Piney Woods - Texas Overview

The Piney Woods is a patch of the eastern United States, before it hits bayou and gulf (as one goes further south). Trees are, expectably, everywhere, everywhere is well-wooded and flowered, and hikes tend to be very pleasant and shaded affairs. Many scenic drives start here as well.

This is also the wettest part of Texas and the best place for off-roaders who revel in mud. Boaters will find the only natural lake in the state here, the bayou-like Caddo Lake, and fishermen who like largemouth bass will be rewarded by exploring the Woods’ bodies of water in general.

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Biking in Piney Woods - Texas

The Piney Woods is, in some ways, not as intense a biking experience as other parts of Texas, but it does have its long leg-burn of a trail or two. Even these leg-burns, mind, tend to be rather gentle, more endurance tests than technical challenges.

Boating in Piney Woods - Texas

Caddo Lake of the Piney Woods is the only natural lake in Texas, land of reservoirs, and it straddles the border between Lousiana and Texas. This lake is thickly vegetated bayou style, and a boat will cut through acres of green scattered by blue. Toledo Bend, Texas's largest reservoir, is also situated in the borderlands between states.

Texarkana is home to the Wright Patman Lake, a massive body of water served by no less than 14 marinas. The shores are well-wooded and like many Texas lakes, this is a glorious place to fish as well as cruise.

Camping in Piney Woods - Texas

Piney Woods campsites are a little less wildly common, perhaps (although Texarkana certainly has a KOA), but Caddo Lake, for one, is a wonderful place to camp. It's both comfortable and beautiful. As with much of Texas, waterside campsites in the Piney Woods tend to be some of the best.

Fishing in Piney Woods - Texas

The Piney Woods is lake-rich and fish-rich, if there isn't much species-wise to distinguish it from the Prairies and the Plains. Again, largemouth bass is the fish to catch and the other species are similar, but do watch out for the spotted bass.

Golf Courses in Piney Woods - Texas

Like the Panhandle Plains, the Piney Woods is a little bit sparse for the golfer, if Texarkana has a few resorts within and about its city limits. But the courses, relatively few as they are, are scattered pretty evenly through the woods, and some of them are very well-loved. The Garden Vally Golf Resort Dogwood Course is not only nicely varied, but gorgeous, lined not only with its namesake dogwood, but pine as well.

Hiking in Piney Woods - Texas

Oh, the Piney Woods has its lakeshore walks and its wooded walks, but the there tree-towering, there boggy walks of Davy Crockett National Forest are maybe more illustrative of the Piney Woods. This has both the wooded walks and the lakeshore walks, but in an especially wild environment.

Scenic Drives in Piney Woods - Texas

The El Camino Real, or the Old San Antonio Road, is likely the longest scenic drive in Texas. What could be longer? It's also Texas's longest thoroughfare and lined with enough history to keep it exciting, starting down from the Piney Woods, past San Antonio and on. A drive from Daingerfield State Park to Caddo Lake is little less historical (winding right through old port town Jefferson as it does), and rather more green and swampy, or green and piney, depending on where you are on the road.