Martin Dies Jr. State Park

The lake at the center of the park, B.A. Steinhagen, was formed when Dam B was built on the Neches River in the early 1950s, backing water up over the low bottomlands where the Neches and Angelina rivers come together. The flooded forest left behind the cypress sloughs and standing snags that give the park its distinctive, watery character, part lake, part drowned woodland.

This is old Caddo country. The Caddo peoples farmed and lived across the fertile bottoms and river valleys of East Texas for many centuries, and their descendants are enrolled today in the Caddo Nation. The dense woods here also drew later settlers seeking timber and refuge, and the Alabama-Coushatta, whose reservation lies not far to the southwest near Livingston, remain a living presence in the Big Thicket country.

The park is made for paddling. Marked canoe trails wind through the cypress and into the sloughs, where the water goes glassy and still and the reflections of the trees hang perfectly upside down. A slow morning paddle here, with the cypress knees rising around the boat and herons lifting off ahead of you, is the park at its best.

Fishing is a way of life on the lake. Anglers work the river channels and flooded timber for largemouth bass, crappie, catfish, and bream, from boats or from the bank and piers. The braided meeting of the two rivers creates a maze of structure that fish love, and the quiet coves reward those who know them.

Because the park bundles together pine forest, hardwood bottomland, and open wetland in a small space, it is a magnet for wildlife, especially birds. Woodpeckers, warblers, and songbirds fill the woods, while herons, egrets, ibis, and wood ducks work the shallows, and bald eagles and ospreys hunt over the lake. Birders come for the sheer variety that the meeting of habitats produces.

The water and woods hold other life as well. American alligators cruise the sloughs, turtles line the logs, and white-tailed deer, armadillo, and the occasional bobcat move through the pines. The Big Thicket beyond the park is famous for packing an extraordinary range of ecosystems into a small area, and Martin Dies Jr. gives an easy, watery taste of that richness.

Spring is a fine time here, mild and green, with birds passing through on migration and the woods coming alive. It is one of the best seasons for both paddling and birding before the heat sets in.

Summer is hot and humid, the East Texas norm, and the mosquitoes come out along the water, but early mornings on the lake are still and beautiful and the shade of the pines is welcome. Fall cools things off, thins the crowds, and brings a second wave of migrating birds. Winter is quiet and mild by northern standards, a good season for eagles, wintering waterfowl, and long, empty paddles through the cypress.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.