Texas Parks and Wildlife has designated January hiking month, and it is touting Purtis Creek State Park near Eustace and Cedar Creek Lake for its natural beauty. Purtis Creek State Park offers a 1.25-mile roundtrip hiking trail that showcases part of Texas' prairies and lake region. The trail is easy to moderate and open only to foot traffic, according to park literature. The state agency has published "Prairie Life Nature Trail" online. The publication provides descriptions and images of some of the plant life surrounding the trail. The plant descriptions and illustrations in the publication come from "Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southwest" by Robert A. Vines with drawings by Sarah Kahlden Arendale. Some of the plants visible from the trail are Flowering Dogwood blooming gloriously in the spring, American Beauty Berry producing balls of berries in the fall, Black Hickory that produces edible nuts, Yaupon that produces a berry Native Americans used for medicinal purposes related to gastric cleansing (DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME), Winged Elm that was used for producing rope to tie cotton bales, Post Oak used for crossties, fence posts, fuel and furniture, Devil's Walking Stick that produced a substance for toothaches and other remedies from its roots, Eastern Red Cedar that repels insects and Poision Ivy, which presumably needs no explanation. Purtis Creek State Park contains a lake that is fed by tributaries, and the wetland habitat is home to beavers and alligators. Many species of birds and wild animals feed and shelter in the park. Hollow logs seen in the park are one of the shelters used by wild animals. The park is in an area where the Wichita and Caddo American Indians roamed. East of the park, on private property, is a cliff overhang that Native Americans used as a temporary shelter. Petroglyphs are carved into the rock walls indicating this was a good hunting area. The wild game and fertile soil of the area led to an influx of Anglos in the early to mid-1800s. The road that lies on the south border of the park entrance was known as the Tyler to Porter's Bluff Road, a well-known stage route from East Texas to the Trinity River that fostered the development of the busy trading post of Goshen. 12. • The park asks visitors to help keep the scenery beautiful by keeping it litter free, help wild animals stay on a healthy, natural diet while minimizing animal contact with visitors, help researchers link us to our past by not disturbing archeological sites. To see the Prairie Life Nature Trail Guide, click this link.