Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

When Railroad companies retire sections of track, some extend their rights-of-way to public or private entities, which convert the corridor into recreational trails; considered by some to be long, narrow parks.

Journalism student, Cameron Dodd, hiked much of the 130 mile Northeast Texas Trail earlier this year. Once owned by Santa Fe Railroad, the trail – still in development – stretches from Farmersville, north of Dallas, to New Boston, just west of Texarkana.

07— There are parts of it that are overgrown, and parts of it that some landowners have blocked off; they were just kind of impassable.

Dodd traveled solo carrying a backpacked filled with camping gear and provisions…but company was never far.

10— I met a lot of nice people along the way. I took help when I needed it; wound up spending the night in a cabin of someone I met in Ladonia, and accepting some rides when the trail was impassable.

The trail took him through small towns and open vistas. And along the way, he picked up a traveling companion.

17 — Yeah, this dog showed up one night when I was heating up some beans in Ladonia; he didn’t have any tags on him, and nobody seemed to know whose dog it was, and he kept following me, so…next morning I was walking off to Wolf City, the next town. The dog just followed me, so I just kept him around; he was good company.

Cameron checked the dog for a microchip, and finding none, gave this dog a home. Cameron Dodd’s article on the Northeast Texas Trail appears in the October issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.