Lake Arrowhead State Park

Wichita Falls needed water, and in the 1960s it dammed the Little Wichita River in southwestern Clay County to get it. Farmers who did not want their land condemned fought the project in court, but impoundment began on May 17, 1965. Over the next year the town of Halsell, and the wild turkey roosts near it, went under the rising water. The lake was finished in December 1966: about 16,200 surface acres with 106 miles of shoreline, held by a long concrete weir, and still the city's drinking-water supply.

The state took over 524 acres of the north shore from the city in 1970 under the State Parks Bond Program, and the park opened that year. It sits on the Rolling Plains about fifteen minutes from Wichita Falls, among mesquite and prairie grass, with wildflowers in spring that draw butterflies, hummingbirds and bees.

Fishing is the main draw, for crappie, bass and catfish, and no license is needed from shore or the lighted pier. Birders have recorded more than 200 species here; the park lends binoculars and fishing poles at headquarters. Five miles of trails are open to hikers, bikers and riders, the longest being the 4.4-mile Onion Creek Trail past the spillway, and there are equestrian campsites, a disc golf course and an unguarded swimming area.