Are you searching for a peaceful place to spend a few days in nature? If your answer is yes, let me share with you Daingerfield State Park. Read on to learn more about our stay.
Daingerfield State Park is in northeast Texas about 2 hours from Dallas, Texas and 1.5 hours from Shreveport, Louisiana. Located 3 miles from the small town of Daingerfield we were able to get supplies easily at the local grocery store. The state park is also only 30 miles from historic Jefferson, Texas as well.
Daingerfield State Park has plenty of space to roam with 507 acres of East Texas forest to explore. You will find pine, maple, and oak trees throughout the park. Daingerfield State Park is one of the cleanest and best kept parks we have stayed in. The workers take pride in having a nice park for everyone to visit. There are two hiking trails that will let you explore the park by foot. The 80-acre Little Pine Lake is perfect for kayaks, canoes, and paddle boarding. We spent much of our time kayaking Little Pine Lake and biking the state park roads.
The day use area is awesome with a swimming area, fishing pier, park store, basketball and volleyball area, and a large park to play in. On Saturday evenings from April to November I am told you will find live music at the day use pavilion. The park is great for riding bicycles both on the trail and on roadways. As with all the Texas state parks, we have visited, dogs are welcome. We did not use the bathrooms as we were in our travel trailer, True, but the buildings looked nice and modern unlike some state parks that need an upgrade.
We stayed in the Big Pine area in site number 7. We like site number 7 because it has full hookups, the site is pull-through and level, and we have access to the lake for launching our kayaks. The lake front campsites in the Big Pine area are set back from the lake, giving you a large campsite with plenty of privacy. The Rustling Leaves hiking trail goes around the lake, so the extra space between your campsite and the lake keeps people from walking through your campsite, like we experienced at Tyler State Park. All 10 of the sites in the Big Pine area are pull through with full hookups. When we stayed in site number 7 in November, we loved the site so we booked it again for our July stay. However, I must warn you site number 7 floods. The state park received a significant amount of rain the day we arrived. Three days later site number 7 still had some water standing when we left. We would book it again because we like the ease of launching our kayaks but if we weren't kayaking we would probably book site 6 or 9 although all of the sites in the Big Pine Area are nice with full hookups. We also like site 17 & 18 in the Dogwood Area because they are a little more secluded yet still have full hookups and easy kayak launching.
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Big Pine Camping Area |
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Campsite # 7 after the rain |
There are also 30 back-in full hookup sites available as well at this state park. Beware the back-in sites are usually very short. 18 tent sites are available in the Cedar Ridge area. There are 3 cabins with air conditioning available as well.
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The cabins are located in the day use area vicinity. |
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Cedar Ridge tent camping area located in the Mountain View area. |
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Site 14 in the Dogwood camping area |
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Mountain View camping area |
Some of the activities we enjoyed while visiting Daingerfield State Park include kayaking, fishing, biking, hiking, and relaxing in our hammocks under the shade of the tall pines at our campsite.
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Rustling Leaves hiking trail circles the lake. |
We visited Daingerfield State Park twice in the past year, once in November and once in July. We loved the park both times. In July we were blessed to have a rare Texas cool front move through during our stay giving us high temperatures around 87 degrees and lows around 70 degrees making for a pleasant stay. If you visit east Texas state parks in the summer, be prepared for the heat and humidity on a typical summer day. November on the other hand is quite pleasant in Texas with highs averaging in the 60s and lows in the 40s. When we visited in November we were lucky enough to be there in time for fall foliage. November is a great time to visit this state park. The weather is not too hot or too cold. Here are some pictures from our November stay in site # 7.
I highly recommend getting the Texas state parks pass. The pass costs $70 per year. However, you receive free admission to any state park for day use fees, you receive discounts for camping (half off the 2nd night), and discounts at the park store. Because I used my state parks pass, my 3-night trip to Daingerfield State Park cost me $62.50. Without my state parks pass my 3-night stay would have cost me $123 by the time I paid $25/night camping fee and $4 per person day use fee for four days.
If you are missing peace in your life and just want to take some time to breathe fresh air, make a point to visit Daingerfield State Park. You will find what you are looking for…
Have you ever visited Daingerfield State Park? If so, post in the comment section sharing with my readers your favorite thing about this jewel of a state park. Do not forget to subscribe to my blog so you do not miss a single posting. Thanks for reading my blog. I hope it helps you plan your next adventure.
Wherever your travels take you, may God bless you each mile of your journey.