Make beautiful Lake Hawkins your winter migration destination and maximize your winter experience. Our snowbird “anchor residents” tend to have the giant park all to themselves during the winter months. Summer is our busy season when people drive as much as a couple hours just to enjoy our giant beach, one of the nicest in East Texas. But that traffic starts dwindling after Labor Day.
So the RV side of the park, which is normally limited to short-term visitors, allows for long-term stays from November 1 through March 31. Peace and tranquility are abundant for our snowbirds because the beach and camping parts of the park are virtually abandoned during our “off-season” of winter. Trees, water, scenery, numerous activities… have them all to yourselves!
The Park
The park covers roughly 55 acres, half-wooded, and includes about 1800 feet (almost a third of a mile) of shoreline on Lake Hawkins. About 700 feet of that is a beautiful white-sand beach. There is a private beach designated specifically for our RV guests. But, considering that winter is our “off-season”, snowbirds usually have the entire beach—both public and private—all to themselves! See more park details on our home page.
The Weather
If you’re a snowbird that still enjoys the seasons, Lake Hawkins RV Park is the place for you! What else can we say? We are just as likely to be in shorts for Thanksgiving and Christmas as we are in coats. We occasionally get a frost in October that is enough to turn the trees brilliant colors. But we’re more likely to get rogue one in late March that causes all the budding and blooming trees to go back into dormancy for another couple weeks.
We are just north enough that we can dip below freezing several times during winter. But we are still south enough that schools shut down over a dusting of snow. It’s not so much the snow as it is the humidity, which is the worst thing about both our summers and winters. When it snows, the temperature is usually barely freezing, so the precipitation can’t make up its mind whether to be rain, sleet or snow. This makes for terribly slippery road conditions. A real snow (an inch or two) only occurs every couple of years or so. Once every decade we may get six inches when the kids can actually get the rare experience of building a snowman.
Only a few nights in our lifetimes have we experienced temperatures in the lower teens. More likely is the occasional dip into the upper teens. But even exposed water pipes make it through okay as long as your faucets are left dripping overnight. It’s been very rare for us to see a bit of freezing on the very fringe of the lake. But if you are hardy enough to swim in Lakes Michigan or Superior during the heat of summer, chances are that you’ll be comfortable swimming in Lake Hawkins all year round! You’ll have the lake all to yourself because most warm-blooded locals won’t get in again until Memorial Day.
The Area
We pretty much straddle that line between “Deep South” and “Texas Heartland.” So if you choose our park as your winter pivot point, you can drive…
- an hour east to Jefferson or Caddo Lake for some serious Deep South culture;
- an hour southwest to First Monday Trade Days in Canton is an absolute must for some Texas Heartland vibes;
- two hours west puts you at the Fort Worth Stockyards for a Southern Great Plains experience.
See many more local adventure ideas under our AREA tab.
Below is another interesting map based on the book American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America. According to this author’s perspective, Lake Hawkins sits on the border of Greater Appalachia and the Deep South.
The book reasons that the founders of Greater Appalachia came from are-ravaged Ireland, England and the Scottish lowlands, bringing a culture forged by near-constant danger and upheaval. They value individual liberty and are suspicious of aristocrats and social engineers. The Deep South developed from a West Indies-style caste system, with democracy for a privileged few and slavery for many. They continue to fight against expanded federal powers, taxes on wealth, and environmental, labor and consumer regulations. More details here.
Likewise, our park straddles the Pineywoods ecological region and the Prairies & Lakes Region. We’re a lake with an abundance of pine trees. When describing the area to non-Texans, it’s usually easiest to explain that we have more in common with the Florida Everglades than we do with the deserts of West Texas that everyone thinks of from Westerns. In fact, we even have alligators, but you won’t see them during winter.
Here’s a timelapse of photosynthesis throughout the year that further illustrates how our part of Texas has more in common with the Everglades than with the environment shown in cowboy movies.
The Rates
Our normal fee for an RV site is $25/night. However, our snowbirds get a special rate of $450/month (only $15/night). That includes a nice, level concrete pad, water, electric (20, 30, 50 amps) and sewage. If you want one of our sites that don’t have built-in sewer, we offer a $5 service using a custom-designed mobile sewage pump unit that is bound to be a conversation piece for any makers and DIYers.
Call today for help with planning your stay – 903-769-4545.
