Martin Dies Jr. State Park

Wow — I’m impressed. About a 5 hour drive from DFW and 70 miles due north of Beaumont, TX is a state park that allows you to experience a completely different ecosystem –Martin Dies Jr. State Park.

The first sign you’ll see after the park entrance is white with red letters announcing CAUTION: ALLIGATORS DO NOT FEED OR APPROACH. No kidding. After talking to the park rangers in the office I found out I would be getting in a 9 foot kayak to paddle around what could possibly be 12 foot alligators. Hmmmm…

Then I was told my dogs were not allowed any where near the swimming area. (People swim at this park?) I commented that I was aware of the sanitation issue and was promptly told that was not the concern. Alligators aren’t attracted by the smell of humans, but they love the smell of furry animals. The presence of the dogs could bring the alligators into the swimming area. Net result: no way I would allow my Labradors to swim while at this park since I didn’t want them to end up a snack.

Let me make clear that was the only negative for the entire stay and other than the initial alarm, it wasn’t really an issue.

The campsite areas are huge and the park has +220 campsites to pick from. This is an endorsement for going during the week — we ended up on a site along the water and had no one else in view for the time we were there. There were a few campers in both directions from the site, but so far away that it was like having the park all to ourselves. It was awesome. Check out the slide show below to see what it was like.

It was nice to spend some time in the tall piney woods that cover the area and I was surprised by the size of the magnolia trees in the park. They were gorgeous and the smell was wonderful. And the park had one of my most favorite things — critters everywhere. I saw lots of deer, armadillos, rabbits,  and raccoon. In fact there were 3 deer standing across the road when  we arrived at the campsite.

The park was one of the cleanest I have ever been to. The sites were absolutely pristine, the restrooms immaculate, no litter at all along the roads. Even while out in the water we didn’t run across any of the usual floating bottles, cans, and Styrofoam. I told one employee I saw while kayaking how nice I thought the park was and it was obvious he took great pride in how clean they keep the park.

Okay — there was one other negative. The insects were plentiful and the mosquitoes were fearsome. Do not go to this park unless you are armed with insect repellent and I mean a good one.

The kayaking trails are marked by buoys as you paddle through Lilly pads and bald Cyprus trees. A lot of birds live in that environment and fish were jumping all the time. The trails were absolutely enchanting and I loved the various water flowers.

We were there probably at the tail end of comfortable temperatures. It was in the low 90’s and wasn’t too bad as long as I stayed in the shade of all the trees. It was very humid and uncomfortably warm out in the sun. This park would be best visited in cooler months and avoided from maybe June through September. Take your camping gear, kayaks or canoes, and bicycles and you’ll have a great time.