Texas park ravaged by wildfires opens for holiday

CADDO, Texas — A state park near a picturesque lakeside community ravaged by Texas wildfires has reopened for campers in time for Memorial Day weekend.

April wildfires scorched about 90 percent of Possum Kingdom State Park, located near Caddo about 75 miles west of Fort Worth.

But park superintendent Rocky Holland says camping areas, the beach and picnic area near Possum Kingdom Lake weren't damaged. Visitors also can use the store and marina. The park was to reopen Wednesday.

Campers are urged to bring their own drinking water. Holland says restrooms and showers aren't working because of damaged sewer lines, but portable toilets are available. Cabins and 10 campsites remain off limits.

The blaze burned for two weeks, scorched 127,000 acres in three counties and destroyed more than 160 homes near the lake.

Seattle to New Mexico (and on to Texas): Caddo Lake State Park ...

It was hot and humid but it was a really neat place to visit.  We would like to go back during a different season so we could maybe enjoy it a little more.  The cypress trees drop their foliage and out boat tour captain said that the colors were spectacular... so maybe in the fall...  No cell phone service (ATT) in the park until you got to the front gate.  Someone said Verizon was the only cell service out there, just so you know.  Texas State Parks are working on getting wi-fi in all of their state parks but Caddo doesn't have it yet. About the State Park - we had campsite #42 with water & electricity.  All of the sites were really quite spacious and fairly private - lots of shrubs and brush in between.  There was one loop for tents that were spaced closer together but the RV/tent sites (our loop had tent pads as well) were all nicely spaced.  I only found two showers in one of the restrooms - the other restroom I found didn't have showers.  So if you wanted to use the showers you had quite a wait or you got up early-early.  They were OK-clean.  I mean, camping showers, what can you expect, especially with only two and a full campground?? You can also rent canoes and/or kayaks at the park at the Old Port Caddo Rentals & Tours (http://www.oldportcaddo.com/).  Cindy, the owner and captain, was a hoot.  Very friendly and she is a dog-lover, allowing Hannah & Maggie to tag along on the tour with us.  The 1 hr 15 min cruise was $17.50 pp. We didn't see any gators on out tour, much to Bryan's disappointment. I know there are other tours you could take from various people that are 'gator' tours but that will be for a time when we don't have the dogs with us. Not sure how many other tour operators would allow us to bring the dogs with us.  I guess there is actually a "lake proper" to Caddo Lake. By that I mean, after you meander down Big Cypress Bayou, through the swamp (backwater) you get to 'open' water.  We didn't make it that far and I think, really, the best part of Caddo is the backwater with the cypress trees, the moss... it was really very enchanting and I bet it would be SPOOOOOKKKKYYYY at night.  Very. Spooky. Caddo Lake is a sprawling maze of bayous and sloughs covering, 26,810 acres of cypress swamp. The average depth of the lake is 8'-10' with the deep water in the bayou averaging about 20.

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