Nice place to camp with walking trails, playground, canoe - kayak - paddle boat rentals, swimming area, and fishing piers.
We were the only two people in the place which made it nice. We could take our time without feeling rushed in the least. The only thing I didn't like was the chicken wire cages you had to stand in while inside the cabins. It made it impossible to take good pictures and had there been a crowd that day, only 2-3 people could have been able to see inside at the same time. It also would have been nice to have had some sort of 'costumed guide' we could have asked questions of. Still - we had fun and learned something new!
Checking in was great with a friendly staff although they were busy. We had a pretty significant problem with our camper but with the help of a park ranger we were able to fix it at no cost. I only wish we had gotten his name to thank him personally. RV campsites were small & a little too close for our taste with no sewer hookups. Since we were gone most of the time visiting nearby historical sites we were ok with it. Very nice fishing piers & good trails. Onsite historical cemetery. The actual fort is several miles down the road & a nice visit. Confederate Reunion Grounds is in the opposite direction but is under construction & has very little to offer at this time other than picnicking & possible rental of a large pavilion. May want to check their site to see when construction is complete. Eat at the Farm House Restaurant in Mexia if you get a chance. Awesome food.
We only had a couple of hours to explore, but thoroughly enjoyed the trails we sampled. The park includes a small lake and we found a good vantage point in the early evening to watch the sun set over the lake. We plan to return when we have more time.
Near the small town of Mexia is one of the State's most accommodating State Parks. My brother and his adult children spent a long weekend at Fort Parker. He asked if I'd be interested in driving down from Dallas to visit. His family lives in Austin and so I readily agreed. Fort Parker staff were very nice and the modest $2 fee was a pleasant surprise. We sat around the camp talking and sharing stories of our childhoods. The younger children and their parents fished both off of the dock and off of a canoe. They played games and just had an overall great time. The park was remarkably quiet, the weather very pleasant and the company wonderful. We had to leave before park closure because we weren't camping, but I would definitely consider Fort Parker for a family reunion, overnight camping or any other fun family type of outing.
We had about 15 Scouts and 7 adults stay in the Scout Primitive group area and it was a great time. I have read that the individual primitive sites are a little close but the group primitive area is excellent.Plenty of room to separate the scouts from adults, fire pits, picnic tables. We dropped off a group at the boat dock and they fished and canoed their way across the lae and up the river to the boat ramp that is near the group site. they ate lunch and then a group made the trek back to return the canoes. There are also several nice hiking trails.The ranger team is terrific and helpful, we saw a program on bats at the activity center (seasonal) and the rangers loaned us a "bird bag" that had lots of info on the local bird population. A group of us made it over to "Old Fort Parker" across from the lake, if you are interested in history, it is a nice diversion (it is relatively small but very interesting and only $2).Overall, this is a park we will be back to! Thank you Ranger Tom!
We decided to come here to see what us was all about. We ended up hiking 3 miles and loving every moment. It has bit and pieces that remember us of many other state parks around the state, such as Hill Country, Pine trees and the plains area. Highly recommend that you go visit.
I was driving from Fort Worth to Houston and took a detour here to break up the drive since it only added about 20 miles to the trip. If you are in the area passing by it's a good place to stop but it's not the type of place I would recommend as a destination on its own. I arrived on a Saturday morning the day after it snowed so there was still snow and ice in various places throughout the park which led to some interesting pictures. I had studied the map watched a video about the park that Texas Parks and Wildlife has on youtube and planned on doing the Baines Creek Trail since it was rated as the most strenuous in the park. I drove in and parked by the cemetary thinking that I could access the Baines Creek Trail from there on a long hike but found out that is wrong. The video by Texas Parks and Wildlife clearly shows someone walking across the dam and has a man interviewed talking about walking on the dam but in reality you are not allowed to walk on the dam and there are signs everywhere stating this fact. The reason I state this is that the Baines Creek Trail is not connected to the main entrance of the park in any type of size, shape, form, or fashion. To get to the Baines Creek Trail you have to continue driving down the road a couple miles and turn off a side road where you cross an old iron bridge and there is a small parking area specifically for that trail, that is the only access point, the only other choice is to walk along the road to get there... Once I finally found the Baines Creek Trail I walked it and thought it was not at all strenuous, I didn't notice any elevation gain/loss, it's basically no harder to do than any nature trail. Since it was below freezing outside I never saw another person and it was very peaceful but the trail is short (5 miles round trip) and can be done in around 1.5 hours walking pace. Luckily I had walked around the trails by the cemetary beforehand or else it would have been a quick trip. It is probably a nice trail to walk in the summer months since there should be good tree cover to provide shade.
This is a fantastic place to go swimming in the summer! Fishing, boating, picnicking and sports. Have always loved this place!
Although I was a day -time visitor, I really enjoyed this park. It was quiet and peaceful and the well-maintained camping areas were very pretty. The Navasota River runs along the park and the large lake looks like it would be great to fish, swim or canoe across. A stop at the ranger station is a must to pay the small fee and learn about the park activities from the very friendly ranger staff. You can rent canoes and I was told that they would shuttle you up to the Confederate Reunion Grounds park if you wanted to canoe down the river and back to the State Park boat dock. The park has a nice small nature center and museum and the volunteers there can tell you all about the history of the park and will suggest other state parks you might enjoy as well. I took a picnic lunch and enjoyed sitting near the lake and relaxing. A great stop for camping, hiking, fishing, swimming and canoeing or just sitting by the lake.