Briarwood Nature Preserve, located near Saline, Louisiana, is the birthplace and home of Caroline Dormon, a world renowned naturalist, author, artist and the first woman hired by the United States Forest Service. Click the video below for a tour of the wildflowers and serene landscape.
The Blue Hole, a privately owned swimming hole in the Angelina National Forest, is located in a former quarry in rural Jasper County.
Nestled in the Angelina National Forest in Deep East Texas, 36 miles southeast of Lufkin, is one of the hidden jewels of Texas. The Blue Hole, as it’s known, is a brilliant blue-green-colored lake surrounded by the craggy white sandstone cliffs of a former rock quarry.
First opened in the late 1800s, rock was removed from the quarry and transported by the Rockland, Jasper & Northeastern Railway Company for use in the Sabine Pass and Galveston jetties extensions, according to an article published by The History Center in Diboll.
Once known as Kyle’s Quarry, the 12 acres were flooded in the 1920s and has been a popular spring-fed swimming hole for decades, the article stated. A 1918 University of Texas publication noted the distinct coloring of the water is from the sandstone, containing quartz and chert, as well as layers of clay.
Click the video below to watch my latest trek down the Lower Mountain Fork River in beautiful McCurtain County, Oklahoma.
Click the video below to watch a quick 360 degree view of the 64-acre spring-fed lake at Tyler State Park.
Click the video below to take a tour of the largest rose garden in America, the Tyler Rose Garden. Fragrant roses aren’t the only flowers currently in bloom.
Click the video below to watch highlights from my kayaking trek along the Lower Mountain Fork River near Broken Bow, Oklahoma.
