Must-see attractions in Northeast Texas

Romantics, be prepared to swoon: home to the country’s biggest domestic supply of roses, Tyler is also home to this 14-acre garden with 38,000 plants in…

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,…

Camp Ford was the largest prisoner of war (POW) camp run by the Confederacy west of the Mississippi. Opened in 1863, it held over 5000 Union prisoners;…

Remnants of Texas’ Native American past are few and far between. So the 1200-year-old ceremonial mounds at Caddoan Mounds State Historic Site, just 25…

This historic cemetery received its first customer in 1837 and was soon the preferred resting place for a variety of early Texas pioneers. Note how early…

Get a sense of the simple life led by less-affluent farmers at c 1835 Durst-Taylor house. Docents grow gardens appropriate to the period here and…

Oil is not the only kind of drilling Kilgore is famous for; the town also claims bragging rights as home to the world's oldest women's precision drill…

El Camino Real, the royal road connecting missions between Mexico City and current-day Louisiana, ran right through Nacogdoches. At Mission Tejas State…

Trace the town's boom – and bust – at the evocative East Texas Oil Museum, with vivid exhibits that do an admirable job re-creating the pre-oil discovery…

With 251 sq miles, Davy Crockett National Forest is one of the less developed forests and contains the Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area, and the picturesque,…

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…

Walk the mile-long vineyard trail, have a taste or take a tour (confirm schedule in advance); located 15 miles southeast of downtown. The winery produces…

When 7000 plants bloom each spring at this botanical garden it's an explosion of colors and an azalea extravaganza. There are three different mapped…

This refuge, 13 miles north of downtown Tyler, is home to over 50 big cats that have been rescued from non-zoo captivity across the country. Tour the…

Along the Texas–Louisiana border, Sabine National Forest lines the west bank of Toledo Bend Reservoir, where you’ll find recreational, boating and camping…

The Sterne-Hoya House, built in 1830, is a good example of a refined town house of the era, and was the site of Sam Houston's baptism (sites visited by…

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…

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…

Tour a slightly ragtag collection of 12 old buildings dating from 1820 to 1905, including a schoolhouse and a variety of log cabins. Weekends, hands-on…

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