Summer Trip 2019, Cedar Hill State Park, Dallas, Texas

Cedar Hill State Park

Shady Ridge camping area

Cedar Hill is located 10 miles southwest of Dallas on Joe Pool Lake. The park is rather large and serves as a fishing, water sports, hiking area for outdoors minded people who live in the large Dallas metropolitan area and surrounding communities. Many of the sites are shaded with great views of the lake. We found the facilities here to be clean and the sites well maintained. The only draw back was that their were no soap dispensers in the restrooms to wash your hands. The waters on the lake were very high due to recent heavy rains during our visit. The hiking trails and boat ramps were closed due to the flooding. This park is quite popular in the summer time as the temperatures hover around the 100 degree mark most of the time.

Our campsite in the Shady Ridge Loop 

View of Joe Pool Lake near our campsite

Joe Pool Marina and Boat Dock, Notice the high water of the lake

Spring time bloom common in the park.

The high waters of Joe Pool Lake near the Marina

Spring time blooms are common in the prairie lands that surround the lake

The historic Penn family farm is a great place to visit during your stay at Cedar Hills State Park. The farm has many of the original buildings that have been here since the mid 1800 hundreds. A trail leads to many of the sites that contain old farm machinery, barns and the family home along with other interesting features of farming life years ago. It is quite a contrast to the big metropolitan area of Dallas with it's modern buildings. We enjoyed our tour of the Penn family farm on a cool spring morning in mid May. 

The old Penn family home

The family windmill used to pump water into the water tower

The family barn used to house livestock in the early 1900's

Antique Tractor and mower used a century ago to mange the farm

The original family barn built in the 1800 hundreds

Old grain harvester used during the harvesting season many years ago

Cedar Hill State Park is a convenient place to stop at as it is just off I-20. We travel this route on our summer trips out west.  We enjoyed our stay and will be coming back again on our travels in the future. A great place to take a break from our traveling time on the road.