Strawn, Texas, USA
Brick Streets. Good Eats. A Great Place Where Friends Meet!
Strawn is a small community of approximately 700 residents located on Hwy 16 less than three miles off Interstate 20 midway between Fort Worth and Abilene. With a rich history dating back to the 1850's, the area first attracted ranchers, the development of the railroad, a thriving coal industry and the discovery of oil & gas in the area later spurred the growth of Strawn and created a melting pot of immigrants from European countries. Oil and gas development and the livestock industry remain important economic influences today.
Strawn serves as the gateway to the beautiful North Texas Hill Country. Nestled in the crook of the cedar-covered hills forming the Palo Pinto Mountain Range, this small, rural community is home to friendly people, caring neighbors and a laid-back lifestyle. In the September 2013 issue of Texas Highways Magazine, Strawn made the exclusive list of "Coolest Small Towns." Contributing to the "cool factor" is Strawn's reputation for six-man football (5-time State champions) and the famous chicken fried steak from Mary's Cafe (#47 on Texas Monthly's "Texan Bucket List").
Offering affordable living and a great school system, the town is an easy commute to the DFW Metroplex or Abilene and communities in-between. For outdoor enthusiasts, beautiful Possum Kingdom Lake is less than a 30-minute drive away, as is public access to the Brazos River. Palo Pinto Lake and the soon-to-be built Turkey Peak Reservoir are a quick 20 minute drive. The area truly is a hunter’s paradise, rich in majestic views and abundant wildlife, including white tail deer, wild hog, turkey and dove.
In 2011, Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) purchased 4,300 acres just outside Strawn city limits, surrounding the town reservoir, Lake Tucker, for the creation of Texas' newest state park. Palo Pinto Mountains State Park is tentatively scheduled to be completed in 2026; The park will offer an amazing variety of amenities including hiking/biking trails, equestrian trails, fishing, swimming, camping, star gazing all within a short drive of downtown Fort Worth. Since 2011, TPWD has acquired additional acreage and PPMSP now emcompases just under 5000 acres.
Recognizing that the future state park is a huge opportunity for Strawn, a Chamber of Commerce was established in October 2012. Since that time, the Chamber has been the driving force behind bringing various individuals, groups and organizations together to improve our community and spearhead efforts to create a better business environment, more amenities and a family friendly atmosphere.
DCOS Agendas & Minutes
Error 404
404
Sorry! The page you are looking for can't be found.
While you're here, you might want to check this out: Home
Palo Pinto Mountains State Park Partners
Palo Pinto Mountains State Park Partners (PPMSPP) was established to help preserve, protect, and improve the natural beauty of Palo Pinto Mountains State Park. We are a volunteer-based, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working in partnership with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD).
About Us
The goal for PPMSPP is to work with TPWD in a cooperative relationship that helps them carry out their goals. We depend on the energetic input from people who care about the park and who support us by joining, donating, volunteering or purchasing our concessions.
PPM State Park Partners-Board of Directors:
- Terry Carver, President Email:
- Mark Hickerson, Vice-President
- Tommy Lackey, Treasurer
- Janis Janes, Secretary
- Danny Miller, Past President
- Craig Carver, Director
- Dale Hamilton, Director
- Mark Hickerson, Director
- Bill Hopkins, Director
- Greg Hughes, Director
- Tonya Orsini, Director
- Laura Sharp, Director
- Kella Staller, Director
- Roseatta Stephens, Director
Become a Member Today:
Individual - $25, Senior - $20, Family - $40, Business - $50,
You can also include an additional donation by selecting “Other” on the online payment option and include the total of your membership + donation. All membership/donations are 100% tax deductible.
Select the “DONATE” button to the right to pay with CC or mail your check to:
PPMSPP
PO Box 201
Strawn, TX 76475
Our Partners in Action
Over the past few years, the Partners have been working hard to help the Park prepare for
opening day. Our projects have included:
- Trail clearing and cleaning - 2023-present.
- Helped with the purchase of insulation for the temporary maintenance barn, surveillance camera on the back park gate and tractor tire repair.
- Purchased an all-terrain Action Trackchair and 2 GRIT all-terrain wheelchairs with funds received through a grant from the Ken W. Davis Foundation. These chairs will be available for use in the Park, free of charge.
- Collected 3000lbs of plastic film for the NexTrex recycling program, awarding the Park 3 new park benches. A special “Thank you” to the Strawn Chamber of Commerce and The Each and Everyone Foundation for sponsoring bench # 2 and # 3, and to our PPMSPP Members, Weatherford Tractor Supply, Gordon, Strawn, and surrounding area folks that contributed their recyclable plastic film (grocery bags) to help us reach our goal.
- Participated in assembling of fish habitat structures that were installed around the fishing pier.
- Participated in the 2025 Golden Cheeked Warbler Survey for TPWD.
- Participating in the Strawn Farmer’s Market. Raising awareness and meeting new park enthusiasts – 2023-present.
- Purchasing 2 mounted binocular views with EnChroma lenses to correct color blindness. These lenses will not affect non-colorblind users and will be mounted on the accessible trail in the Park. These binoculars will be purchased with funds received though our 2 nd grant from the Ken W. Davis Foundation.
In the beginning stages of the park, several volunteer groups assisted with Park projects:
- Fort Worth Audubon Society, May 2013 – Native Bird Survey
- Native Plant Society (Cross Timbers Chapter) & Texas Master Naturalist, January 2014 - Designed & Built Butterfly Garden – January 2014
- Trail Work Day, March 2015 – Over 20 volunteers, including the Texas Equestrian Trail Riders Association (TETRA) and the North Texas Range Riders (NTTR), cleared several miles of equestrian and hiking trails.
- Star Parties 2013/2014/2015 - The Texas Astronomical Society of Dallas (TAS) and the Fort Worth Astronomical Society (FWAS) have both provided volunteers and telescopes for semi-annual stargazing parties beginning in the Spring of 2013.
- Strawn Chamber of Commerce, April 2015 - 2015 Texas Trash-Off/Keep Strawn Beautiful Clean-up Day – Volunteers scraped and painted picnic tables at old city park below Lake Tucker.
Your membership supports our efforts to ensure that Palo Pinto Mountains State Park is well funded and developed and the natural beauty of this North Texas gem is preserved for future generations. All funds are used for park improvement and educational efforts.
Click an image below to enlarge.
About the Park
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department acquired the original acreage for the park in October, 2011, using funds from the sale of Eagle Mountain Lake State Park (located near Fort Worth). With the acquisition of several smaller parcels, the property now encompasses 4,871 acres of beautiful, rugged, undeveloped terrain.
The newest state park in Texas, is located in the Western Cross Timbers Ecoregion of North Central Texas. The property offers great topographical diversity as well as a great variety of plants and wildlife. As the name implies, the Park is situated in the Palo Pinto Mountains. The name Palo Pinto roughly translates to "painted stick" in reference to the juniper trees of the area. The isolated, rugged mountains have been called a northern extension of the Hill Country and indeed they are both dissected plateaus featuring karst topography with similar vegetation, including Post Oak, Mesquite, Live Oak, Blackjack Oak, Texas Ash, Cedar Elms, Cedar and Ash juniper and native Pecan. The park is mostly rugged and hilly with sandstone and limestone escarpments, steep slopes, with intermittent small areas of prairie. The topography is such that there are a great number of striking scenic overlooks, where you can see for miles and miles. Two great features of the park are Palo Pinto Creek and Tucker Lake:
- Palo Pinto Creek, which runs along the northern edge of the park, is a major tributary to the Brazos River. It is a very scenic creek with several deep pools that are good for swimming and fishing.
- Tucker Lake - The centerpiece of the park is Tucker Lake, a 90-acre lake that was built in 1937 by the WPA as the water supply for the nearby city of Strawn. This beautiful, deep lake is set in a bowl surrounded by green hills covered in juniper, oak and elm. The Lake not only provides beautiful scenery and serene solitude but also fantastic fishing.
Wildlife observers to the park will see such animals as white-tailed deer, turkey, birds of prey, waterfowl, songbirds, reptiles and various small mammals. Fish found in the park include bass, catfish, crappie, bluegill and sunfish.
Palo Pinto Mountains State Park has attracted a great amount of interest throughout the state:
- KERA (PBS) - http://keranews.org/post/take-sneak-peek-newest-state-park-texas
- TPWD - https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20140522d
- Fort Worth Star-Telegram - http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article3867741.html
- Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial - http://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/editorials/article3868569.html
- TETRA - http://tetra.memberlodge.org/page-1690536
- Breckenridge American - http://www.breckenridgeamerican.com/news/ci_25520869/
- Fort Worth Star Telegram Op-ed - http://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/other-voices/article16541441.html
For More Information
For more information about Palo Pinto Mountains State Park, visit our Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/PaloPintoMtns or contact Superintendent James Adams at 254-210-3015 or via email at
For more information about Palo Pinto Mountains State Park Partners, please contact us:
phone – 817-688-5157 (text only)
email -
address - P.O. Box 201, Strawn, TX 76475
Strawn Chamber of Commerce | 117 Central Ave | P.O. Box 278 | Strawn, Texas 76475 | 254-595-0197
Copyright ©2025 Strawn Chamber of Commerce, Strawn Booster Club, Development Corporation of Strawn, Strawn Museum, Palo Pinto Mountains State Park Partners. All rights reserved.