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Cameron Park: The Perennial Summertime Stop in Waco

via flickr.com/photos/ritahogan/ (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Texas has more than 100 national and state parks – the perfect summertime destinations. But if leaving the city limits is off the table this summer, Waco is home to one of the largest city parks in the state – Cameron Park. Reporting for KWBU, Michael Incavo says the park has been a perennial attraction since the early 1900s.

Cameron Park is named after William Cameron – a businessman who moved to Waco in the late 1800s and eventually set up several retail lumberyards in the city. Cameron donated the park’s 416 acres of land along with development funds more than a century ago.

Kim Jennings, a park ranger for the City of Waco Parks Department, says on any given day the park is filled with people exploring its vast expanses.

“It really is the crown jewel of Waco. It is a hidden secret that if you get a chance to visit it, it really is worth your time.”

Near the entrance to the park, a towering cascade of steps protrudes from the steep hill it was built into; it’s called Jacob’s Ladder.

“It’s one of our cool features; if you come to Cameron Park, you’ve gotta see Jacob’s Ladder.”

Frank Curre grew up in Waco, and spent time in the park during the 1920’s and 30’s. The Baylor Institute interviewed him about his memories of “the cold springs”.

"Proctor Springs,” Curre said fondly in an archival interview. “Being able to go down there and get that cold water coming out of that hill and get in that little pool. And we could take watermelons down there in the summer and put them in that cold water and get them good and cool and break them open and eat. They had duck pens with exotic ducks in them for you to visit and a little pool for them to swim in. It was just great to be in the park.”  

A substantial multimillion-dollar bond project in 2007 brought much needed revitalization to the park in the form of pavilions, hiking and biking trails and a complete face-lift to some areas, like Pecan Bottoms. More recent renovations include the addition of a riverwalk, which Jennings says provides the easiest way to access the park and its surrounding areas.

“It’s a paved trail, it goes all the way from the Ferrell Center, past the stadium, through downtown, by the suspension bridge, all the way into Cameron Park, and now it extends all the way over to Brazos Park East," Jennings said. "That’s paved and it’s lighted, so people can go access that whenever they’d like.”

"It really is the crown jewel of Waco. It is a hidden secret that if you get a chance to visit it, it really is worth your time."

  Another key feature of the park is its extensive trail system—over 20 miles long. The trails cover many different types of terrain since the Balcones fault line runs right through the park. The trails are multi-use — you might walk around a corner and see a mountain biker or an equestrian on some trails. There’s even a Facebook group monitored by the Parks Department where you can check trail conditions and report problems.

“All the trails are labeled just like streets in Google Maps- you can drop a pin and you can see where you are and do the navigation to the other trails around you, so that’s a good tool to have if you’re going to venture off into the trails.” 

And each trail has its own varying level of difficulty.

“The green circle is for beginner, a blue square would be intermediate and a black diamond would be advanced or expert. And then a double black diamond is, like, super sketchy," Jennings said. 

“We’re a big mountain biker destination.”

Credit Michael Incavo
Competitive mountain biker and educator Ray Lamb with the bikes he uses to ride through Cameron Park

  That’s because since Texas is relatively flat, the kinds of hills and drops featured in the park can’t be found just anywhere. The trails are particularly handy for competitive mountain biker and educator Ray Lamb. 

“When I just want to go out and ride with my grandson or my wife it’s nice, there’s easy places to ride—when I want to go out and train hard, do hill repeats, I can go up and down Erect or go up and down Highlander, so pretty much everything I need as far as a training area goes."

Lamb recently completed his new house in Cameron Park –  the perfect location with easy access to the trails he uses to train for competitive races, some of which are a thousand miles long. When we spoke, he was preparing his equipment for a 3000-mile trek from Canada to Mexico. To Lamb, the park is more than just a training ground.  

“I think it’s underutilized and it’s going to get better and better and better," Lamb said of the 400-acre park. 

"Most people are like you and I—I mean, I always thought Waco was flat, you know, just a flat place. But really, Cameron Park has tons of elevation and it’s just really a pretty cool place, accessible for everybody."

In its 100-plus years, Cameron Park has seen and weathered many changes – but one thing that’s remained – is its beauty.  Jennings says whether it’s hiking, biking, fishing, picnicking or just strolling there’s ample room for it all.

“It’s a really nice place to get away and enjoy nature and just enjoy the serenity of it all.”

Michael Incavo was a reporting intern at KWBU and a junior at Baylor University. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Michael moved to Texas when he began college.