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The Cross Timbers Hiking Trail is a 14.2 mile popular point-to-point trail located near Gordonville, Texas that follows the terrain along Lake Texoma and is rated as moderate. The Trail is designed for hiking, mountain biking, camping, and dogs are welcome on the trail as long as they are leashed.
Cross Timbers Hiking Trail – A Little Background on the Trail
The Cross Timbers Trail was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1969 and is maintained by local Boy Scout Troupes, the Dallas Chapter of the Sierra Club, Texoma Outdoor Club, and the Corps. During the winter of 1975 and 1976 the trails were remarked, wilderness camps established and the names giving to these locations.
There are several starting points and those are Juniper Point, Cedar Bayou, and Paw Paw Creek. The official starting point is at Juniper Point and will get you that 14+ mile hike you are looking for. Parking is free, but overnight parking/camping is not. I’m not sure what the cost to stay at Juniper Point if you need to leave your car, but camping at the primitive camping spots along the trail is free. If you decide to park at the Cedar Bayou there is a $5 per day parking fee even when parked along the road. I haven’t been out to Paw Paw Creek and will update parking information when I have it.
Trail Features
The hiking trail is a narrow natural surface one person wide trail that runs parallel to the mountain bike trail. At times, the trails cross each other. Portions of the surface may be sandy or crushed gravel/clay mixture. The trail winds through the woods following the edge of the lake. At times the narrow trail is against a small cliff edge that overlooks the lake or switch backs up a small 150 foot (or small heights) elevation gain.
The Juniper Point to Cedar Bayou section of the trail starts at the shoreline and winds its way up the rocky ledges and has impressive views of the lake. Once Cedar Bayou is reached, the trail goes through a blackjack oak woodlands that the trail gets its name from. This section of the trail has many elevation changes. Between Paw Paw Creek and Rock Creek Camp the trail is more flat and not many trees.
Our First Experience
My wife and I love this trail. It’s one of the hardest trails in the area and it has free primitive camping along the trail. For us, this is a great option. We haven’t done overnight backpacking before and I think this trail would be a good option for first timers to sort out any issues that may come up.
As to the trail, I did have some issues during the hill climbs and required hike poles to help with the hike. I mostly used the poles to help go hills and lean against when I needed a short rest. My wife is in better shape and didn’t need her hiking poles. She did use one of mine for a little while.
We arrived later than planned so we weren’t able to hike as far as we wanting to. We then had to find a good place to park since most of the parking near the trail head was taken. Surprisingly we didn’t see many people on the trail. We maybe saw four or five families on the trail. Most of them were on their way back to the trail head.
We hiked a few miles and not really sure how far we got since my GPS crashed during our hike. Without internet service, we couldn’t reconnect to AllTrails Free App (We now have AllTrails Pro and this shouldn’t be an issue) until we found internet along the trail.
Tips for the Trail
- Use the toilet before heading onto the trail. There are chemical toilets at Juniper Point but non on the trail. If you need to go on the trail, bring supplies to take the solids with you.
- Bring plenty of water. There is not water on the trail and no supply options at the trail head. In fact, there isn’t any stores nearby.
- Wear sunscreen. Even under the trees, you can get sun burned. There are sections of the trails that aren’t under the trees.
- Watch out for snakes, both poisonous and non-poisonous can be found on the trail.
- Use Off or other bug repellants. Mosquitos, red bugs, and ticks will find their to you and your group.
- Use a service like AllTrails Pro and download the map before you get there. Internet services doesn’t always work out on the trail.
Directions to the Trailhead
From Whitesboro, TX, travel 13 miles north on Highway 377. The campground is on both sides of the highway as the highway enters the Willis Bridge crossing into Oklahoma. The east side access is a controlled entrance park. The west side access is where the trailhead for the Cross Timbers hiking trail is located. – recreation.gov
Park at the F area lot at Juniper Point Park West, by the lake, just west of U.S. 377.
About the Images
Some Images from the Cross Timbers Hiking Trail were shot on a mid to late sunny afternoon with my Sony a6000 and my Sony SELP18105G E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS with a K&F Polarized Lens and shot by hand. I then edited the images with Adobe Lightroom CC and Topaz Labs Denoise AI and Topaz Labs Sharpen AI and DXO NIK Collection to clean up the images, remove noise, and recover the lost details.
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