Contact Information
701 N. First Street
Lufkin, TX 75901
936-639-8501
The forest, named for the King of the Wild Frontier, is a quilt-like swath of pine and grassland patched together in eastern Texas. Hikers can wander through pine forests, bottomland hardwoods, boggy sloughs, and upland forests. Horses and hikers alike can explore the 50-mile loop beneath a canopy of Spanish moss on the Piney Creek Horse Trail. The gray-barked beech tree grows amidst the pines and produces nuts essential for the survival of wildlife. Reservoir dogs can pull catfish out of slow-moving southern streams and swampy lakes. The historically curious can wander amidst old sawmill ruins and a reconstruction of the Mission Tejas chapel originally built in 1690. Spaniards established missions in the region to convert the Nabedache Indians to Christianity. The Spanish called the Indians Tejas, which is the Nabedache word for friends. Tejas, transliterated as Texas, was adopted as the region's name, as well as the subsequent republic and state. The forest covers an area of 162,012 acres and is sewn together from assorted patches of forest, ranch land, and small towns.
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