A paddle into Texas's only natural lake — a cypress swamp on the Louisiana line.
Caddo is the lake that doesn't look like Texas. The only naturally-formed lake in the state, 26,800 acres of cypress swamp straddling the Louisiana line, with Spanish moss draping over standing trees and water that runs dark and still. It is eerie, beautiful, and the quietest paddle in the state.
The First Channel
Rent a kayak at Caddo Lake Steamboat Marina and follow the marked boat road through the trees. The channel is narrow, the cypress knees rise out of the water like roots, and the moss filters the light until everything goes green. Within ten minutes you can't see the launch, and within twenty you've forgotten there's a road.
“On Caddo, the silence is so thick you can hear the moss drip. That is the whole point.”
Paddle until you find a clearing, drift, and watch for the alligators sunning on the banks. No cell service, no schedule, no sound but the paddle. It is the strangest, most beautiful lake life in Texas — and the reason Caddo is the lake every Texan should see at least once.
