At Bonham State Park, You Can Camp, Paddle and Unplug

Under the direction of entities like the National Park Service and the Texas State Parks Board, men from the Civilian Conservation Corps Company 894 cut trees, moved dirt and constructed buildings out of the materials they harvested from the rough ground about four miles southeast of Bonham.

All these years later, the structures built by the young men of Company 894 still stand and serve visitors to the park, including myself.

“Right here is where we took that picture,” I say to my wife, Kristy, as we stroll by the old stonework near the lakeside pavilion at Bonham State Park. It’s been a while since the last time we were in this exact spot. It was in the early ’90s, when we were a young dating couple, and we came to Bonham State Park to get our picture made together.

Now, here we are, 35 years later, standing in the spot where we started our lives together. In that picture, she’s wearing Rocky Mountain jeans with a colorful top. I am sporting Wrangler jeans, a starched blue Wrangler shirt and a felt Resistol hat — typical fashion of the day for two rural kids from Fannin County. In a way, it feels as if this place was made for people just like us.

When that picture was made, we’d both already had a long history with Bonham State Park. Each summer, we often saw each other on Saturday afternoons at the swim area. We didn’t know each other at the time, but we were both drawn to the same place for the same reasons — a cool spot to swim where you could hang out with your friends and listen to tunes blaring from the jukebox under the nearby pavilion.

When we visited the park recently, it seemed that things hadn’t changed all that much. Just a hundred yards away, a couple of teenage girls floated past in a paddleboat on the lake where we’d spent so much time. Through all the years, the park is just as vibrant a place as it is in my memories. At 302 acres, Bonham State Park is relatively small by Texas standards, but what it lacks in size it makes up for with plenty of activities and a rich history.

This 1.3-mile hike takes you on a leisurely stroll around the 65-acre lake. This trail is great for those who want to carry on a conversation or to fish the edges of the shoreline. The loop is a combination of a graveled trail tucked into the edge of the woods with occasional openings peeking over the lake and a paved trail where the road begins.

Take this trail through the hardwood forest below the dam. You’ll see oaks, hackberries, bois d’arcs and cedar elms. This trail alone is 1.3 miles long, but you can connect with the Bois d’Arc Trail for a longer excursion.

Along this 2.7-mile trail, which takes hikers along the eastern fringes of the park, you’ll get to walk past many CCC structures, like an old footbridge and the tower that once supplied the park with water. The varied topography and elevation changes make this the most challenging trail in the park.

All of the park’s campsites allow tents. The seven tent-only sites (with water and electricity) are tucked under the trees and along the lakeside on the east end of the CCC pavilion. A separate group camping site can host up to 50 people. A large fire pit at the group campsite is designed to make for an unforgettable night spent fireside.

The old park barracks sleep up to 94 people, and rental of the facility includes use of a group hall with kitchen, bathrooms, an outdoor pavilion, a half basketball court and other amenities.

Fourteen of Bonham State Park’s 21 campsites are compatible with RVs. Two of those offer full hookups, and the rest have water and electricity.

In front of the old boathouse, where the park stores watercraft like kayaks and canoes, a picturesque pier leads out onto the tranquil state park lake. Instead of pointing your camera toward the lake, flip the camera and snap a picture of yourself with the historic boathouse and grassy shore in the background.

Even a small park can offer habitat for many species of wildlife, from some very chunky eastern fox squirrels (perhaps candidates for next year’s Fat Squirrel Week?) to frogs, dragonflies and rabbits. The park’s lake offers a chance to see birds such as egrets and four species of heron, as well as various waterfowl and belted kingfishers. Keep an eye out in the surrounding woodlands for woodpeckers, including the yellow-bellied sapsucker, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker and the northern flicker.

Bonham State Park has a swimming beach just a short distance from the pavilion, so it’s easy to have a picnic on the grass and go for a swim. If you get tired of swimming, you can rent a paddleboat from the CCC boathouse or bring your own kayak and cruise the shorelines in search of beavers and songbirds. For prospective anglers, the 65-acre lake is home to a healthy population of largemouth bass, channel catfish and sunfish.

These much-storied trees, also known as Osage orange, are a medium-sized, thorny tree known for their durable wood and distinctive yellow-green fruit. The tree holds an important place in history because its wood was widely used to craft hardy bows, fence posts, wagon wheels and other tools. In fact, bois d’arc means “bow wood” in French.

Bring your favorite board game, a chess set or even a puzzle and set up on the tables located in the historic picnic area. Want to get active? Play a game of beach volleyball on the sand courts or head for the horseshoe pits — don’t forget to bring your own ball and horseshoes.

All trails at Bonham State Park allow bikes. On the park’s more challenging terrain, including the Bois D’Arc Trail, a mountain bike will provide a most comfortable experience.

For those interested in education, check the park’s schedule for a variety of educational talks and activities that take place each month. Programming includes guided history talks, art in the park and expert storytelling by park interpreters.