Travel USA: Cooper Lake State Park

Travel USA Spring 2021

Getting You There

Destination: Cooper Lake State Park

Cooper Lake State Park

Texas state parks provide scenic locations where visitors can enjoy a wide variety of activities.

My project’s goal is to show the changing of the seasons from winter to spring at Cooper Lake State Park in northeast Texas.

Spring 2021

My images start with showing the park dormant in winter, progressing through a severe snowstorm and finishing with the park coming back to life in spring. I enjoyed experiencing the changes.

The park has been left in its natural state so there is a lot of underbrush and small trees. This provides deer, rabbits, birds and other animals with protection and plenty of places to bed and nest.

During the winter, deer were foraging in areas near the roads that had

previously been burned.

There are songbirds and waterfowl in the park.

Plant life includes post oak, winged elm, bois d’arc, mesquite, eastern red cedar, Mexican wild plum and hickory.

Cooper Lake State Park has two units and is controlled by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

The Doctors Creek Unit features gradual slopes on the north side of the lake near Cooper. The South Sulphur Unit features steeper slopes on the south side of the lake near

Travel USA

Production, editing, layout and design by John Parsons.

Front Cover: Juniper berries covered in frost Back Cover: Poison ivy climbing up a tree All work is the responsibility of John Parsons. © John Parsons. April 2021. All rights reserved.

Sulphur Springs. Both units have boat ramps, camping areas and recreational areas. There are nature trails in both units and hike and bike trails in Doctors Creek. The South Sulphur Unit has an equestrian trail and a special events pond that was stocked with trout.

I consider Cooper Lake State Park a wonderful place where I have been able to relax and spend time with nature. I hope my work shares the park’s beauty and inspires you to make time to visit a park near you.

Cooper Lake State Park offers many amenities

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department operates Cooper Lake State Park, located near Commerce, Cooper and Sulphur Springs, which offers a wide variety of amenities for people who want to get away and recharge their batteries according to Tony Smith, assistant complex superintendent.

The park has 3,026 acres and is divided into two units. This is unique to most state parks but there are a few others.

The Doctors Creek unit measures 715.5 acres and is located on the north side of the lake near

Cooper while the South Sulphur unit encompasses 2,310.5 acres and is on the south side of the lake near Sulphur Springs.

Doctors Creek

Stargazing is possible thanks to night sky friendly lighting.

offers campsites, screen shelters, cottages, fishing, boat ramp, fishing pier, fish cleaning stations, kayaks for rent, recreational areas, hike and bike trails and a group camping area. This unit is quieter, being the smaller of the two.

South Sulphur has campsites, cabins, screen shelters, fishing, boat ramp, fishing pier, fish cleaning stations, kayaks for rent, recreational areas, hiking trails and an equestrian trail. This unit has camp sites on the lake and a larger day use area.

Stargazing is possible at both units as the lighting has been updated

to be night sky friendly.

There is a $2 activity fee for people wanting to photograph or view the sights.

The park hopes to offer activities again this summer. An interpreter is in the process of being hired for the summer and park management wants to create a permanent position in the future, according to Smith.

The park has benefited by the careful use of prescribed burns.

Approximately 800 acres were burned August 2020 while another 100 acres were burned this April. The department coordinates

these burns with TPWD fire program personnel, Texas forestry service staff plus state park personnel trained to assist. This activity opens habitat for more fire-resistant species and encourages grass growth. Burns are planned well in advance with safety and visitors taken into consideration. The process allows for natural regrowth to occur. The goal is to restore the land to its condition before farming changed it 150 years ago.

“The 19,300acre Cooper Lake is a young lake. The Cooper Lake Project was authorized in 1955, and construction began in 1986.

Construction finished and water collection began in

the fall of 1991. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the lake to help control flooding on the South Sulphur River, to supply water for towns in the area, and for outdoor recreation such as fishing and boating,” according to the TPWD website.

The department leased the land from the Army in 1991 and built the park, which opened in 1996. Doctors Creek opened first with South Sulphur opening three months later. The lake opened for boat use in November 1992.

Visitors might see gray fox, bobcat, opossum, beaver, raccoon, whitetailed deer, nine-banded armadillo and eastern

cottontail. Anglers may catch blue and channel catfish, bluegill, Florida largemouth bass, crappie and hybrid striped bass.

Trees include post oak, winged elm, bois d’arc, Texas honey locust, mesquite, eastern red cedar,

“The Park covers 3,026 acres and is divided into two units.”

toothache tree, eastern persimmon, Mexican wild plum and hickory.

The South Sulphur unit has a 3/4-acre special events pond with catfish, bass, crappie and bluegill.

It gets stocked with trout during winter.

The park benefits by having park hosts who are volunteers who assist with staffing the offices and provide repairs and maintenance to camping loops and trails 24 hours each week. Doctors Creek can have up to three hosts while South Sulphur can have up to six. They are provided a campsite with sewer hookup. People interested in becoming a park host should complete the online application or

contact Smith by phone or e-mail.

The park holds public hunts in December and youth hunts in January.

Smith encourages visitors to make reservations to camp as sites will fill up two to three weeks in advance.

Reservations can be made online or by calling the department’s call center.

“The park is convenient for surrounding communities, including Paris, Cooper, Greenville, Sulphur Springs and Commerce, as well as the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and Texarkana,” according to the website.

More information about Cooper Lake State Park is available at tpwd. texas.gov/state-parks/ cooper-lake.