traveled several miles over several hours of time, and I decided that now was a good time to head back to camp. Mosquitos were part of the reason but not the real reason, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was also because I could hear a crowd coming in the background. Forget the mosquitos. It was the crowd. Up until now, I had only witnessed the sounds and sights of nature.

My travels back to my trailhead took me down new trails, including one side trail that took me to the Chimney Loop Rest Area, which was located at the top of a 50′ rise in elevation. I continued on and made it back to my truck and then camp in time for the evening NA beer and dinner. I closed the night by driving up to the main parking lot in hopes of a dark sky night. However, the clouds prevailed, a storm was a brewing and rain was a coming. I never did get the birds or the stars, but what I did get was, to me, worth every step.

One side hike I made was from the group camping area where a trail would lead you to the Bird Blind Trail. I went there on the off chance I would get another chance at birds, but no dice. I did, however, get to hear the whispering pines sing their wind song in the gently falling rain.

My Stay

Mission Tejas was the first stop in a multi-park travel that would take me all the way to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I chose the park as part of the route because I was familiar with the area, having lived in East Texas for a number of years. I also chose it because of the possibility of a dark sky. I specifically timed the stop to coincide with the start of a new moon; however, the skies did not cooperate with my hopes and wishes and clouds were the predominant theme during my stay.

I stayed in site #13 would probably stay there again. It has water and electricity. In fact most of the sites do. I think I would choose #14 if it was available. None of the sites are full hookup, but the park does have a trailer dump station. Both 13 and 14 are back in spots and will accommodate a large rv trailer. If I was staying in a van, pickup camper or tent, then campsite #1 might be a cool spot to stay. There are 16 sites total and several pull throughs are available.

Who it is for

The park is a quiet place, very comforting and peaceful. With only 16 camping spots, it can never be crowded. It is also secluded from any significant urban centers, the closest being Crocket, Texas, which is about 20 miles away. Alto, a town of 1000, is maybe 10 miles from the park.

The park has numerous exhibits that explain its historical significance. Thirteen listed hiking trails offer beautiful opportunities to see the forest first hand or to just go for a nice walk. For those with children, a playground and picnic area offers safe and quiet family time in the outdoors. Star gazing is something that is done here as well, and I believe that the Nabedache Trail is a place where they go on the occasions that a tour is offered.

The park has a relatively large day use area that would be great for a picnic with the kids. At this moment it is starting to sprinkle. The rain would stay with me for several days.

I do not know if they take care of the bird blind during the winter months. If so, then that would be worth checking out. Overall, it is a nice place to get away for a couple of days or even for a few hours.

And, if you have time, be sure to take a walk down the real Real.