We visited the smallest park in Texas

The smallest park in Texas was my destination for August:
I’m talking about Acton State Park, .01 of an acre in size according to information put out by stateparks.com this year. The smallest park in this huge state? I wondered what could be on such a small parcel of land. It turned out to be a memorial honoring Elizabeth Crockett. She was the second wife of Texas hero Davy Crockett, the famous frontiersman who lost his life fighting for Texas in 1836.

When I was near the park and looking at brochures about the place, they labeled it as Acton State Historical Site rather than Acton State Park. I found out more about when this change was made and other details about the area after my visit; I’ll discuss those findings later.

Neither the park nor the city of Acton were found when using my husband’s GPS.  I recommend using directions on the brochure put out by Texas Historical Commission; it’s available in nearby state park offices.

 I could see Elizabeth Crockett’s statue from the street but it’s in the Acton city cemetery. The statue is of a young woman who appears to be gazing off in the distance, waiting for her husband to return home. Elizabeth received a land grant from the state of Texas in the 1850’s as the widow of Davy Crocket, who fought and died for Texas at the Alamo. She moved to the Acton area at least a year later to claim the land. She died January 31, 1860, and in 1911 the statue of her was erected at the Acton cemetery (with funds provided by the state of Texas). Her son and daughter have more traditional burial monuments on this same plot.

After returning home from the park, I called the Parks and Wildlife Office in Austin to get more information about Elizabeth’s memorial. They referred me to Brett Cruse, Texas Historical Site Supervisor. I learned that the memorial was a state park/historical site until 2008, then it was changed to a historical site. Although the information I quoted by the park’s department lists it as .01 of an acre, the measurement isn’t exact according to Brett. I questioned this after seeing other websites stating the size was .006 of an acre. No matter what the actual size, it’s very small for a place once listed in the Texas State Park Guide.

There was no trash to pick up anywhere around the cemetery. What a well-kept burial site!

If you enjoy Texas history or want to see what is still called the smallest park on stateparks.com, you’ll enjoy this walk through the gravesites of Acton residents to reach the statue and graves of Elizabeth Crockett and her children.

Cleburne State Park

My vote for "best view".

Cleburne Park is one of the older state parks that benefited from the labor of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in the 1930’s. They built a three-tier spillway – made up of three separate water falls –along the Spillway Trail. This is one of the longer trails at this park and it takes the average walker about an hour for the trip. It was worth the trek, up and down rock-covered hills, to arrive at the highest point. The falls are a real feast for the eyes. The stairs up the side of the cliff near the last spillway must have been quite dangerous to construct.

Another one of my favorite parts of this park was Cedar Lake (the scenic reservoir which can be seen along almost every road one might take after passing the front office). It’s described as spring-fed but was quite warm compared to other bodies of water I’ve stepped into that were called spring-fed. The lake has a sand bottom at the beach area and the beach would suit families with children since the water is shallow. I walked to about the middle of the lake, while taking a break from swimming, and I’m not tall.

When I asked the Assistant Park Manager, Dawn, why the longest trail (Coyote Run) was closed she said it was due to recent storm damage. Trees were downed and one of those trees has an active beehive in it.

Cleburne has a way of identifying trails that was new to me. Instead of having a sign at the entrance of the trail, there are colored metal triangles attached to trees along the path. The color tells the hiker what path he or she is walking. I got this information after asking park office employees, "How do I know what trail I'm on?"

 

 The unexpected items picked up during my trash collection were: a set of kitchen tongs and a large glass bottle that looked like a big pickle jar. The most common bit of trash was plastic wrappers.

Cleburne has two barracks and a dining hall for large groups. Whether you visit the park with a group or by yourself: bring your bike if you enjoy biking, hiking shoes to walk, and take along a fishing pole if you want to try to catch largemouth bass, crappie or catfish. But don’t forget a swim suit when spending summer days at Cleburne Park.