User:Specspidey33/Lake Mineral Wells State Park & Trailway



= Lake Mineral Wells State Park & Trailway = Lake Mineral Wells State Park & Trailway is located north of the town of Mineral Wells, TX. It is a state park that surrounds Lake Mineral Wells, a reservoir that is filled by Rock Creek. The park itself covers 3,282 acres and the lake covers 646 acres. The state park contains the Penitentiary Hollow, which is a popular location for rock-climbing in Texas. The Lake Mineral Wells Trailway is a 20 mile long trail that runs through the state park, and is one of many trails that run through the park. It is a popular location for hiking, rock-climbing, boating, fishing, horse riding and other nature related activities.

History
300 million years ago in the Pennsylvanian Era, the Mineral Wells Formation began it's geological creation. The first civilization that placed itself in this area was the Comanche Native Americans. The reservoir itself formed around the town of Mineral Wells, which was built in 1880 around a well that had high amounts of minerals in the water, thought to be good for people's health. This caused many people to come to this area to go to this well for the healing properties the waters reportedly had. The State Park itself opened to the public in 1981.

Lake Mineral Wells was created when the town of Mineral Wells started to grow in population and the local water supply was proving not to sufficient for the population's needs. In 1922, Lake Mineral Wells was completed after damming Rock Creek, (a tributary from Brazos River). This lake was built adjacent to Fort Wolters military base and was the source of water supply for Mineral Well until 1963. Fort Wolters closed in 1975, both the lake and the land around were given to Texas Parks and Wildlife where it later became the state park.

The Lake Mineral Wells Trailway was formerly the Mineral Wells, Weatherford and Northwestern railroad that travelled between Mineral Wells and Weatherford. When it was abandoned, shortly after in 1992 it was made into the Trailway that is there today.

Geology
The bedrock around the lake is mostly shale, sandstone and limestone which was first formed in the Pennsylvanian Era. These eventually formed the many narrow canyons, rocky cliffsides an hills surrounding the park. Some of this sandstone has been seen to have small quartz crystals embedded in the rock.

Flora and Ecology
The area is ecological region of Texas called the Cross Timber woodlands and prairies. The trees that flourish in this area include Post Oak, Blackjack Oak, Mesquite, Pecan, Texas Oak, Texas Ash, Ashe Juniper, Sugarberry, Cottonwood, American and Cedar Elm. There are also many grasses in the savannahs along with shrubs such as Elbow bush and Fragrant Sumac. Wildflowers such as Sunflowers, Mexican hat, Morning glory, Bluebonnet, Yucca, Prickly Poppy, and Indian Paintbrush can be found in the park.

Native wildlife
Fishing is common in the area as the lake is native to catfish, crappie, sunfish and largemouth bass. The lake is a good place for bird-watching as well, as it has 190 different species including Painted Bunting, Harris Sparrow, Red-eyed Vireo, Sora, Marsh Wren, Hooded Merganser, Barred Owl, Great Blue herons among many other species. White-tailed deer and raccoon is another common species in the park.

Recreation
There are many activities that people can do in the park. There are many campsites to visit, including 20 campsites for people with horses. You can ride your horse through the park or you can walk, or ride a bicycle through the many hiking trails that go 12.8 miles around the lake and through the park.

The lake itself is used for boating, fishing, canoeing and kayaking among other water sports with the exception of water-skiing, tubing or jet skiing.