Huntsville State Park is nestled in Sam Houston National Forest in the East Texas Piney Woods region of the state. In November a friend and I went for a day trip with our four dogs: Winter, Nog, Sadie, and Patsy. We might be slightly insane! We hiked the Chinquapin Trail, which is 6.8 miles, around Lake Raven. There was plenty of parking near the Nature Center and then we started on the trail, hiking north and making our way around Lake Raven.
Chinquapin Trail
The hike was moderately difficult, and nearly all shaded by the trees except for about a half mile portion along the Historic Lake Raven Dam and Spillway (pictured on the left). We took a few breaks to check out the great views at the Headwater Boardwalk and the Lake Raven Dam and Spillway. The Boradwalk was by far my favorite part of the hike, with lots of marsh area. This would be a great area for birding. We enjoyed a snack and some water before hiking around the western side of Lake Raven.
The Lake Raven Dam and Spillway was our next stop, about 3 miles farther down the trail. At the Spillway there is a pond area at the bottom feeding into Prairie Branch Creek. We decided to go off trail a little to let the dogs swim and cool off here. Man did they LOVE that! And they got to meet a few other dogs that were playing in the water as well.
After the swim, we wrangled all the dogs and finished the remaining 2-ish miles of the hike. In total, the hike took us about three and half hours, including our 30 minute swim stop. We only stayed at the park for half the day. I would highly recommend spending the whole day at Huntsville State Park. Pack some sandwiches and explore everything the park has to offer. There is a lot!
Before You Go
The TPWD site has a lot of information available about Huntsville State Park. This is always my recommended place to start researching State Parks. Here are few quick tid-bits:
- The park entrance fee is $5.00 per adult during the non-peak season and $7.00 during peak season.
- All the trails are dog friendly (on-leash), and most of the trails are multi-use (bikes, horses, and hiking!).
- Lake Raven is in the center of the park, with swimming, fishing, canoe rental, and more.
- The longest trail is 8.5 miles, Triple C Trail, which follows the park boundary.
The park is an hour north of downtown Houston, a straight shot up I-45. In 2018 there was a lot of road construction along I-45 and the exits all snuck up on us. But the park is really easy to find and only a mile or so off of I-45.
If you are hiking with your four legged best friend, be sure they are prepared for the distance you plan to hike, the weather, and bugs! Check out some of my other posts about hiking with dogs for more details on this!
Leave No Trace
This holds true, especially when hiking with dogs, who are lucky enough to have nature as their never ending restroom! I always carry plenty of baggies to clean up after them, and carry it out since there were not any trash cans along the trail. I have a bag to put all my trash in that I carry in my small day hiking pack. Using a refillable and reusable water bottle instead of using a plastic bottle from the convenience store is a must.
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