The only large natural lake in Texas, and it was made by a logjam. The Great Raft — a mass of driftwood in the Red River that at times stretched more than 100 miles — dammed the drainage and backed water into this bottomland. The Army Corps blew the raft apart in the 1870s and the lake began to drain, so a dam was built to keep it. The bald cypress standing in open water here carry Spanish moss at close to its western limit, and the lake is a Ramsar wetland of international importance.
Getting there
32.7080, -94.1000
Locations are approximate and may be inaccurate, on private land, or otherwise inaccessible. Check before you travel.
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
