Up next in 10
Cross Timbers Texoma Hiking Trail on Lake Texoma
3K views
May 22, 2024
This video is about the Cross Timbers Texoma Hiking Trail, which is a backpacking trail on Lake Texoma in North Texas. Trailhead: https://goo.gl/maps/yKpuX1NfpfGPofZT6 Campgrounds: https://www.laketexoma.com/camping-rv-parks-map Join our Lake Texoma Facebook Page (60k strong!): https://www.facebook.com/laketexoma In this video: 0:00 - What is the Cross Timbers Trail? 0:22 - I just hiked this trail 0:52 - Can you hike the whole trail? 1:21 - What's the trail like? 2:00 - Don't get lost! 3:55 - Beauty & Scenery 4:20 - What is Cross Timbers prairieland? 5:22 - Pit stops along the way 5:48 - You can camp here 6:44 - My review of this trail
View Video Transcript
0:01
What's up everybody, it's Simon from Lake
0:02
Today we're out on beautiful Lake Texoma in North Texas, and we're talking about the
0:07
Cross Timbers Texoma Hiking Trail. This is a 12 mile long trail that you can backpack
0:15
This is one of the few trails in the entire area that you can backpack in, make it a multi-day trip
0:22
So I have this healthy sheen and glow about me because I just finished a hike
0:28
I was tagging along with a buddy today. He's doing about half the trail
0:33
And I tagged along for two and a half miles. I made it to Cedar Bayou, which is kind of the first, you know, real improved spot where you pop out of the woods
0:42
And it's like, whoa, there's asphalt. Right. So across the street, keep going through the woods
0:47
I turn around, made my way back. It's hard to do the whole trail end to end in one day
0:54
It's about 12 miles end to end. 24 mile hiking and one day I've done 23 before and that's a whooping I mean you're leaving in the dark
1:04
you're getting back in the dark I mean you really have to really really want to but here you probably
1:10
want to split that up if you're going to do the whole trail in to end and back you probably want to
1:15
split it up take some light backpacking gear and make camp somewhere along the way so the trail
1:22
is a single track trail and it's pretty well care for. You know, you can tell when there are homemade signs telling you which way to go
1:32
and there are mason jar lids, nailed the trees, you know, to kind of as trail markers along
1:37
the way You can tell that it a pretty well path I only crossed one other person today one stranger So it got a nice balance of being open and feeling like you out in the
1:54
wild, but it's improved enough to not get lost. That said, there are plenty of offshoots and little loops
2:03
around these points and stuff, and I did get a little sideways on one. I, you know, forgot which way we
2:09
turn, you know, when we're going, climbing up this hill, I ended up making two right turns and then
2:15
a wrong turn at three junctions and found myself in a loop. And so I had to figure out, it was a little
2:21
bit of a puzzle there for a minute, to figure out which of the three turns was the wrong turn
2:27
right? But use my noggin, figured it out. I didn't bring my trail markers, so that's on me
2:34
But you might want to bring trail markers. I wouldn't bring, you know, like a stand
2:39
blaze orange ones because these trails are there is there is kind of a main trail
2:45
right so and that's marked out pretty well so you wouldn't want to confuse other
2:49
hikers by you know marking your trail having them think it's the main trail so if you
2:56
do come out here and you know there's a there's a split you can go this where
3:00
that way bring up you know your own color a yellow pink or bright green or
3:08
something like that. Just like a ribbon. I mean, dollar store ribbon. That's all it really takes
3:12
right? Just tied on a little branch so that when you're coming back, you say, oh, we went this
3:17
way, not that way, right? Put it on the corner that you turned. So if there's a branch like this
3:22
and you turn this corner, tie it to the tree on right here. So when you're coming back, you know
3:26
to go that way So that something I might suggest because there there is plenty of homemade signs and all that kind of stuff But it looks like maybe there like a trail race or something out here So there there a lot of extra loops where it says like runners this way bikers that way And I got a little sideways and I been hiking my whole life
3:47
So maybe I wasn't paying as much of attention as I should have been for hiking a
3:52
trail for the first time. But something to think about. As far as the beauty, the beauty of this of this trail is off the charts
4:02
I mean, this is like Texas beauty right here. I mean, it is, it's cross timbers country, which is a younger growth woods, and it's a big mix
4:14
So you have a lot of oak trees mixed with all kinds of different other local trees
4:19
And it's in the nature of cross timbers kind of prairie land is that it's really dense
4:25
And so it's really hard to kind of bushwhack your way through cross timbers
4:32
So they used to, you know, back in the wagon trail days or, you know, you're riding horses across the country
4:39
they used to have to go around, you know, kind of these fingers of cross timbers land
4:44
So that's where it comes from. That's where it gets a name
4:49
And that is very evident on this trail. I mean, there are just beautiful glens in hollows and draws, creeks and points and hills and like just all kinds
5:02
of stuff. Lookouts, you know, you dip down to the shore and you're back up on on the ridge
5:09
And so just lots of variety. There's there's no shortage of variety and interesting, you know
5:17
trail terrain on this hike That for sure It also unique in that there are you know a couple of marinas along the way There Cedar Bayou which is a huge huge marina And Rock Creek Marina over here there a marina Paw Creek Paw Creek at the end
5:39
And so there are actually pretty nice little breaks along the way
5:44
It just happens to be just because it'll lay of the land. So there's actually improved camping on Juniper Point
5:51
There's RV, you know, legit level concrete RV pads by the boat ramp up here in this area with a shower house
6:03
And then there's unimproved spots all around, even all the way up here to the trailhead right behind me
6:11
And if you can book those, visit lake texoma.com. We have a complete list of campgrounds that are on Lake Texoma
6:19
and you can start your adventure there. But this would be an awesome place to camp out here on this point
6:26
I mean, you have your own shorefront. Like most of the camp spots have their own shorefront
6:32
So if you want to fish, you know, mess around in the water, if you like to boat, you know, if you want to do a boating hiking trip
6:40
this is a really awesome area. This is a really awesome area. So I have to say my first time on this trail
6:46
I'm just blown away at how awesome this trail is. If you like hiking at all, if you're in North Texas or Southern Oklahoma
6:57
I encourage you to get out here for a day hike. It is just absolutely an awesome trail
7:03
I can't wait till my kids are tall enough, big enough to hang with me
7:07
and do the whole thing backpacking. That's going to be a really good time. That's it for today
7:13
Get outside, get on the lake, get out there and have some fun. Thank you
#Hiking & Camping
#Outdoors
#Tourist Destinations