State Parks
Post pictures and information about State Parks in your State. There are a lot of really beautiful state parks around my state. I know there are some unique and beautiful state parks in your state too.Caprock Canyons State Park - Texas
Dinosaur Valley State Park - Glen Rose, Texas
My Daddy grew up along this river in Bluff Dale just up river from here. My gr. gr. grandfather was a Glen as in Glen Rose and gave the land for the townsite in Bluff Dale.
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It's a beautiful area to grow up in. I'm sure that there are some places out west that are more remote, but the Adirondacks are the only area that I'm aware of where mail carriers like UPS and Fedex won't guarantee overnight service. In the late 1800s it took roughly 38 hours to travel from New York City to my hometown of Tupper Lake. In the early 1900s, because of a little bit of industrialization and the introduction of railroads into the region, the travel time was cut down to about 18 hours. Today, it takes about 6 hours to drive from New York City to get to my hometown.
My hometown of Tupper Lake is one of the largest in the region with a population of 3500. When I was first born in 1980, the population of the town was nearly 7,000 people. Depopulation is a general trend of the area as logging and other industrial activities that used to occur in the area are diminishing.
If I could get a job anywhere in the region, I'd love to move back. I miss the nature and everything else that goes with the area. However, it is probably because I can't find a job up there that the area is as nice as it is.
When I was a child in the 1980s, I used to remember seeing acid rain decimated pine trees and their red dead pine needles all over the place - especially in the swampy areas. I also remember the fish population of the lakes was decimated too. Now when I return home I don't see any of that and the fish population is returning. I also know that there weren't any moose in my area when I was a kid. A couple of years ago I remember seeing my first moose-crossing sign in the Adirondacks. Apparently, they are making a comeback too. The health of the region has improved drastically in the last 20 or so years - a testament to what a little bit of environmentalism can do in a short period of time.
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But it was so long ago that I don't recall it all that well.
I've been to Dino Valley a lot. There are a lot of cool geo locations in Central Tx to visit.
Unfortunately I don't have many pics
I do have some from Bull Creek Park from a field methods class (I think that is the name - It's on Loop 360)
Students learning to stream gauge:
Dye Trace (Dump some dye at a point and measure concentration over time at places downstream:
We also had them use a simple bottle for a 'quick and dirty' flow rate. They added a note to the bottle:
We also did some GPR stuff on one of the large road cuts seen along Loop 360
and I can't help but post a pic of my 'Truck of Science' that I was using at the time:
This post has been brought to you by:
Those pics were taken a little before I had to stop my grad work due to medical reasons. I was looking into how urban settings behave like Karst (Limestone) systems. It let me do outside field work (which is where my truck-of-science came in 
. I had two 55gal water tanks set up to supply water to various kinds of conductivity tests along with other tools. I got to design some of my own equipment, my Bucket-o-Science as seen in the picture with my Truck. I even got to get our dept a brand new Guelph Permiameter set up 
. Those were fun times 
) and inside stuff, mainly computer modeling. My favorite part though was teaching (TA'ing) the Hydro Field Methods class. Unfortunately my migraines had gotten so bad that I couldn't keep it up. I had trouble just making it to class at that point and had to face the fact that I just couldn't finish.
I'd give anything to be able to go back to school. 
with a built-in still!
I grew up in Dallas but never went farther west than Possum Kingdom. I hope to go back someday with my good camera and some time to roam.
And I'd love a trip to those Adirondacks up there too.
Echo Lake
The Basin
The Flume
Flume Covered Bridge
Sentinel of the Mountains. Gone, but not forgotten
Smith Rock State Park:
La Pine State Park:
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Oswald West State Park:
Silver Falls State Park:
Ecola State Park:
http://www.nps.gov/lewi/planyourvisit/images/ecola1[1].jpg
Rooster Rock State Park:
Jesse M. Honeyman Memorial Park:
Ainsworth State Park:
Umpqua Lighthouse State Park:
Catherine Creek State Park:
Carle G. Washburne Memorial State Park:
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Ohiopyle State Park in PA. Known for white water rafting on the rapids. ( And I've never been there!)
Little known but beautiful in every season.
Many of our State Parks are not known very well outside of their area. More people need to realize what we have can be lost so easily.
Thanks for posting this 
It feels very Olmstead but I actually do not think it is his design...? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letchworth_State_Park
be sure to post here and tell us of your travels -
Last edited Tue Jan 8, 2013, 04:35 PM - Edit history (1)
Ecola:
Silver Falls:
Split Rock Lighthouse on Superior
Gooseberry Falls
Not actually a state park, but inside a National Forest - the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_Waters_Canoe_Area_Wilderness
Not particularly beautiful, but it's the only place in the US where you can pay a small fee to hunt for real diamonds.
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Then there's Devil's Den State Park, near Winslow, Arkansas
Lake Chicot State Park, near Lake Village
The state website describes it this way:
Beyond the foothills at Anchorage's edge lies the third largest state park in America - a half-million acres of some of the most accessible hiking, skiing, camping, wildlife viewing, snowmachining, rafting, and climbing in Alaska. Those of us lucky enough to live here feel the influence of Chugach State Park almost daily. The mountainous backdrop to Anchorage reminds us that, although we live in an urban setting, we really reside in the middle of a vast wilderness. The Chugach foothills are a beacon for changing weather, and resident wildlife have been known to wander into town. Chugach is listed as one of the top ten state parks in the country by America's Best.
Those of you who are visiting are able to discover Chugach State Park and take home memories of high alpine wildflowers, browsing moose, soaring eagles, roaring glacier-fed rivers, the howl of a wolf, unrivaled mountainous vistas, clearwater streams dancing through a mature spruce forest, and maybe even a glimpse of a grizzly bear.
As a resident or visitor, Chugach State Park is awaiting your discovery. Whether you prefer frontcountry trails, backcountry bushwhacking, one of our three campgrounds at Eklutna Lake, Eagle River, or Bird Creek, a visit to the Eagle River Nature Center, or just to gaze upon the mountain view from town, we at Alaska State Parks are dedicated to helping you safely enjoy your visit and most importantly, to ensure you have fun.
I have hundreds of pics from the park, but here's one at Bird Creek. It's a really wonderful park.
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Denali State Park is also a good one. It's adjacent to the national park and has wonderful views of the Alaska Range. A photo:
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Located high up in the Providence Mountains of the Mojave Desert, the cave is now closed because of the budget problems in California. When the State Park Rangers left the park, the caverns were vandalized two years ago, but thankfully no formations were destroyed. Within the park is also the deep Cave of the Winding Stair, which is closed to the public but which serves as a national cave rescue training cave because it is a deep and challenging cave.
