Caddo Lake
A cypress maze on the Texas-Louisiana line, formed by a log jam that blocked the Red River for over a century.
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The lake was created by the Great Raft, an enormous natural log jam that choked the Red River for something over a hundred and fifty kilometres and backed water up into the surrounding bottomland; the Army Corps cleared it in the 1870s and the lake would have drained, so a dam was later built to hold it. What remains is around eleven thousand hectares of bald cypress, draped in Spanish moss, threaded by marked boat channels because navigating without them is genuinely easy to get wrong. It is a Ramsar wetland of international importance. Caddo people lived here and the lake carries their name. Invasive giant salvinia has been a persistent management problem, choking channels in some years.
What you actually see
- A cypress maze - hung with Spanish moss.
- Marked boat channels - because navigation without them is hard.
- A lake made by a log jam - the Great Raft on the Red River.
- A Ramsar wetland - of international importance.
When to go
October to April; summer heat and insects are heavy. A full day.
Honest expectations
Access is by boat and getting lost is a real risk without the channel markers. Giant salvinia blocks channels in bad years. Alligators are present. Summer mosquitoes are severe.
Nearby
Jefferson is west; Shreveport is south-east in Louisiana.
What to pack for Caddo Lake
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.
