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Fall is Just Around the Corner at Cooper Lake State Park!

Fall is Just Around the Corner at Cooper Lake State Park!
  • PublishedAugust 28, 2019


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Fall begins this month and always brings a wealth of fun opportunities to be experienced at Cooper Lake State Park!  During this month of seasonal transition, a total of 29 programs focused on family fun and learning about our natural world will be presented.  Our highlighted program topics for September are Night Hikes, Astronomy – stars stories and viewing, Archery Classes, Dutch Oven Cooking, Edible and Useful Local Plants and a Sunset Kayaking Adventure!  Hike through the woods after dark and see what the nocturnal environment reveals to you with the help of a Park Ranger guiding your adventure.  Experience the darkest skies where you can see the Milky Way so close to Dallas!  Learn the original one-pot cowboy cooking style that is so easy and tasty. Just watch and learn with the help of experienced Dutch oven cooks or try the technique for yourself – you can do it!  Experience the sunset across the lake as you hone your kayaking skills while exploring nearshore parts of Cooper Lake on your adventure.  Learn how to safely enjoy the sport of archery through two scheduled classes during the month.  Also, during the month, learn about a wide variety of fungi, plants, and animals common to Northeast Texas through multiple programs and so much more!  All programs are free with a valid entrance permit.

Bring each fun and learning-packed Saturday to a fitting conclusion with your family and friends by relaxing at a picnic table watching your food cook on one of our many day-use picnic grills.  If you are camping, relaxing around a campfire in the evening is unbeatable!  The cooler nights will add to the experience. The flickering light of a campfire will lift your spirits and reconnect you to days gone by.  There is no better place to share a story or eat a meal!

Fish from the bank, off our pier, fishing wall, or rent a kayak and try your luck along the shoreline.  Fish attractors have been placed around the Doctor’s Creek floating fishing pier and the fishing wall at South Sulphur to help increase fishing success.  Crappie, bluegill, bass, and catfish are commonly caught at both park units. Fishing licenses are not required if you are fishing from the bank or fishing pier at Cooper Lake State Park.  Other popular activities are hiking our trails or just resting under a giant Post Oak tree or camping at one of our tree-canopied campsites. Park entrance fees are $5 for adults; kids 12 and under always free.  Senior Texans 65 or older will only pay $3 to enter the park daily with a Bluebonnet Pass.  Unlimited park entrances for you and everyone in your vehicle can be accomplished with the purchase of a Texas State Park Annual Pass for $70, which is good for over 12 months. Buy your pass and let your Texas adventure begin!

For more information on this or other events and programs, please visit and like our Facebook pages (Cooper Lake State Park – South Sulphur (903)-945-5256 and Cooper Lake State Park – Doctor’s Creek (903) 395-3100).

Doctor’s Creek Unit (Northside of Cooper Lake – Delta County)

Every Friday in September – 7: 30pm – Night Hike (It’s creepy, it’s crawly, but it’s also so much more! Learn to appreciate true night life.)
Sept 1– 5 pm – I-Naturalist Hike (Go take a hike…with a ranger! Learn about park and the wildlife in it while you become a citizen scientist!)
Sept 2– 2 pm – Brainiac or Bonehead (Are you a brainiac? How well do you know your fauna? Join in on some trivia!)
Sept 7– 9 am – Kayaking 101 (Learn to Kayak and enjoy the lake in a whole new way.)
Sept 8– 2 pm – Formation Station (How are fossils created? Do you have what it takes? Take to the road of fossilization with a ranger!)
Sept 14– 11 am – Dutch Oven Cookin’ (Sample and learn the old style, outdoor cooking)
Sept 15– 2 pm – Tracking Tracks (Learn to spot the evidence and take your own track home!)
Sept 21– 6:30 pm – Sunset Kayaking (Calling all experienced kayakers! Enjoy the ambience of sunsets at the lake.)
Sept 22– 4 pm – Afternoon Tea (Join a ranger for a sip of specialty tea and some relaxing art in the park.)
Sept 28– 9 am – Edible & Useful Plants (Plant yourself in a place full of possibility for the senses.)

Sept 28–8:30am to 3:30pm – Hunters Education training class (required safety and hunters ethics)
Sept 29– 9 am – Mushy Hike (Autumn rains bring out mushroom brains! Learn to ID on a guided hike.)

South Sulphur Unit (Southside of Cooper Lake – Hopkins County)

Every Friday in September – 4 pm – Critter Corner (Stop in for stories, science and props! Check out a different critter each week from our corner of the woods.)
Sept 1– 8 pm
 – Starry Eyed & Star-crossed (Join a ranger for stellar stories of the night sky.)
Sept 2– 9 am – Home is where the heartwood is (Discover the power of trees and their necessity on a guided hike.)
Sept 7– 2 pm – The Scoop on Poop (Do you know whose scat? Can you recreate that? Get the scoop!)
Sept 8– 9 am – Telltale Signs (Go on a special hike to learn the tale of Coyote Run Trail)
Sept 14– 6 pm – Archery (Want to be the next Katniss? Start off right in your park with a ranger)
Sept 15– 9 am – Dragons & Damsels (Discover the secret world of water. Do some pond dipping with a ranger!)
Sept 21– 2 pm – Sustainable Gardening (Start your own native garden and put it to use!)
Sept 22– 6 pm – Geocaching 101 (What’s the cache? Learn to geocache with a Ranger!)
Sept 28– 6 pm – Archery (Want to be the next Katniss? Start off right in your park with a ranger)
Sept 29– 2 pm – Water Science (Become a scientist with our water testing kit! Learn all about that thing that keeps you hydrated.)

Cost: Park programs are open to the public and free with park entrance fee ($5 per persons ages 13 and up; children 12 and under are always free!). No need to register — just show up!

*Events and programs are subject to cancellation due to weather, if cancelled an update will be made to our Facebook page. Please contact park staff for more information and the latest updates.

 

 

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