The Lone Star Hiking Trail: The Official Guide to the Longest Wilderness Footpath in Texas

The Lone Star Hiking Trail: The Official Guide to the Longest Wilderness Footpath in Texas

Copyright © 2009 and 2020 by Karen Borski Somers

All rights reserved

Printed in China

Published by Wilderness Press

Second edition, first printing

Editor: Ritchey Halphen

Photos: Karen Borski Somers, except as noted

Maps: Andy Somers, Karen Borski Somers, and Steve Jones

Cover design: Scott McGrew

Text design: Jonathan Norberg and Monica Ahlman

Proofreaders: Emily C. Beaumont, Kate Johnson

Indexer: Joanne Sprott/Potomac Indexing

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Somers, Karen Borski, 1971–

Title: The Lone Star hiking trail : the official guide to the longest wilderness footpath in Texas / Karen Borski Somers.

Description: 2nd edition. | Birmingham, AL : Wilderness Press, An imprint of AdventureKEEN, [2019] Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary:

One of the hidden jewels of Texas, the Lone Star Hiking Trail (LSHT) is the only long-distance National Recreation Trail in the state. At 128 miles—including loop trails—it is the state’s longest continuously marked and maintained footpath. Located in East Texas’s famed Big Thicket area, the trail winds through the thick woodlands of Sam Houston National Forest, an ecologically diverse region within a few hours’ drive of Houston–Galveston, Dallas–Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio. —Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019020727 | ISBN 9780899978888 (pbk.) | ISBN 9780899978895 (ebk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Hiking—Texas—Lone Star Trail—Guidebooks. | Lone Star Trail (Tex.)

Classification: LCC GV199.42.T492 L667 2019 | DDC 796.5109764/243—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019020727

WILDERNESS PRESS

An imprint of AdventureKEEN

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Birmingham, AL 35233

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Cover photo: The Piney Woods of East Texas characterize much of the terrain along the Lone Star Hiking Trail; photo: Tim Maddoux

Page 5: Photo courtesy of the East Texas Research Center, Steen Library, Forest History Collections, Thompson Family Lumber Enterprises Collection, P90T:202, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas. Used with permission.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotations used in reviews.

SAFETY NOTICE Although Wilderness Press and the author have made every attempt to ensure that the information in this book is accurate at press time, they are not responsible for any loss, damage, injury, or inconvenience that may occur to anyone while using this book. You are responsible for your own safety and health while in the wilderness. The fact that a trail is described in this book does not mean that it will be safe for you. Be aware that trail conditions can change from day to day. Always check local conditions, know your own limitations, and consult a map.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD by Marcus Woolf

PREFACE

FROM THE LONE STAR HIKING TRAIL CLUB

OVERVIEW MAP

A BRIEF HISTORY AND INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE: History of the Trail

Human History of the LSHT

Natural History of the LSHT

CHAPTER TWO: Hiking the Trail

How to Use This Book

Maps

Trail and Mile Markers

Trail Access, Parking, and Shuttle Services

Trail Conditions

Seasons and Weather

Water

Rules and Regulations

Trail Ethics

Thru-Hiking

Equipment

Hazards and Personal Safety

CHAPTER THREE: Trail Sections

Section 1: Wilderness

Section 2: Kelly

Section 3: Conroe

Section 4: Huntsville

Section 5: Phelps

Section 6: Four Notch

Section 7: Big Woods

Section 8: Magnolia

Section 9: Big Creek

Section 10: Tarkington

Section 11: Winters Bayou

APPENDIXES

Appendix A: Resources and Contact Information

Appendix B: References and Recommended Reading

Appendix C: Equipment and Food Checklists

Appendix D: Consolidated Mileage of the LSHT

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

THE LONE STAR HIKING TRAIL CLUB

DEDICATION

For June and Jo

And for all those lost to us.

May they be just ahead around the bend in the trail that we haven’t yet reached.

FOREWORD

By Marcus Woolf

IT’S STRANGE TO MARCH down a trail with a measuring wheel, slowly ticking off the distance, foot by foot, watching carefully for that magic number—5,280 feet, the number of feet in a mile. Time to once again hit the reset button.

Mapping a trail and simply hiking it are two very different things. Creating a guidebook requires incredible discipline and attention to detail, and this is precisely what Karen Somers brings to The Lone Star Hiking Trail. As she measures each step, she notes the fine details—seasonal streams, potential camping spots, and the character of the forest, from the junglelike feel of a stand of dwarf palmettos to the waterfall in a secret nook of the trail’s Magnolia Section. Accompanying her descriptive prose are helpful charts that allow hikers to quickly glance at notable waypoints that lie along the way. Karen achieves a great balance with her work, carefully weaving together crucial data and keen observations that will pique a hiker’s interest. It is one thing to tell people when to turn left or right and where water sources lie; it is another to capture the sights and sounds of a place and draw the reader into the scene.

Many people take the first steps toward writing a guidebook but soon abandon the project due to the sheer effort involved. Others enjoy a few days of hiking where they jot down the various plants, animals, and natural features along the way. And more hikers have embraced the idea of marking their routes with a GPS unit. But to do these things, and more, day after day, in blazing heat, numbing cold, or relentless downpour—this is where many book projects wither.

Having written my own trail guide for the Atlanta area, I can appreciate Karen’s determination in mapping the 128 miles that make up the Lone Star Hiking Trail and nearby loops. The complex nature of the project—recording information with the GPS, writing notes, taking photographs, pushing that wheel—can become a weary exercise. At some point, a person’s love for a place and the desire to share it become the fuel that sustains the effort. One thing I know from seeing this piece of work is that Karen has a special place in her heart for this path and the wild lands of her native Texas.

A project like this requires not only love but practical experience as well. Karen has thru-hiked the 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail and the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail. When she and her husband, Andy, trekked along the PCT, Karen published a wonderfully descriptive blog that first introduced me to her writing ability and keen eye. That five-month journey over formidable terrain honed her mapping skills and gave her the confidence to chronicle the Lone Star Hiking Trail. Under the cool blue winter skies of Texas, she often hiked with little more than the rattle of a measuring wheel to keep her company. Having experienced the same type of journey myself, I can imagine her pausing on a quiet stretch of trail and leaning over to press the reset button, watching it roll from 5,280 feet to 0. With many more miles to go, I can picture her standing still for a moment to hear the wind in the pines. She wipes the sweat from her brow and smiles, remembering that this is not just work, but a chance to share something wonderful.

MARCUS WOOLF has worked as an editor and writer for outdoor trade and consumer media for more than 20 years. He is the author of Afoot & Afield Atlanta (Wilderness Press).

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

A LOT HAS CHANGED in the decade since I set out on a new and sometimes intimidating adventure: writing the first published guidebook to the Lone Star Hiking Trail (LSHT). The trail has changed, too, seeing more usage and notoriety in local and national trail communities, winning a struggle between users that allowed it to retain its status as foot-traffic-only, and getting plenty of TLC from volunteers who have put in countless hours to brush, repair, and mark it. In a nutshell, the LSHT is better than ever—and I hope that this guidebook is too!

Well signed and well maintained, the LSHT is ready to take you on new adventures. Photo: Jose Rodriguez

When it was time for a second edition, I set out to hike the length of the LSHT again. Along with desk-based research, all new field data allowed me to overhaul this guidebook with updated trail information and enhanced maps. Taking into account the trail reroute in Section 8, I’ve updated all of the mileages and added mile markers to the maps. This edition also provides the locations of new primitive campsites and includes information on designated hunting-season campsites put into effect by recent U.S. Forest Service regulations.

Using on-ground hiking reports collected during the drought of 2011 by Dave Wade and the LSHT Club, I’ve also incorporated the club’s excellent DROPS water-availability system (see). Some photos have been updated, and of course I’ve updated the information on trail towns, shuttles, contacts, parks, and side trails. All of the step-by-step trail descriptions have been updated, noting new water sources, shortcut trails, damaged bridges, and upcoming construction plans. For consistency with other resources, the Bayou Section is now broken into two smaller sections, Tarkington and Winters Bayou. All 11 maps now include mile markers, parking-lot names, ponds, designated campsites, updated roads, and all side trails.

On my data-gathering hikes, I used a Garmin 60 CS and Garmin eTrex 10 GPS to chart the LSHT track and, ultimately, to generate the section maps. I recorded trail mileage using a mechanical measuring wheel with an error rate of approximately +/–1%. Trail descriptions and observations are based on voice notes recorded on audiotape during the hike. My original 2006 thru-hike, along with photos, is posted at trailjournals.com/lonestar.

When I was young, the Sam Houston National Forest, which sat on the shoreline just across from the Lake Conroe property that my parents owned, seemed like a vast wild place, a deep and mysterious realm. My first LSHT thru-hike in 2006 put a little dent in that notion with every road or pipeline passed, but now I can say that my perception of the forest has changed greatly. Satellite views, now so effortlessly accessed online, show the forest as a somewhat small, dark, green island of trees in a vast patchwork of civilization.

Thanks to the vision of others before us, we have a protected footpath winding for a hundred miles through this forest refuge where we can walk quietly, and alone with our thoughts if we like. Where we can take our children and show them what all of East Texas once was—where we can drink from clear streams and watch the sun set in the tall pines. More than ever before, the LSHT is a singularity and a treasure, for us and for the wild things.

One of my initial fears associated with authoring this guidebook was that, with more publicity, the LSHT would cease to be the forgotten trail, ripe with solitude, that I first discovered back in the late 1990s. I truly thought long and hard about whether I wanted to bring more attention to the trail. But then I thought about the people living in southeast Texas who believed (just as I did once) that the best long-distance hiking trails were far away, in other states. I