East Texas is fascinating for travelers interested in history, nature, and culture. Also known as the Piney Woods region, you’ll find multiple national forests and eight state parks offering fishing, paddling, camping, hiking, and more. This section of Texas is also famous for its flowers and flowering trees as well as historic pioneer towns you can’t miss!

Jefferson

Jefferson, once the state’s largest riverport, is home to more state registered historic structures than anywhere else in Texas. Today, Jefferson boasts more than 135 state and nationally recognized historic buildings and structures—more than anywhere else in the state.

Once noted as the Bed and Breakfast Capital of Texas, some also claim Jefferson is one of the most haunted cities in the country. And it is officially known as the official Bigfoot Capital of Texas, with a long history of reported sightings.

Jefferson is also home to the oldest hotel in continuous operation in Texas, The Excelsior House Hotel. Sleep where Ulysses S. Grant, Oscar Wilde, Lady Bird Johnson, Steven Spielberg, and many others have stayed since the hotel opened in 1858. The Historic Kahn Hotel claims to be one of the top 10 haunted hotels in the state. Or get the town’s famous bed and breakfast experience at The Carriage House, offering guests gourmet breakfasts, a wraparound porch, and four-course dinners.

Visit the Jefferson Historical Society and Museum for historical exhibits and artefacts on four floors, including trains, Civil War memorabilia, and dioramas of life in the 1800s. Or stop in at the fascinating Museum of Measurement and Time, a private collection of maps, clocks, surveying equipment, and vintage computers.

Step back in time at the Jefferson General Store. Fans of Gone With the Wind will enjoy Scarlett O’Hardy’s Gone With the Wind Museum, housing one of the largest private collections of memorabilia from the book and film.

After dark, look out for the LED light show on the 1879 How Truss Lighted Bridge inside Port Jefferson Nature and History Center. Or take a walking ghost tour through town by lantern, listening to historic tails of murder, tragedy, and encounters of the ghostly kind.

Nacogdoches

In 1779, Nacogdoches was declared the first town in Texas. It’s also officially designated “The Garden Capital of Texas.” Begin your visit on the Trails of Nacogdoches to explore the town’s  various trees, flowers, blooming shrubs, creeks, and bridges. See more at the Ruby M. Mize Azaelea garden or tour the living laboratory of plants at Mast Arboretum on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.

Or stroll the brick streets of downtown, visiting antique and specialty shops, galleries, and restaurants. Don’t miss the General Mercantile and Oldtime String Shop, which is over 100 years old. Once the site of Stone’s Café, where Bonnie Parker worked prior to joining Clyde Barrow in their infamous crime spree, today the store carries East Texas Blue Stripe pottery, local preserves, Ash baskets, handmade brooms, musical instruments, toys, clothing, and more.

Must-visits here include the East Texas Oil Museum at Kilgore College, which shares the history of oil discovery and production in the early 1930s from the largest oil field inside U.S. boundaries through a full-scale town complete with stores, people, and machinery depicting life in an oil boomtown.

Before you leave the area, drive west to explore the unique structures at Caddo Mounds State Historic Site, the ancestral village and ceremonial center for the Caddo people. 

Jacksonville

Take in a memorable view of East Texas from Loves Lookout off TX Highway 69 where you can see for miles. Explore the 7,000-acre Neches River National Wildlife Refuge wildlife and trails or get out onto Lake Jacksonville, a 1,300-acre playground for boaters, fisherman, and swimmers alike.

Visit the 100-year-old Texas Basket Company, the oldest active handmade basket-maker in the world. Stop in at the Vanishing Texana Museum to view the unique collection of antiquities and curiosities here, including a quilt from the Civil War and the only Texas flag that has been to the moon. If you’re visiting in June, check out the Annual Tomato Festival held for the past 40 years in celebration of the town’s prime crop. Attractions near Jacksonville include the Cherokee Trace Drive-Thru Safari, where you drive your own vehicle through a the hills and savannahs of this 300-acre wildlife park.

Tyler

Known as the “Rose Capital of America,” Tyler is a center for rose cultivation. Explore the Tyler Rose Museum, which explores the history of the city’s annual Texas Rose Festival, which has been running for more than 90 years. Stretch your legs with a free aromatic stroll through 14 acres of the famous Tyler Rose Garden, showing off some 300-plus varieties of roses. Each March and April, Tyler holds the Azalea and Spring Flower Trail, a ten-mile journey through residential gardens and historic home-sites covered with azaleas, tulips, wisteria, dogwood, and more. Exploring the downtown area with its antique, vintage, and specialty stores, coffee shops, art galleries, and murals is a great way to get to know Tyler. Or enjoy time outdoors at Tyler State Park, featuring a 64-acre spring-fed lake and 100-foot trees, where you can hike or bike 13 miles of trails, fish, swim, bird watch, and picnic. Families love the Caldwell Zoo, located on 85 acres and featuring 200 species from around the world. Book animal encounters or just enjoy some of the zoo’s regular offerings, including a wild bird walkabout and a petting zoo.

Stay at the historic Greyhound Inn, a boutique hotel housed in a more than 100-year-old Art Deco landmark building, which previously held the Greyhound bus station.

Palestine and Rusk

The vintage steam and diesel locomotives of the Texas State Railroad transport passengers back in time as they ride the rails of the Piney Woods Route between the quaint East Texas towns of Palestine and Rusk on a 50-mile roundtrip adventure. Enjoy views of towering loblolly pines, an abundance of wildlife, and even a still-functioning vintage railway turntable along your journey through the state’s first and largest state forest from the windows of the refurbished train cars. Spend time at the historical Rusk and Palestine depots, and don’t miss this journey through the Piney Woods and 135 years of Texas history.

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