Leave a Comment / Self Care, Texas State Parks / By Susan Svec
Discover It
That is the word I keep coming back to for Cleburne State Park. Discover it.
I had never been here before, which is still one of the things I love most about this quest — pulling up to a park for the very first time and not knowing what I am going to find. Will there be water? Hills? Open meadows? A little history tucked into a quiet corner? That anticipation never gets old, and Cleburne delivered it fully.
This is stop 18 of 88 on my journey to visit every Texas state park. I came on a Thursday morning, a little overcast, and walked straight out onto the fishing pier to get my first real look at the lake. The birds were singing. The water was calm. The sun was just starting to break through the clouds and scatter little sparks across the surface.
I do not think life can hardly get better than this.
Walking the Park
Cleburne State Park is not a particularly large park, but it manages to feel spacious. The road does not go all the way around — the hiking trails do — and the trail system here has a nice variety to it. The pink trail markers, I eventually figured out, tell you which trail you are on. That day I wandered toward the Coyote Run Nature Trail at the far end of the park.
The terrain shifts as you go. What starts near the water gets hillier, gravel-heavy, and geological in a way I cannot quite name — I am not a geologist — but the landscape changes in a way you feel underfoot. Driving up from Glen Rose, the vistas opened up wide, and something about the whole area has a grounded, ancient feeling to it.
I stopped to film the reeds along the edge of the lake, the trees, the birds doing what birds do when no one is asking them to be quiet. There was no one else around. Just me and the camera and all of that still, ordinary beauty.
A Park for the People
Somewhere along the way, I stopped in front of a historical sign that I had to film.
A park for the people. During the Great Depression, this community chose hope in the form of a park.
During the Great Depression, this community chose hope — in the form of a park. One man donated 520 acres of Texas land and said, simply, that this community deserved something beautiful. The men who built it through the Civilian Conservation Corps worked double shifts. The government ran short on time. A world war interrupted everything. And still, it got finished. Still standing, more than 85 years later.
I stood there for a moment and just let that sit with me.
During the worst depression in American history, someone looked at 520 acres and said: this community deserves something beautiful. And then they built it.
The Sketch: The CCC Bridge
I knew before I even opened my sketchbook what I wanted to draw.
Near the end of my walk I found the old CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) bridge — built in 1935, no longer drivable, now just a quiet walking path leading to something that has been standing through every interruption imaginable. World wars. Decades. Seasons beyond counting. There is a newer bridge nearby for cars, and then there is this one — still here, still lovely, the stones still holding.
I set up to sketch and it started to sprinkle. Then the sun came out. Then it clouded over again. That is the thing about Cleburne on a Thursday in the clouds — the light never quite makes up its mind, and somehow that made the whole scene feel more honest.
I brought my patchouli soap with me that day. It is a grounding scent, earthy and deep, and I have always reached for it when I need to feel steady. A historical park felt like exactly the right place for it. I pulled it out during the sketch, just held it for a moment, and it was enough.
I am not a great artist. I have said this before and I mean it. I was an art major once, a long time ago, but that is not why I sketch. I sketch because I love it. And I want to encourage you to do the same with whatever it is that calls to you — whether you are good at it or not. Do not let the gap between where you are and where you wish you were stop you from showing up.
The bridge has been here since 1935. The builders were not sure it would get finished. They showed up anyway.
What We Keep Building
I have been thinking about this a lot lately.
The things we keep building even when everything keeps interrupting.
The book. The next park. The next song. Your tiny ritual for this morning, whatever it is. It can feel small, especially when the interruptions pile up and the plan keeps changing and the light shifts just when you had it right. But the park is still standing. What you are building will be too.
Write down one thing you are building right now. Date it. Tuck it somewhere you will find it later.
That is what Cleburne gave me — not just a lake and a sketch and a beautiful old bridge, but a reminder that beauty worth having almost always gets interrupted on the way to being finished. And it gets built anyway.
Nature has a way of doing this, too — reminding you that being outside is good for your skin and your spirit and your soul. All three S’s, I always say. The light, the air, the stillness. It works on you even when you are not paying attention.
Patchouli Soap: What I Carried That Day
I brought my Patchouli Soap to Cleburne State Park because patchouli is grounding, and this felt like a grounding kind of park. Old stones. Old trees. History you can touch.
I first made this soap for myself years ago because I wanted something earthy and real for the days when I needed to feel rooted. That is still why I reach for it. Not because of anything on a label — just because of how it makes me feel when I hold it.
On the CCC bridge, surrounded by stones that have been standing for nearly a century, it made sense to have it close.
Stamping Park Visit Number 18
Cleburne State Park is stop 18 of 88 on my Texas State Parks Quest. Dinosaur Valley came just before — that quiet park along the Paluxy River where we found fossil tracks and I sketched a spiky little shrub along the Monarch Trail. From Dinosaur Valley, Jerry and I spent the night in Glen Rose and drove to Cleburne the next morning.
Next up is Meridian State Park — stop 19, and another park I have never visited. I cannot wait to see what I discover there.
Each stamp is proof that I showed up. Proof that the journey is continuing, one park at a time, even when the morning is overcast and the rain comes and goes and the light never quite settles.
Especially then.
If You Need to Discover Something New
Go find a park you have never been to before.
You do not need to know what is there. That is the whole point. Let it surprise you. Let there be a historical marker you did not expect, or a trail that shifts underfoot, or an old bridge that has been standing longer than you have been alive.
Cleburne State Park gave me bits and pieces of beauty — sun in and out, old bridges and new bridges, birds and reeds and an honest sprinkle of rain. I loved all of it. And I think you might, too.
| Cleburne State Park is stop 18 of 88 on my Texas State Parks Quest. New episodes post every Friday. If this resonated with you, share it with someone else who could use a little discovery of their own. |
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Practical Notes for Your Cleburne State Park Visit
- Location: Cleburne, Texas — a short drive from Glen Rose, making it a natural pair with Dinosaur Valley State Park
- Trail to try: The Coyote Run Nature Trail winds to the far end of the park through hillier, gravel-covered terrain — beautiful and quieter than the main lake area
- Day use hours and entrance fees: Standard Texas State Park rates apply — confirm current hours at the Texas State Parks website before you go
- Park highlight: The historic CCC bridge, built in 1935 during the Great Depression — still standing, no longer open to vehicles, and quietly extraordinary
- What to bring: Water, good walking shoes, a sketchbook if that calls to you, and something grounding for the walk
- Nearby stay: Glen Rose is a lovely overnight base if you are pairing this visit with Dinosaur Valley State Park
Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to do at Cleburne State Park?
Cleburne State Park offers a fishing pier, multiple hiking trails (including the Coyote Run Nature Trail), a calm lake, and some genuinely moving Texas history in the form of a CCC bridge built during the Great Depression. It is the kind of park that rewards slow walking and paying attention.
Where is Cleburne State Park located?
Cleburne State Park is located near Cleburne, Texas, not far from Glen Rose. It pairs beautifully with a visit to Dinosaur Valley State Park if you are planning a longer Texas state parks trip.
What is the CCC bridge at Cleburne State Park?
The bridge was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935, during the Great Depression, as part of a park donated to the community by a private landowner. It is no longer open to vehicle traffic but remains a walking landmark in the park — and a reminder that the things we build through interruption have a way of lasting.
How many State Parks have you visited so far?
Cleburne State Park is stop 18 of 88 on my Texas State Parks Quest — a personal journey to visit every park in the system while documenting how nature, sketching, and simple skincare rituals support graceful living and intentional self-care.
What is Patchouli Soap good for?
Patchouli is an earthy, grounding essential oil, and I reach for my Patchouli Soap on days when I want to feel rooted. It is not about a list of benefits — it is about a scent that settles something in me, especially when I am spending time outdoors in a place with as much history and quiet as Cleburne.
Cleburne State Park is stop 18 of 88 on my Texas State Parks Quest. Next up: Meridian State Park. New episodes post every Friday — subscribe to follow along.
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