Last of Walnut Ridge

I took an early morning walk and saw that there was a low lying fog over the creek. It looked really pretty with all the cypress trees and moss hanging from their branches.  The water was perfectly still.  This is part of the paddling trails that run throughout the park.

Always glad to see these insects on the job. We didn't have a problem with mosquitoes but there were lots of other bugs. One day there was a swarm of some kind of bug - kind of like a termite. They didn't stay long.

We had a great spot to camp with lots of room.


I love what these guys have to say about camping - of course I don't agree with them (most of the time at least).

Camping: nature's way of promoting the motel industry.  ~Dave Barry, Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need

Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations.  When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.  ~George Carlin


Camping:  The art of getting closer to nature while getting farther away from the nearest cold beverage, hot shower and flush toilet.  ~Author Unknown

Back to Nature

We like to camp at Walnut Ridge because it's a short drive from home (about an hour and a half) and also a great place to fish and spot some wonderful birds, such as herons, warblers, woodpeckers, swallow-tailed kites, owls and bald eagles. We usually see deer and a few times have heard coyote. The state park is located at Steinhagen Lake and just down stream from where the Angelina River and the Neches River merge. Near the area where the rivers merge there are creeks going in every direction and it's just a fun place to explore in a small boat, kayak, or canoe. It's just a very scenic, peaceful place to travel through and most of the time the water is as smooth as glass.

There are plenty of these things around  - this is not a swimming kind of lake!!

We walked the wildlife trail and found a cool place to rest.

It can be kind of tricky navigating your way through the sloughs.  You have to beware of stumps that are right below the surface.  We usually manage to find a few of them.

This is a very narrow creek - reminded me of the movie "African Queen" -  the part where they had to get out of the boat and ended up with leeches all over them.  We made it safely without having to get out - thank goodness!

I love how water does this on the lily pads.

Bridge going to the wildlife trail.

I took this picture from the bridge one evening when I was waiting for the guys to come in from fishing.

Fun place to fish.

Walnut Ridge Campground

In April we camped at Walnut Ridge with our son and had a good time fishing and trying out our new travel trailer.  We sold our little Casita and bought a 23' Puma.  It's still a fairly small trailer but quite a bit larger than the Casita.  We had a great spot and enjoyed our stay except for the "burn ban."  With the drought going on in Texas almost the whole state is under a burn ban so instead of sitting around a nice campfire at night, we sat around our citronella candles and lanterns.

We heard this bird a lot more than we saw him. It was so loud as he hammered into the trees but it was very hard to get a picture of him. He is a Pileated Woodpecker which is the largest woodpecker in America. They are about 16-19 inches or about the size of a crow. They mainly eat insects, especially carpenter ants and wood-boring beetle larvae, fruits, and nuts.

We were about to cross the bridge and walk a couple of trails near our campground when we ran into this little possum. yikes! He gladly turned back around so we didn't have to get too close to him.

This armadillo roamed around near our campground tormenting Sadie.