This Texas Lake was Named One of the Most Beautiful in the Country

During the warm months of summer, there's no better place to head to than a lake. Texas is home to more than 7,000 freshwater lakes, ponds, and reservoirs, so how do you decide which one to pay a visit to?

Travel + Leisure has made it easy for us to discern which lake is worth making a special trip for. The travel magazine has released a list of 11 of the Most Beautiful Lakes in The United States, and naturally, a lake from Texas has been mentioned.

Photo byKaylee Billings/Burst

So which lake is it? None other than the gorgeous Caddo Lake–a 25,400-acre lake and bayou located on the border of Texas and Louisiana, in northern Harrison County and southern Marion County in Texas and western Caddo Parish in Louisiana.

Caddo Lake is surrounded by what is considered the world's largest cypress forest, and everything here has a mystical feel about it from the hanging Spanish moss to the alligators lurking beneath the barely submerged Bald Cypress tree roots.

Photo byJonah Walsh/Burst

The only way to experience this lake, which is better described as an interconnected maze of bayous, marshes, and backwaters is my kyack or canoe.

Popular recreation activities at Caddo include hiking the 2.5 miles of trails, fishing for more than 70 varieties of fish, camping along their 46 campsites, or spending a night in a historic cabin built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Photo byJake Carter/Burst

To learn more about this beautiful lake and surrounding area, be sure to check out Caddo Lake's official page for tourism here.