Texas is a huge state; I mean massive. When most people think of Texas, iconic western desert landscapes or even rolling hills of grass, wheat or corn come to mind. What a lot of people are missing out on is Eastern Texas. Hilly, with massive sycamore and hickory trees dotting the landscape, cattle ranches with grass and trees and lakes placed all over for boating and fishing.

We stayed at Lake Murvaul, do not hurt yourself trying to pronounce it (or figure out what it is – owned by the county, managed by the state and is a privately owned campground?), “Mer-vall”. It is in Eastern Texas, just an hour from Louisiana and about 2 hours from Arkansas.

The campground itself is ok, normal rv parking lot, but we got an incredivle lakeside spot. All of the campsites have picnic tables, 30/50 amp, water and sewer, but there are only 19 reservable. The remaining 67 are permanent campers, which can be uncomfortable to be around. No fire pits, rings, anything – people seem to just light a fire in the grass!

Texas Lakes

Texas lakes are scattered throughout the state, but predominantly exist in the eastern portion. Even here, where deer and the antelope play, they are largely man-made. This one is no exception. It does not take away from its beauty and the wildlife that makes it a home.

We were walking along the shore early in the evening and notice a large amount of white dots in the trees on a small island in the lake. Then all of the white dots flew around in circles, only to roost back in the trees. Near as we can tell, Texas has a lot of herons in the lake areas!

The lakes draw anglers, swimmers, campers and just people looking for a scenic place to take in a meal. It is a truly beautiful lake, although a little small. We were lucky and the weather was crystal clear. There is a boat ramp and several piers sprinkled all over the shore.

Marina at the Lake

Lake Murvaul has a small Marina which has a restaurant inside. What it lacks in variety, it more than makes up for in charm and customer service. We generally do not eat at campgrounds, and prefer to go find mom & pop locations out and about. We ate at this one twice. Everyone was very accommodating and it just felt like a comfortable place to get some food (the fried pickles are amazing!) lakeside!

Everything really is bigger in Texas!

Ok, not everything – but since when do people throw an entire house on a flatbed and take it for a drive? I have seen trailers, houses cut in half, but a whole dang house? This one was rolling down a backroad taking in the scenery and doing its absolute best to not take out mailboxes along the way.

Exploring the area

This was not our usual cup of tea. There were not any hikes, so all walking was around the campground and shore. We did manage to go see some of the unique quirky Texas-like things around town. What would a trip in Texas be with some oddities and small town charm? We ended up in Still Water Cowboy Church, Milanos Pizza, a truck stop, a mexican restaurant, some wierd little shops and gas stations in the back waters and pretty sure we heard a record needle screech to a halt in more than one of these!

I promised Longhorns…

There were so many different types of cattle ranches all around. Most were milking cows, long floppy ears with long faces. We did get to see a small field of longhorns. Absolutely amazing animals. Not only are the horns huge, the cattle are massive. We caught them at siesta time, and did not want to disturb them or get some lead poisoning for aggravating his livestock, so Ash just took some quick pictures from the side of the road.

No desert this trip!

Don’t worry, we will certainly be spending some time in some deserts, in Texas or elsewhere! We just did not do that this trip. Check out our archives. Then check out some high desert articles, some hot desert articles. Finally take a look at all of the cool pictures!