Lone Star Hiking Trail

by Katie “Oats” Houston, 2021 thru-hiker

The Lone Star Hiking Trail is a 96-mile point-to-point hiking trail located in East Texas just north of Houston. It is marked with white blazes and can be hiked in 4-10 days.

Region: Southwest (Sam Houston National Forest, Texas)
Distance: 96.4 miles, 4-10 days

Physical Difficulty: Easy 

• Flat and well-maintained the vast majority of the trail 
• Some muddy sections but limited overall
• Some scrambled-up V-shaped dips across dry streambeds along the trail

Logistical Difficulty: Moderate

• Camping in designated campsites only during hunting season
• Water is scarce and low-quality in times of drought
• Proper preparation means relatively easy resupply / access to water caches at easily accessible trailheads

Season: Late Fall, Winter, Early Spring

Average Elevation: ~250 feet
Total Elevation Gain: ~1,000 feet

Miles/Day	Days to Complete
24.1	4
19.8	5
16.1	6
13.8	7
12.1	8
10.7	9
9.6	10

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Hiking the Lone Star Hiking Trail

Hiking has always been a meditative experience for me, and I knew the routine of figuring out water for the day, what snacks I wanted to eat, setting up camp, rinsing and repeating would help me process events I had recently gone through. I drove 4.5 hours from my home in Austin, Texas, to Sam Houston National Forest, passing through the cities of Katy and Houston along the way (ironic because my name is Katie Houston). 

This really is the perfect thru-hike for beginners, people who know they like hiking but don’t know if they love long-distance hiking, someone preparing for a longer thru-hike, doing a gear shakedown, or just looking to have a fun week on trail and crush some miles in the process. I was able to giggle as I passed the sign announcing the “LSHT High Point” of just over 400 feet. Though there were a few times I had to scramble down and back up V-shaped ditches carved by streams, the trail was technically the easiest hiking I’ve ever done.

I’ll cover the logistics later, but there is definitely a special place in my heart for a trail of this length because I felt accomplished at the end but also carried all my food for the trip and didn’t have to manage any complex hitches or resupplies. I also wasn’t in a town every day, didn’t have any excessively long road walks, and felt remote enough to get the mental benefits of being alone in nature.

You can hike the trail east or westbound, it doesn’t make much of a difference either way. I chose eastbound because it was easier for me to drop off my car at the eastern terminus than the western … and that’s about it! I met a couple of thru-hikers along the way; about half were hiking westbound and half were headed east. The first few segments I hiked had recently been through a prescribed burn and the feeling of hiking through a smoke-filled (yet safe) forest was incredible. From there, the terrain jumped from swampy, jungle-like forests to sparse, tall pine trees reaching toward the sky and creating a dense canopy that left me protected from the sun. There were large lakes, meandering streams I followed for miles, and dense vegetation that was well-maintained away from the trail but allowed for about 1,000 spiders to have a rude awakening when I bumbled my way through their intricate webs strewn across the path.

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How to Get to the Lone Star Hiking Trail

Nearest City: Conroe, Texas (Approximately 20 miles, centrally located)
Western Terminus: LSHT Trailhead 1
Eastern Terminus: LSHT Trailhead 15 

Conveniently for hikers, the trailheads for the LSHT are named just that: Lone Star Hiking Trail – Trailhead #(1-15). Wouldn’t it be nice if all trail logistics were this simple? They all technically have specific names, but Google Maps recognizes them as LSHT Trailheads.

I dropped off my car at the eastern terminus and took a 40-minute shuttle to the western one. There are plenty of shuttles and local cab companies to choose from, and this is a pretty painless part of the journey.  All of the thru-hikers who I encountered took a similar approach to mine: car at one end, shuttle to begin. Traveling eastbound or westbound doesn’t really make much of a difference. If you do choose to leave your car, pack yourself a grab bag of all your favorite energy drinks, a liter or two of fresh water, and a change of clothes (including comfy shoes!). The next people you interact with and your future self will thank you!

If you do fly in, there are limited options. A one-way car rental will probably be your best bet or the Greyhound bus service runs from Houston to Conroe and you could get a shuttle from Conroe to either terminus of the trail if you wanted to.

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When to Hike The Lone Star Hiking Trail

The most months to hike the Lone Star Hiking Trail are January through April. The late spring/summer months in Texas can be brutal, with temperatures routinely reaching over 90 degrees. Biting bugs can also make for an uncomfortable trip this time of year. The only reason I don’t recommend October-December is because deer-hunting spans the entirety of these months and that presents challenges I will discuss later on. This trail isn’t very popular as a thru-hike, so I wouldn’t worry about a bubble of hikers to compete with for good campsites on this trail. I hiked the weekend of spring break and only spent one night camping with another person and saw maybe three or four other thru-hikers along my journey.

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The Lone Star Hiking Trail Terrain 

As a born and raised East-Coaster, I had some stereotypes in my head about what kind of hiking trails I would encounter in Texas. In my head, I was surrounded by tall, wispy grasses, flat and never-ending plains filled with herds of cows, and a distinct lack of forest and tall trees. I could not have been more wrong. The trail was flat, yes, but offers a look at some incredibly diverse forests in just under 100 miles. From skinny, tall pine trees that reach toward the sky to swampy, jungle-like heat traps, every segment was like entering a completely new ecosystem with its own distinct foliage. It was almost jarring at times. But it kept my head on a swivel to appreciate the beauty of the trail. All in all, this trail is flat, there is plenty of tree cover for shade, and the insects were are unmanageably bad. 

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The Lone Star Hiking Trail Resupply Strategy 

As mentioned, there are 15 trailheads along the LSHT. A few hikers I met had organized with shuttle drivers or partners to resupply them at one of these easily accessible stops. Others just cached water with their name on it in the bushes at a few choice trailheads before they set off, just to ensure it wouldn’t be a concern no matter the conditions. 

There are 2 seasonal camp stores that are located walking distance from (but not directly on) the trail. The first is Huntsville State Park, located 1 mile from eastbound mile-marker 35.6. The second is Double Lake Recreation Area, located at eastbound mile-marker 75. There is also a large gas station/convenience store at eastbound mile-marker 90.9 located 1 mile south of LSHT Trailhead #14 parking lot.

Hikers can mail themselves a resupply package to be picked up at the Huntsville post office, but that includes either coordinating a shuttle, trekking an extra 6 miles north of LSHT Trailhead #7 parking lot (eastbound mile-marker 35), or hitching a ride. 

Otherwise, your easiest option (and what I chose to do for my thru-hike) would be to carry everything with you from the beginning. I was planning on hiking the trail in four or five days so I packed five days just to be safe. Carrying the extra weight was worth the easier logistics and I’d choose this method again in a heartbeat. 

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Logistics: Hunting, Camping, Water, and Special Gear 

Hunting and Camping: Though no special permits are needed to hike the Lone Star Hiking Trail, if you hit the trail during deer-hunting season, be prepared to camp only in designated hunting campsites and nowhere else. Generally, the deer-hunting season begins in late September and runs through early January. Hikers should wear brightly colored clothes (fluorescent orange preferred), keep dogs under control and leashed, and camp in the sites designated by USFS during deer season. There’s no shortage of designated sites along the trail and they are all clearly marked in the online and paper guides mentioned in the reference section below. There is also one 2-mile section of trail that passes through the Big Creek Scenic Area (eastbound mile-marker 78.6 – 80.6), where camping is not allowed.

Water: Water scarcity and quality can definitely be an issue on this trail. Thankfully I happened to head out immediately after a long rainstorm hung out over the region, so I didn’t have much issue finding frequent sources. What I did have a problem with was my own comfortability with these sources. While I saw other hikers gently pushing away yellow-films of pollen to collect brown, stagnant pond water, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it and held out for once-a-day fill-ups at flowing sources. Sometimes those still didn’t smell great or were definitely not clear, but no bugs flying around the surface and a flowing source was about as good as it got on this trail. I consumed about 3 liters per day between cooking and drinking and never ran out between sources. The most I carried at one time was 4 liters but I was just starting out and feeling nervous about the conditions on trail.

Both the print guide and online PDF guide (links in reference section) that I used on trail assessed sources based on a D.R.O.P.S. system from 1-5 and included notes about whether it was a seasonal source, if you shouldn’t drink from it because of unseen agricultural runoff, or any other concerns. I found these evaluations to be pretty accurate and though water in general is a concern on this trail, while I was on the thru-hike I never actually had any of those fears manifest in any way for me.

Special Gear: There are definitely biting bugs in Texas no matter the time of year. I didn’t encounter many in March, but that’s likely because I used permethrin on every piece of clothing I took with me and on my tent. I definitely recommend using bug spray and bringing sunscreen for road walks that have lots of exposure to the big ol’ Texas sun. 

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Know Before You Go

Hunting Season: Deer hunting season runs from late September to early January, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only time of year Texans head out into the woods to hunt. Squirrel hunting is in March, turkey hunting is typically in April, and hog hunting is year-round during daylight hours. Check Texas Parks and Wildlife for specific dates on hunting season and make sure if you’re embarking on your journey during one of those months to wear fluorescent orange, keep dogs close and under control with a leash.

Falling Tree Branches: Large branches that are trapped in the canopy present a clear and present danger to campers on the Lone Star Hiking Trail. Be sure to always check your surroundings before pitching your tent for the night and do so with the expectation that a strong wind storm will blow through (because in the Texas backcountry, it just might). 

Controlled Burns: As I mentioned, I got lucky with my planning and didn’t get stopped in my tracks to wait for a prescribed burn to take place before I could pass through, but I got pretty darn close. I loved the eerie feeling of trekking through forests that had been burned just a day before I was there, but it might not be for everybody. The smoke was dense in some sections (never more than a mile or two at a time) and thankfully I had my N-95 mask to put on. But if hiking in smoke isn’t your thing or you have a preexisting condition that would make a thru-hike that much harder for you, I’d give the forest a little while to cool off (literally). You can check the schedule of prescribed burns by contacting Sam Houston National Forest. 

Road Walks: If you’ve been bit by the thru-hiking bug, it’s inevitable that you’ve done your fair share of road walks and the Lone Start Hiking Trail is no exception. There are a couple of sections of road walks ranging from 0.3 miles to just over 5 miles at a time, but total mileage on the road doesn’t account for more than 15 miles total at most (including gravel forest road sections). 

Unleashed Dogs: My biggest fear on trail was related to my online guide that included the blurb WATCH FOR DOGS in bold red letters next to one or two of the road walks. I had three instances on the Lone Star Hiking Trail when unleashed dogs would see me walking on the road past their house, fly through their open gate barking hysterically, and then remain close to me barking until I made it farther down the road. (They never hurt me but they certainly weren’t happy to see me and definitely terrified me and other hikers I talked to.) I don’t have a great answer on how to deal with this except that I carried a sound grenade and pepper spray as a last resort. I also got some big sticks to carry when I was warned about dogs so I could at least keep them at a distance. After my hike, I went on the LSHT Facebook Group, and dogs scaring hikers was an unfortunately common theme.

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Lone Star Hiking Trail Resources

• The Lone Star Hiking Trail Facebook Group is a great place to get answers to questions you may still have about your trip and up-to-date information about conditions on trail (and you may find a trail angel or two poking around as well). 
• Charlotte Tomkavitz lives a 30-minute drive to any trailhead on the LSHT and offers shuttles to hikers. I used her services for the bridge reroute (discussed below) and to shuttle me from the eastern terminus where I left my car to the western terminus.
• Texas native and experienced long-distance hiker Karen Borski’s The Lone Star Hiking Trail: The Official Guide to the Longest Wilderness Footpath in Texas 2nd edition is a printed guidebook with everything you need to know about logistics, mileage charts, section maps, designated campsites, and more. However, it does not include the bridge reroute discussed below. Otherwise, this is a wonderful resource that I used to prepare for my trip before I set off.
• Presented by Don Brewington and The Lone Star Hiking Club, The Thru-Hiker’s Guide is what I used as a resource while I was actively hiking the trail. I took screenshots of the free guide online and made sure I had enough battery to refer to it when I needed to. That way, I didn’t have to worry about service or the weight of a book on my back.
• There is currently a bridge over the East Fork of the San Jacinto River that is out. There is a reroute and all information is available here through The Lone Star Hiking Trail Club.
• Want to get to know the trail before you embark on your thru-hike? The Lone Star Hiking Trail Club invites you to join them on their group or trail-maintenance hikes on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of every month. 
  

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