Johnson Branch — Ray Roberts Lake State Park

I wasn’t particularly impressed with the trail systems here at this end of Ray Robs. I strongly recommend Isle Du Bois (south of Lake Ray Robs) over this Johnson part of the park. From what I saw in all my ambling, DuBois got a much better variety of trees (including the Lost Pines), trails, views, and wildlife.

Here at Johnson I found the map they give you at the entrance does not correspond with the trail markers. The trail markers in the woods use letters and colors whereas the black and white map only shows names of the trails and does not actually show most of the trail networks that are back there at all. Once on the trail, then, my map was almost totally useless. Only using my own bearings and memory did I get back to the parking lot, and only then did I see the much more useful map posted at the trailhead. I had missed it because, as far as I saw, there are no signs directing you towards the trailheads from the parking lot. So only after wandering through the campsite paths for a spell did I discover the hiking/biking trails. Anyway, take a picture of the colored map before you begin because that map actually does correspond with the colors and letters on the trail markers. Maybe the park app would work well, too,I couldn’t say. I was trying to go a little old school with the paper map, I guess, but since that’s just about useless I had to go even older still: compass and landmarks, baby!

Nor was I particularly impressed with the environment here. It’s nice and woodsy, sure, and that’s always good, but it felt kind of homogenous or something, lacking diversity. Lots of oaks, greenbriar, and poison ivy (but never fear, plenty of Virginia creeper, too). I was also chagrined to find nearly zilch for wildlife on such a pleasant spring day. There are posted signs talking about deer and squirrels and copperheads and bobcats in the park, but the only one of those I saw was the Bobcat clearing chunks of felled tree. Nary a squirrel in miles of wood did I see, nor birds, nor deer, no nothing but insects. Where have all the animals gone?

The public access swimming zone for the lake seemed like a nice place to grill and chill with friends and fam. But I was alone. And remained alone, as the geese I tried to make friends with started honking some pretty racist, super toxic stuff. Well, one of them was, but the other one didn’t speak up and put a stop to her companion’s honk-based violence against me, so she’s complicit, part of the problem, too, right? They ended up paddling away into the sunset. So I finally found some wild life out there and ended up driving it away myself. The absurd misadventures of me continue ever on.

Well, so, especially if you’re trail-minded, I definitely wouldn’t spend $7 per person to come here. That’s one of the highest park day fees I’ve seen and probably the most underwhelming park. I did feel like DuBois was well worth $7, though, and it ain’t that far from here, so just go there if you’re trying to check out Ray Robs.

Happy trails, y’all.