Huntsville State Park, Lake Raven

This was a beautiful hike (maybe my favorite one ever). The park is in the pineywoods of the Sam Houston National Forest.....the trees are amazingly tall and beautiful, and there are quite a few trails. We only had a few hours (we were on the way to a friend's wedding), so we talked to the ranger and asked for recommendations. We ended up taking the Prairie Branch trail up and and then crossed the lake (here actually a mysterious, marshy area) on a boardwalk. It was beautiful. We went on a ways, and then turned around because we didn't have time to make the complete circle. We can't wait to go back to see more of the park!

Visit this site for park and trail information:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/huntsville/

Lovely picture of the lake with lily pads!

This is me, reading the map! Boardwalks on this trail take you over marshy-bayou areas.