In the Piney Woods Section of East Texas, there are over 50 lakes offering a variety of outdoor sports for vacations or weekends, including Lake Palestine and Lake Tyler, and Toledo Bend Reservoir
Lake Tyler and Lake Tyler East, situated adjacent to each other and connected via a canal, are located just east of Tyler, Texas. These are the largest lakes in the Tyler area in addition to Lake Palestine.
The two lakes cover nearly 5,000 surface acres and serve as the major water supply source to the Tyler metro area.
Lake Palestine is located about 15 miles southwest of Tyler, Texas, on Texas Highway 155, and resulting from a dam on the Neches River. It has a surface area of 25,560 acres, and was completed in 1962.
Blue skies and blue waters ... a perfect day at Lake Palestine! |
Map of Bellwood Lake and Greenbriar Lake in Tyler, Texas |
Bellwood Lake is located in west Tyler, just past Loop 323 near The Cascades development and All Saints Episcopal School. Lake Bellwood was named for the small, nearby community of Bellwood.
The dam was constructed across Indian Creek to form Bellwood Lake, and the lake served as a source of water for Tyler.
The crest of the spillway is 426 feet above sea level, and the lake has a capacity of 1,391 acre-feet.
In 1966 recreational facilities on the east shore of Lake Bellwood included a golf course and a picnic area. By 1981 the Bellwood Country Club had been added. Today, the dam is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an historic structure.
Nearby Bellwood Lake is Greenbriar Lake, and to the north the smaller Lake Park and Lake Hideaway near Lindale.
Faulkner Park Pond is located in south Tyler, near South Broadway Avenue and Cumberland. This area features a covered fishing pier, and a walking trail around a 7-acre pond. The park also offers excellent bird-watching, biking, and hiking. A great place to relax, walk and feed the ducks!
The Pond at Faulkner Park in Tyler |
Map of Lake Placid in Tyler, Texas |
Another fishing pond is located at Woldert Park, located at 701 W. 32nd Street. The park also features hiking and biking trails, pavilions, picnic areas, a sprayground and other recreational options.
Lake Placid is located to the southwest of the city, west of State Highway 155, between Tyler and Pine Cove Christian Camps on Lake Placid Road.
Harvey Lake is located on the campus of the University of Texas at Tyler. It provides a perfect place for canoeing, fishing and recreation for students and faculty.
At 27,264 acres and 315 miles of shoreline, Lake Fork was designed to be a premier bass fishing lake and currently holds records for 34 out of the Top 50 largemouth bass caught in Texas. This popular lake located on the Sabine River in Hopkins, Rains and Wood Counties, 5 miles northwest of Quitman, and north of Mineola. It was impounded in 1980, and today reaches a depth of 70 feet.
Largemouth bass is the most popular sportfish in this reservoir. A combination of restrictive harvest regulations, stocking of Florida strain largemouth, and abundant habitat has contributed to Lake Fork's development as one of the country's premier trophy bass lakes.
Lake Jacksonville, built in 1957, is located three miles southwest of Jacksonville and covers an area of 1,320 acres.
It is the city's main water source and a popular destination for boating, fishing, and other outdoor activities, both for residents and tourists.
Toledo Bend Reservoir is a massive 185,000 acre lake along the Texas and Louisiana boder, with both recreational and power generation benefits.
Boating, fishing, skiing, camping, hiking, birding, golf, and other recreational activities are all popular.
Lake Columbia, a project that has been in the planning stages since 1978 by the Angelina and Neches River Authority, would fill the Mud Creek floodplain, creating a 10,000-acre, 14-mile long, 1.5-mile wide (at its widest point) lake with a dam five miles southeast of Jacksonville.
The current estimated cost cost is $296 million. The lake is expected to yield 85,507 acre-feet of water annually for water supply customers in participating towns and utility districts.
Tyler has a number of other lakes in its immediate vicinity, providing fishing, swimming, water skiing, houseboats, jet skis, sailing and other outdoor and hiking activities.
Within easy driving distance are other lakes such as Toledo Bend Reservoir, Lake Jacksonville, Lake Fork, and Lake Striker.
For more Texas lakes,
visit Texas Freshwater Lakes
provided by Texas Parks and Wildlife
Lake Name |
Size (Acres) |
Toledo Bend Reservoir | 181,600 |
Sam Rayburn | 114,500 |
Livingston | 90,000 |
Richard-Chambers | 41,356 |
Tawakoni | 37,879 |
Cedar Creek | 32,623 |
Fork | 27,264 |
Palestine | 25,560 |
Caddo | 25,400 |
Conroe | 20,118 |
Cooper - Jim Chapman | 19,305 |
Wright Patman | 18,994 |
O' The Pines | 16,919 |
Bois d'Arc (new) | 16,641 |
Steinhagen | 10,687 |
Bob Sandlin | 9,004 |
Pat Mayse | 5,940 |
Martin Creek | 4,981 |
Cherokee | 3,749 |
Murvaul | 3,397 |
East Lake Tyler | 2,276 |
Tyler | 2,224 |
Nacogdoches | 2,212 |
Fairfield | 2,159 |
Monticello | 2,001 |
Striker | 1,863 |
Athens | 1,799 |
Lone Star - Ellison Creek Reservoir | 1,500 |
Sulphur Springs | 1,340 |
Houston County | 1,330 |
Jacksonville | 1,320 |
Welsh | 1,269 |
Brandy Creeek Reservoir | 1,242 |
Gilmer | 1,010 |
Quitman | 814 |
Winnsboro | 806 |
Kurth | 726 |
Naconiche | 692 |
Holbrook | 653 |
Hawkins | 633 |
Pinkston | 523 |
Gladewater | 481 |
Timpson | 223 |
Raven | 203 |
Bellwood | 170 |
Lomond | 92 |
Daingerfield State Park | 80 |
Tyler State Park | 64 |