Caddo Lake State Park

Top choice


Caddo Lake State Park is a good place to start your lake adventure. Take an interpretive hike through the cypress forest on the lake’s western edge. Or, in summer, rent a canoe from the on-site concession, Old Port Caddo Rentals & Tours. The park has some great little cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the 46 riverside tent sites are pretty sweet.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Atlanta Private Railway Car

11.14 MILES

Rail baron Jay Gould once offered to bring the railroad to Jefferson, but the town (inauspiciously) turned him down, deciding to bet its future on river…

2. Excelsior House

11.15 MILES

This central, historic hotel was built in the 1850s by a riverboat captain. Famous guests have included US presidents Ulysses S Grant and Rutherford B…

3. Jefferson Historical Museum

11.18 MILES

The three-story, 1888 brick courthouse contains interesting exhibits on early life in east Texas and the original Caddo Indian tribe. There's interesting…

4. The Grove

11.38 MILES

The Grove, a private home built in 1861, had reports of hauntings way back in 1882. Take an hour-long tour with owner and author Michael Whittington, who…

5. Walter B Jacobs Memorial Nature Park

16.18 MILES

If you're feeling the need for fresh air after the reconstituted, sweaty oxygen of the casinos, head out here and stomp around 5 miles of nature trails …

6. Gardens of the American Rose Center

20.38 MILES

If you're a rose lover, it would be a shame to miss these gardens, which contain more than 65 individual areas designed to show how roses can be grown in…

7. Enoch's Stomp

21.8 MILES

The wine industry is literally growing in east Texas; several vineyards lie within an hour's drive of Jefferson. Locals favor Enoch's Stomp for its…

8. Louisiana State Exhibit Museum

26.67 MILES

Built in 1939, this museum is worth visiting if only to gawk at its exterior, a fine example of period art deco that resembles an appealing hybrid of an…