Possum Kingdom State Park
In July, we did the Peach Pedal bike rally. Hosted in Weatherford, TX, it has 8, 20, 40, and 60 mile options. Best part— there are fresh peaches at each rest stop!
This year, we decided to extend our weekend by going to a nearby state park after the rally. Lake Mineral Wells State park was completely full, so we headed to Possum Kingdom State Park, which is about an hour northwest of Weatherford.
This turned out to the be a great decision! This park has just enough hiking for a 100 deg day and great swimming area. We also lucked out by choosing a perfect camping spot near both of those things!
History
You might think that the park is overrun by a monarchy of marsupials, but alas, we did not see a single possum. Apparently the name likely dates from a fur trader from the early twentieth century, who referred to hunters from this area as "the boys from the possum kingdom."
The park is the last of the parks built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, completed in 1942.
Amenities
This park has RV spots with electricity (so necessary for this time of year!).
It is in the middle of nowhere, so definitely pick up everything you need and make sure you have a plenty of gas before heading off the highway. There is a state park store that offers concession-type food (e.g., burgers, grilled cheese).
Hiking
Possum Kingdom is primarily a "lake park", but there are two small groups of hiking trails, one of which was just down the road from our campsite on the west side of the park. The Lakeview Trail is pretty easy, but the Longhorn Trail ascends pretty steeply to some great scenic views of the park.
You can see the van from up here!
We went up the Longhorn Trail from the south and ended up turning around at the peak. The descent looked precarious enough we didn't really want to tackle it without hiking sticks; also, this way we got to see the entirely of the Lakeview Trail.
We also saw a few deer on our route, but they pranced by too quickly for a picture. We also encounter a cool-looking, striped lizard, probably a male six-lined racerunner. (They are the fastest lizards in North America, which explains why it was difficult to get a good picture of him!)
Nice stripes!
Swimming
After a long bike ride Saturday and a short hike Sunday morning, we were ready to just hang out in Possum Kingdom Lake.
We really lucked out by getting spot 19 in the Spanish Oaks camping area on the west side of the park— one of the two spots with direct access to the designated swimming area. It was really nice just to be able to be in and out of the water all day without making a trek.
The lake water was the perfect temp and one of the clearer lakes I've been in. When boats drove by and made waves, I could almost pretend I was in the ocean.
The swimming area— ahhhhhhhhhh.
The Song
As Toadies’ fans, we were excited to see the setting of their creepy song named for the lake, which fortunately do not document anything like a real incident. Singer/writer Todd Lewis merely thought that Possum Kingdom had an eerie quality. We have to be honest, we did not pick up on that— it seems like a sunny, happy place! (Texas Monthly has a great article on the origins of this song!)
Summary
Possum Kingdom is the perfect summer weekend retreat. We will definitely be making a yearly trip of this!
