Explore Cassels Boykin Park: A Hidden Gem in Angelina County
By: Christopher Long
Revised by: Laurie E. Jasinski
Published: December 1, 1994
Updated: November 23, 2025
Cassels-Boykin Park is on the western shore of Sam Rayburn Reservoir on Farm Road 3123, about seven miles east of Zavalla in Angelina County. The 265-acre park was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in the mid-1960s and was leased to the state in 1982, when the corps developed financial problems. Eventually the corps resumed operation of the park. The heavily wooded site, in Angelina National Forest, attracts numerous migratory birds and waterfowl. Archeological surveys have revealed extensive Caddoan settlements in the area; Cherokees occupied the site from about 1828 to 1839. Facilities include boat ramps, toilets, picnic tables, campsites, a large pavilion, and a mountain bike trail. Known for the lake’s largemouth bass, the park is popular with anglers and also has a fishing pier that is wheelchair accessible.
Bibliography:
Cassels-Boykin Park, Angelina County (https://www.angelinacounty.net/parks/), accessed November 22, 2025. Cassels Boykin Park—Zavalla, VisitSamRayburn.com (https://visitsamrayburn.com/cassels-boykin-park-zavalla/), accessed November 22, 2025. Ray Miller, Texas Parks (Austin: Cordovan, 1984).
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The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Christopher Long Revised by Laurie E. Jasinski, “Cassels Boykin Park,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/cassells-boykin-state-recreation-area.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
GKC06
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- December 1, 1994
- November 23, 2025
