Explore Meridian State Park: Nature, History, and Recreation
By: Karen Yancy
Revised by: Laurie E. Jasinski
Published: 1976
Updated: September 16, 2025
Meridian State Park is off State Highway 22 approximately fifty miles northwest of Waco and three miles southwest of Meridian in Bosque County. This 505-acre state park is on the eastern edge of the Cross Timbers and Grand Prairies regions of North Central Texas and lies near the route of the Texan Santa Fe expedition of 1841 and the Chisholm Trail. The hilly terrain and limestone soils of the area support cedar, a wide variety of oaks, prickly pear cactus, pale-leaf yucca, and mountain laurel. The predominant grasses are little bluestem, Indian grass, and buffalo grass. Local fauna includes raccoons, foxes, white-tailed deer, and numerous species of birds, including the rare golden-cheeked warbler.
The park was acquired by the state from private landowners in the early 1930s. From 1933 to 1934 Civilian Conservation Corps Company 1827, comprised of World War I veterans, worked to develop the park. Crews constructed a rock and earthen dam on Bee Creek to impound a seventy-two-acre lake called Lake Meridian. They built a five-mile scenic road, bridge, culverts, and other features, as well as an impressive refectory, made of local timber and limestone. The park opened in 1935. Recreational activities include hiking, boating, fishing, picnicking, and swimming. Meridian State Park offers five miles of trails, a fishing pier, twenty-four campsites, three cabins, and fifteen screened shelters. Anglers have the opportunity to catch largemouth bass, bream, catfish, and crappie, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department stocks rainbow trout in the winter.
Bibliography:
Meridian State Recreation Area (brochure, Austin: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1982).
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Time Periods:
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Karen Yancy Revised by Laurie E. Jasinski, “Meridian State Park,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/meridian-state-recreation-area.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
GKM09
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- 1976
- September 16, 2025
