Merry Christmas! Didn't want to waste the day by staying secluded at the apartment all day. I…read morewanted to go hiking and to enjoy a cigar next to a campfire. All accomplished...woohoo! The only drawback is I had to rent a campsite for the day in order to get a fire blazing. Kind of sucked since I wasn't planning on spending the night. Oh well! It was all still worth it as I supported nature and TPWD. The hiking trails were challenging and invigorating. Thankfully they were also very clearly marked. They were a challenge with all the natural rock and rock cliffs. Penitentiary Hollow was the main attraction of the hike. Wow, Lake Mineral Wells rocks with awesomeness! Please camp here!

Really pretty lake. Had a picnic lunch played some Frisbee. Watched several folks successfully…read morefishing. Nice slot canyon walk/climb at Penitentiary Hollow. I am older and have less than great knees so I sat out the trip down into the canyons. But the views at the top were breathtaking. The family had a great trip.

It's fun by the water and it's really pretty. But besides the water theirs not much to do at possum…read morekingdom lake but it's still fun to go to ether way. We have found a lot of amazing things here form a baby possum. Frogs and amazing sunsets

It's one of the biggest lakes in Texas. With over 300 miles of shoreline. Lots of cliffs to look…read moreat. Hells gate. So of the most magnificent homes in the state. Fishing is very good. There are places to camp. And there are RV hookup.

This place is awesome, and I really hope we can make our way back someday because the trails are…read morebeautiful to hike and we spent about an hour trying to find as many of the old animal medallions as we could, but I think some of them have been lost due to time, weather, or bad people stealing them. It seems to be maintained by volunteers only, so some of the paths are a little overgrown (watch out for thorn bushes), but we still had so much fun and it's honestly just very cool to walk through this old zoo from the 1920s - 1930s! While you're on your way out here, make sure to read the history of why the zoo closed down (mystery!) and take a picture of the map at the entrance to help you on your mission to find the various animal medallions. I hope you have better luck than we did, but maybe we'll be able to come back and find more! There are bathrooms, a playground, and a decent amount of parking. You can also get a nice view of the dam and the lake while you're here, just make sure not to cross the boundary into private property, according to some tips I read online they're kind of sensitive about it but we didn't experience any issues on our visit!

This was not as cool as we had hoped - especially based on the hype we had heard. Don't get me…read morewrong - it's a fine stop if you're near Cisco - but truly, all there is here are a few rock walls, some bent iron bars, and a couple of cavelike enclosures. The trail itself is paved in some areas and rocky in others. We tried to take the loop, but took a wrong turn somewhere. The nearby park and dam were interesting.

This area is perfect for a stop along 281- makes a great rest and stretch-your-legs spot. The…read moretrail is very scenic specifically the old rock steps. There are two trails- yellow and blue the blue makes a work around if the rock-steps are too difficult for one to navigate. The yellow trail focuses on western heritage and the blue trail focuses more on local history. It is a nice area for a picnic and is easily accessible. If you're looking for a nice nature walk but don't have a whole day to commit - this place is great! Making a small donation will help them make improvements for future projects.

I would really like to spend an afternoon there just being able to walk the paths and feel the air…read moreagainst my skin. Other people similarly clothed (unclothed) enjoying their day. One of my fondest desires.

This was a really great experience and another check off of my bucket list even though the…read moreexperience was a little mixed because I went in the second week of November in 2025 and nobody was there other than the people that lived there permanently because he said that I came at the wrong time so I was kind of walking around the place butt naked by myself, but other than that, I can't fault him for that. it was still an awesome experience to be able to walk around extremely, completely nude and not have anyone freak out and call the cops so maybe one day I can get My Wife to go one day and we can both experience it together, but everybody should experience this at least one time in their life.

Eagle Mountain Park has a decent size parking lot and I noticed they had a Kona ice truck out…read morefront. They have restrooms available, however they are porta potties that need maintenance. My friend and I enjoyed walking the overlook trail, including seeing the views of the lake. The weather was sunny and breezy and we got a good workout. I like that they don't allow dogs here to preserve their wildlife. We saw a couple of deer on our walk which was lovely. We look forward to our next visit to Eagle Mountain Park.

Eagle Mountain Park has great hiking trails along with some scenic views. One of the best features…read moreof this park is that it's pedestrian only and there are no bikes or dogs allowed. This makes for a great hiking experience. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge lover of dogs, but I love that this park is working to preserve the nature, plus some of the trails are steep and it would be heinous to make your dog venture up and down some of these more aggressive slopes. Nonetheless, I still saw two people bring their dogs out... some people simply have no regard for guidelines to protect the nature and not create an undue burden on your dog. Sigh. This is truly one of the best places in DFW if you are serious about hiking. There is a 500 feet elevation gain on the trail by the lake and this makes for great views and an easy way to get your heart rate up. There is ample parking and admission to the park is free. The only downside I would mention is the only restroom facilities are two port-o-potties and they were disgusting. One was out of toilet paper and there are no sinks to wash up. I don't know why people feel the need to make a bad situation worse by urinating all over the seat and trashing the facilities. Other than that, Eagle Mountain Park is a great choice for a semi-challenging hike site in DFW. The views are also a great reward for your efforts!

This is an amazing place to hike! 1. Free - there is a…read moredonation box 2. Dog friendly - keep them on a leash 3. Restrooms available - porta potty @ entrance 4. Picnic bench - @ trail entrance

This park is over 700 acres, with about half of it being for off-roading (Jeeps, etc), and about…read morehalf being for hiking and mountain biking. The off roading trails have been open for years, but the hiking trails just opened up in March 2018 and I'm kicking myself that we hadn't checked this place out sooner. The park itself is in between Bridgeport and Chico, off of 101, but is closer to Bridgeport. It's set pretty far back off 101, but is clearly marked with signage, and easy to find. The parking lot was clean & large, with port-a-potties, trash can, picnic tables, and a map of the park available. Right off the parking lot was an entrance to the Butterfield Trail, with complimentary walking sticks available to assist you, which I thought was a really lovely, thoughtful touch. Since it was our first time here, though, and we had the kids with us, we tried out the shortest, easiest trail available: the Oil Rig. The pathways were well-marked and easy to follow. The "easy" hike was truly easy, more of a nature walk than a hike. It was perfect for the time of day and the company we had. My daughter called everything "fairy" this or that because between the light and how beautiful the landscape was, it really was magical. All in all, it was a perfect experience and we can't wait to go back and try another trail.

What a great way to spend a day! Just an hour and a half outside of Dallas, you can immerse…read moreyourself in the time when dinosaurs ruled the earth! There's actual dinosaur tracks preserved in the rock at Dinosaur Valley State Park, and that just adds even more fun to the experience! We went for the day and the entrance fee was $8 per adult. They accept cards and cash at the Ranger Station. Prior to arriving I tried to buy tickets online, but I kept only seeing tickets for overnight camping. Nonetheless, we were still able to pay at the entrance and we were even able to get out and use the restroom facilities at the entrance. Once you pay your entrance fee, a ranger will give you a trail map. There is ample parking inside the park, so there are lots of possibilities on where to start your adventure. We started on the Pawluxy River trail and crossed over to the main track site where the dinosaur prints are very clear. The river crossing has slightly protruding rocks that you have to navigate on foot to get across the river. I wore hiking boots and I think this was ideal for the environment. From there we switched to the overlook trail where the elevation is 850 ft, so you get a great view of the whole Pawluxy River Valley. From there we descended to the Black-capped Vireo Trail, then crossed the Pawluxy River to make our way back to our car. While there's endless combinations of hikes you can take, ours took about 3 hours. Along the way there were lots of people. Mostly gathered at the river and at the tracks. The rest of the trails were actually very quiet and peaceful. In addition to hiking, there are other points of interest. There are dinosaur models, a swimming hole and of course multiple dinosaur track sites. Overall, Dinosaur Valley is a great state park with something for everyone!

We checked this place out recently and had a great time. What a cool place to explore! So much…read morehistory to see along the river. We made a reservation online since it was around spring break and their Facebook site was showing they were selling out. We arrived around 8:45 and it wasn't crowded at all. We stopped in the Dino store for some water and the cashier gave us some tips on trails to check out. The water levels were higher than when they recommend visiting (summer). We brought water shoes with us and walked in the water in some of the shallow parts right next to million year old tracks! What an experience for our family. By the time we were leaving, the park was filling up quick. We drove around and checked out the playgrounds and camp sites. It would be awesome to camp out in the park. It gave us ideas for our next trip.

Here for the monarch butterfly event. What a fun place, and fun time. Highly recommend…read more Can't wait to come back and explore some more. Bottom line: Check the calendar, there's a lot of activities here!

Loved it here. I visited after I left Granbury and was needing to use some time up before i arrived…read moreat the hotel in Cleburne. The scenery was beautiful the attractions were great I loved everything. My dog was happy. I only wished I had used my off I had brought but forgot in the car. I went on the butterfly trail and the connection trail and part of the Jim Bowie trail. The bird blind and windmill were awesome. FYI if needed there is a restroom in the butterfly garden. The garden had so many flowers when I was there and the Bowie trail had lots of prairie view scenes as well as flowers and cedar bushes. I recommend highly. There are a lot of covered picnic tables. Entry is free but they have a spot for donations at the start of the trail by the " human sundial " attraction.