SW Trip 2014 - Village Creek State Park, Lumberton, TX

Village Creek State Park – Lumberton, TX

April 3 – 6

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This Texas State Park is just a few miles north of Beaumont. When we arrived at this park, we instantly liked it! The rangers were very friendly and helpful. We were provided all the maps, general info on the park without even having to ask! They allowed us to drive around and pick the site we wanted. Rick & Debbie had arrived prior to us, and the ranger suggested two sites they called “buddy sites”. These worked out perfectly, we were close to each other and basically shared a common outdoor space.

The first afternoon, Debbie and I ran into town to look for firewood, gas and a few grocery items. Later in the evening the guys made a large campfire, as we had bought a large bundle of wood at the market. We hung out by the fire for awhile, but the wind was blowing smoke all around. We called it a night and headed inside.

In the morning, after coffee and breakfast, we geared up for mountain biking. This park has excellent mountain biking trails, which we really enjoyed during our four days there. The trails were designated as easy to advanced. Debbie and I both rode most of the trails, even part of the advanced one! We both feel we are getting much better and stronger as we ride more. We rode the trails for the remaining three days.

The next day, we had arranged an outfitter for a shuttle. Rick, Debbie, Kurt and I had a relaxing, beautiful day on Village Creek. The Creek is more like a river, has good current and was pretty much an easy downstream float. Kurt decided to bring Kody, since he’d been cooped up so much on this trip.  There were many nice sandbars along the winding river. We stopped at some, to rest, eat lunch and let Kody run. At one point, Kurt decided to let Kody off his kayak at the beginning of large sandbars and then pick him back up at the end of each sandbar. Boy, was this a great idea, Kody loved it and it was his best river kayak ever! I’m sure he will get to do this again when there are nice sandbars.

The last night, we had a really, nice campfire and we hung out into the evening. It was a lot of fun to relax around the warm fire as it had been pretty chilly at night.

We would highly recommend this park for its great outdoor activities and excellent campground (really clean, nice bathhouses). The friendly rangers were also a very positive attribute. It was one of those parks where we immediately felt at home. We reluctantly departed to head to Austin, Texas.