Atlanta State Park offers a 'quiet, tranquil setting'

ATLANTA — The lure was the lake.

Among the reasons William and Stephanie Mitchell of Pittsburg keep coming back to Atlanta State Park include the serene outdoor setting, the friendliness of the staff and the well-maintained facilities.

Mitchell said he has tried out many East Texas state parks over the years, but he has been coming back year-after-year — for 22 years — to Atlanta State Park, about an hour's drive north of Marshall.

"The staff always treats you nice, the facilities are well maintained and they patrol the area and campsites real well," said Mitchell, visiting while cleaning a morning catch of about 30 channel catfish from Lake Wright Patman, on the shores of which the state park sits.

Mitchell said he and his wife, Stephanie, often spend at least a week's vacation at the park each year.

"We like to come here to relax and enjoy the outdoors," he said. "It seems like there's more wildlife here than some of the other parks around. We always see lots of deer."

The fact the couple can also enjoy fishing on 20,300-acre Lake Wright Patman, a U.S. Corps of Engineers project, also is an enticement, Mitchell said. He was using night crawlers fishing along an old river channel in the lake on this late June morning. The day's catch was going to be served up for a family birthday celebration late in the day with a number of family members gathering, he said.

While the Mitchells were busy cleaning their catch at one of the park's fish-cleaning stations, a few hundred feet away Robert and Rene Titsworth of nearby Atlanta were enjoying a swim with their 2-year-old daughter, Layla.

Mike Knox, park manager for the past couple of years at the site, said the varied offerings of Atlanta State Park annually attract about 35,000 visitors. The park offers a swimming area with a sandy beach, boat ramps, a nature trail and hiking trails, restroom and shower facilities, both pull-through and back-in campsites, a group picnic pavilion, two playgrounds and an amphitheater.

"We're slower than some of the other state parks because we're a little further away for many people," Knox said. "But that fact is something many people enjoy.

"We offer a quiet, tranquil setting," he said. "We have one of the best views of the lake for just sitting in a lounge chair and watching the sun set from the bluff overlooking Wright Patman."

Despite the fact there are many parks closer to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Knox said many visitors come back year-after-year from the metropolitan area.

"We have lots and lots of repeat visitors," he said. "Many have been coming here since the 1950s — for some families we're on the third generation or more."

Among the new offerings at Atlanta State Park this year are canoe rentals through the park office and interpretive programs discussing nature and the history of the area, which was once home to Caddo Indians.

Plans are in progress to soon offer self-guided tours along the park's nature trails with descriptions of trees, plants and wildlife likely to be seen, Knox said. Those self-paced hikes will probably last 45 minutes to an hour.

"If people have not been here, we'd like to invite them back," he said. While the late spring, summer and early fall months are the busiest, Knox said the park is open year round.

Winter visitors may be treated with views of bald eagles, plenty of deer and other wildlife, he said.

"People can come here and it's not unusual for them to see fawns chasing each other and playing," Knox said.

He has been manager at the park for about two years but has about 25 years with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Prior to arriving at Atlanta State Park, he spent nine years at Cooper State Park.

In that time, especially in recent years, the department has been impacted by budget cutbacks. Knox said.

"We could use more staff. Our facilities here are older and always need work," he said. The staff tries to do the best they can with funds available.

"We've pulled the rabbit out the hat making due for so many years trying to stretch things that it's getting tough," Knox said. "We really need some help now."

Knox said while efforts are made to provide routine maintenance on the park's facilities, things like water lines rusting through and aging restrooms needing more than routine upkeep put a strain on the park's budget, he said.

The state acquired the 1,474-acre park site in 1954.

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If You Go

What: Atlanta State Park is a 1,475-acre park on the shore of Lake Wright Patman in Cass County.

Where: The park is located 11 miles northwest of Atlanta and south of Texarkana. From U.S. 59, exit onto FM 96 and go west nine miles to FM 1154, then north two miles to Park Road 42.

Address: 927 Park Road 42, Atlanta, TX, 75551

Phone: (903) 796-6476

Reservations: Online at www.tpwd.state.tx.us. By phone at (512) 389-8900; Fax: (512) 389-8959.

Activities: Camping, hiking, swimming, hiking and nature trails, fishing for catfish, crappie, bass and perch. Eagles can be spotted during winter months with wildlife, including plenty of deer, in abundance year-round.

Facilities: Restrooms with showers; numerous back-in and drive-through campsites, many with electric and water; a picnic pavilion, boat ramps, fish-cleaning tables, three miles of hiking and nature trails and a park store.

Entrance: $2 per day per person age 13 and older.

Camping Fees: 44 sites with electricity, $12 per night; 16 sites with electric and sewer, $16 per night; group picnic pavilion with electricity, $35.