Brownwood, Texas, offers easy access to Lake Brownwood State Park, located nearly at the state's geographical center. The park, a Civilian Conservation Corps project from the early 1930s, attracts visitors for hiking, camping, picnicking, fishing, swimming and birdwatching.
Fundamentals
Lake Brownwood State Park, 16 miles northwest of the town of Brownwood, consists of 537 acres formerly owned by a Brown County water improvement district. The state acquired the land in 1934 and opened the park in 1938, according to the Texas State Parks and Wildlife Division website. Damming the Pecan Bayou, a tributary of the Colorado River, created the 7,300-acre lake. The Civilian Conservation Corps constructed the buildings --- many still in use today --- from local rock and timber, according to the park website.
Operations
Although the park stays open year-round, officials restrict areas during public hunts. Lake Brownwood State Park set day-use entry fees in 2010 at $3 per person age 13 and older and $1 per person in large groups. Additional fees apply for campground, cabin and lodge use.
Features
Brownwood State Park offers dozens of campsites and picnic areas as well as a store, lighted fishing piers, a fish-cleaning facility, floating boat docks and slips, boat ramps, a trailer dump station and showers, according to the park website. Lake Brownwood State Park offers 2 1/2 miles of hiking trails and an easy half-mile "nature trail." It allows boating, including motor-boating, water-skiing, Jet Skiing, fishing and swimming, according to the park website. The area attracts anglers trying to catch the lake's bass, perch, crappie and catfish.
Camping
Lake Brownwood State Park offers 12 tent-only campsites in the Willow Point area and nine tent-only sites in the Comanche Trails area, according to the park website. Eleven campsites with electric and water hookups are available at Comanche Trails and 35 hookup sites exist at Willow Point for recreational vehicle and trailer campers. The Council Bluff area hosts 20 full-hookup sites with water, electric and sewer services.
The park also rents cabins and group lodges for overnight stays. Cabins range from two-person accommodations to those for four people. Lodges accommodate as many as 26 people, according to the park website.
Geography
Brownwood and the state park of the same name lie in the Texas Panhandle Plains region that includes a wide variety of natural features, from deep canyons to sprawling grasslands, according to the All Across Texas website. Museums and historic sites preserve the area's Old West and Native American history.
History
Brownwood began as a farming and ranching community in the mid-1800s. When the Santa Fe Railroad came through the area in the late 1800s, the area grew considerably, according to the All Across Texas website. The Texas oil boom of the 1920s brought dozens of oil companies to the area. During World War II, Brownwood housed Camp Bowie, a large U.S. Army training camp.
Member Comments