March 2024--Fort Richardson, TX

Photo by Jenny Venturo

Goose Island State Park, TX. For some reason, Texas state parks tend to have better firepit areas than other states.

When we pulled into Fort Richardson State Park in northern Texas, it was raining. We were all grumpy because we knew we would have to buckle down and get soaked while we tried to set up on our site. But everyone perked up when we saw how great our site was. Lost Creek (which we found right away) wound its way in back of it, and trees enclosed a spacious firepit area. Once the rain stopped, we took full advantage of this rare treat. We relaxed around fire after fire and fished with some success in Lost Creek. The landscape was not what I expected in northern Texas—instead of prairie and bison, we found rolling green hills dotted with trees just breaking out in new leaves.

Fort Richardson State Park, as you might have guessed, is centered around an old historic fort. This fort was used as a defense against Native American attacks in the late 1800s. We decided to check out the old buildings and have a history day. We were disappointed because we found we were not allowed inside the fort structures! I think we all prefer creeks and lakes and woods to old forts, anyway.

On the whole, our week in Fort Richardson turned out fun, relaxing, and quiet, despite our wet welcome!