News: Texas travel industry briefs

Texas TraveLog, the state's official travel industry newsletter, is published monthly by the Texas Department of Transportation. Click the link below to download the latest issue.

JUNE 2010 TEXAS TRAVELOG (pdf)

In this month's issue:

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  • Texas Trave Counselors converge on Corpus Christi to explore city, participate in awards presentation
  • Freedom's Sisters exhibit shines spotlight on 20 notable women
  • Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum unveils Hall of Heroes
  • And more ...

New Paddling Trail

Local, state and federal officials gathered May 11 to celebrate the opening of the state's newest paddling trail, which ends at Village Creek State Park.

The 21-mile paddling trail, which begins at F.M. 418, includes four access points as it snakes through an ecologically diverse riparian corridor within the Big Thicket near the communities of Kountze, Silsbee and Lumberton. It is the 19th trail in the Texas Paddling Trail program, with more than a dozen more scheduled to open this year.

"In terms of popularity, paddling may very well become the birding of the 21st century," says Carter Smith, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s executive director. "The creation of paddling trails serves as one more way to encourage people to get outdoors and travel our great state, and in the process, stimulate local economies with tourism dollars. The bottom line is that travel matters to all Texans."

The Texas Paddling Trails program helps promote habitat conservation through sustainable economic development while providing additional recreational opportunities to the public. More Americans paddle (canoe, kayak or raft) than play soccer, making it one of the fastest-growing nature tourism experiences.

For more information, visit www.tpwd.state.tx.us/villagecreek.