Martin Dies, Jr. State Park - Texas Parks and Wildlife

Martin Dies, Jr. State Park - Texas Parks and Wildlife Headquarters for Martin Dies, Jr. Everyone that is camping with us needs to check in at the headquarters office.

Nestled in the pineywoods of East Texas, our park offers plenty of campsites including RV, tent, and shelter cabins; tons of hiking and paddling trails, fishing piers, a swimming area, and a chance to see an abundance of wildlife State Park is located 11 miles west of Jasper, Texas on Hwy 190, turn south onto Park Road 48 South at the Henhouse Unit of the Park.

“How to pick up and throw away trash” A tail (get it?) by Vulture.
09/14/2026

“How to pick up and throw away trash” A tail (get it?) by Vulture.

We got another night sky program coming our way on September 18th!Join our ranger, this time at the observation bridge, ...
09/12/2026

We got another night sky program coming our way on September 18th!

Join our ranger, this time at the observation bridge, at 7:00pm for night sky viewing and a talk! Bring your telescope or look through ours at stars, planets, the moon, and much more!

**This program may be cancelled due to weather such as clouds or rain.

09/12/2026

I am out of town this week so no new sunrise today, so a flashback to August will have to tide you over until next week!

I used to not like mushrooms, but after a while they grew on me. 🍄🍄
09/11/2026

I used to not like mushrooms, but after a while they grew on me. 🍄🍄

We remember the lives lost in New York, D.C., and Pennsylvania on this day 25 years ago.
09/11/2026

We remember the lives lost in New York, D.C., and Pennsylvania on this day 25 years ago.

The nonvenomous banded water snake is an absolute beauty of a reptile. Their belly is usually tan or yellow in color whi...
09/10/2026

The nonvenomous banded water snake is an absolute beauty of a reptile. Their belly is usually tan or yellow in color while their entire body has a strong hint of reddish brown. This coloring often gets them confused with venomous species such as cottonmouths and copperheads. But that is by design! Banded water snakes use their brownish red coloration and black markings to mimic their venomous counterparts.

A camper was lucky enough to come across this little guy slithering around their campsite awhile back! 🐍🐍This is a Gulf ...
09/09/2026

A camper was lucky enough to come across this little guy slithering around their campsite awhile back! 🐍🐍

This is a Gulf Swamp snake, a small semi-aquatic little thing who spends most of its time in marshes and swamps in East Texas. Their coloring is overall more on the brown side that then gives way to a lighter tan belly.

Thank you to Eric N. for sending in these photos and thank you to Ranger Eric from Lake Livingston on the Snake I.D!

Someone sure had a feast on these turtle eggs!
09/08/2026

Someone sure had a feast on these turtle eggs!

The Golden Silk spider or, as it’s also known, the banana spider. Found mostly in wooded areas and fields, this orb weav...
09/06/2026

The Golden Silk spider or, as it’s also known, the banana spider. Found mostly in wooded areas and fields, this orb weaver lies in wait for insects to become trapped in their impressively large webs before it pounces. Webs can get up to 3.5 feet across and though this picture doesn’t show the whole web, believe me, it was a big one.

This picture is unique in that there’s both a male and female spider. And for those thinking that the male is the bigger one, think again! These spiders have what’s called sexual dimorphism- where females are bigger than males. In this case, golden silk female spiders have a 2” body length and a leg span of 5” while males are much smaller, at .5” body length and 1.5” leg span.

Due to males being so much smaller and less capable of spinning their own web, they rely on the female for protection and food and stay on the outskirts of her web until mating season. Once the male has served his purpose, he usually gets eaten by the female.

Spider silk, especially from a Golden Silk spider, is impressive. Their web thread has a compound called xanthurenic acid. This allows for the golden hue of their spider web (hence their name). It’s also incredibly strong. Its tensile strength, the max amount of pulling stress something can have before it breaks, is 1.1 to 1.5 gigapascals, which is a unit of pressure. If I did the conversion right, 1.5 gigapascals is 217,556.607 PSI (pounds square inch).

The makeup of any spiders’ web is quite complex and fascinating to study. Orb Weavers have precise control over their silk production, have seven types of thread and each is used differently, and it’s made from a protein fiber composed of repetitive amino acid sequences, called spidroins.

As creepy as spiders may seem, they're a fascinating arachnid to watch!

09/05/2026

With the rain, today’s afternoon programs will be held in the education center which is open now until 3:00.

Address

634 Park Road 48 S
Jasper, TX
75951

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 12pm
1:15pm - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 12pm
1:15pm - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 12pm
1:15pm - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 12pm
1:15pm - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 12pm
1:15pm - 5pm
Saturday 8:30am - 12pm
1:15pm - 5pm
Sunday 8:30am - 12pm
1:15pm - 5pm

Telephone

(409) 384-5231

Website

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