San Angelo State Park

{{short description|State park in Texas, United States}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox protected area | name = San Angelo State Park | image = Campground San Angelo State Park Texas.jpg | image_size = 250px | image_caption = A campground area in the park. | iucn_category = | map = USA Texas#USA | relief=1 | map_width = 240 | map_caption = | coordinates = {{coord|31.4604385|N|100.5078735|W|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | coords_ref = <ref name="gnis">{{cite gnis |id=2029376 |name=San Angelo State Park - South Shore |access-date=2012-12-04}}</ref> | location = Tom Green County, Texas | nearest_city = San Angelo | area = {{convert|7677|acre|ha}} | established = 1995 | visitation_num = 59,415 | visitation_year = 2025 | visitation_ref = <ref name="Park visitation">{{cite web |author=Christopher Adams |publisher= |url=https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/most-visited-texas-state-parks-2025// |title=What is the most visited state park in Texas? Here's the top 10 countdown for 2025 |work= |website=KXAN.com |access-date=March 11, 2026}}</ref> | governing_body = Texas Parks and Wildlife Department | website =[https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/san-angelo Official site] }}

'''San Angelo State Park''' is a {{convert|7677|acre|ha}} state park in Tom Green County, Texas, United States on the shores of the O.C. Fisher Reservoir near the eastern edge of San Angelo. The park is composed of two units, the north unit and south unit. The park opened in 1995 and is managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

== History == Native Americans, according to archeological findings, had lived in the area for 18,000 years starting with Paleo-Indian hunters of giant ice age mammals. European Americans arrived in the early 16th century, establishing missions for the resident Jumano Indians.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers completed O.C. Fisher Reservoir in 1952 with assistance from the Upper Colorado River Authority for the purpose of flood control and to provide secondary source of drinking water for San Angelo and the surrounding communities. The land surrounding it, which now makes up the area of the park, was leased to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and opened as San Angelo State Park in 1995.

==Nature== thumb|left|Bison grazing in San Angelo State Park

===Animals=== American bison that are part of the Texas State Bison Herd and Texas Longhorn that are part of the State of Texas Longhorn Herd are kept at the park. There are opportunities to see white-tailed deer, black-tailed jackrabbit, eastern cottontail, desert cottontail, North American porcupine and many species of snakes. Birds seen include pyrrhuloxia, cedar waxwing, painted bunting, blue grosbeak, spotted towhee, northern bobwhite, greater roadrunner, killdeer, red-tailed hawk golden-fronted woodpecker, ladder-backed Woodpecker and yellow-billed cuckoo.<ref name="tpwmag">{{cite web |last1=Emily |first1=Gibson |title=Get a Taste of the West at San Angelo State Park |url=https://tpwmagazine.com/parks/taste-of-the-west/ |website=tpwmagazine.com |publisher=Texas Parks and Wildlife Department |access-date=14 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Birds of San Angelo State Park |url=https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_p4506_0166d.pdf |publisher=Texas Parks and Wildlife Department |access-date=14 March 2026}}</ref>

===Plants=== Prickly pear cactus and Christmas cholla, honey mesquite and redberry juniper fills the park. Around the waterline are pecan, black willow, sugar hackberry, Texas live oak. The underbrush is primarily agarita, catclaw acacia, whitebrush, lotebush, little leaf sumac and some western soapberry. Plains yucca and Texas sacahuiste occur in the dryer areas. King Ranch bluestem and bristlegrass are probably the most common of the grasses.<ref name="tpwmag" />

== Activities == Camping facilities at the park include six enclosed, air-conditioned, and heated cabins and numerous campsites with water and electricity, picnic tables, and grills, and nearby restroom facilities. The park also has over 50 miles of developed trails suitable for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding along with ten horse pens. Boat ramps and a fishing pier support boating, fishing, and paddling pursuits. Swimming in the lake is permitted. With a State Park Annual Hunting Permit, deer and turkey hunting is available at scheduled times.<ref name="overview">{{cite web |title=San Angelo State Park: Overview |url=https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/san-angelo |publisher=Texas Parks and Wildlife Department |access-date=14 March 2026}}</ref>

==See also== *List of Texas state parks

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links == {{Commons category|San Angelo State Park}} * [http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/san_angelo/ Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: San Angelo State Park] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20091021051049/http://www.sanangelo.org/goodtimes/outdoors_sasp.php San Angelo Outdoors: San Angelo State Park] * [http://www.friendsofsasp.com/ Friends of San Angelo State Park] *[https://texasarchive.org/2014_03929 Home movie (c. 1973) of hang gliding in San Angelo State Park from the Jenkins Family Films] from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image

Category:1995 establishments in Texas Category:Protected areas established in 1995 Category:Protected areas of Tom Green County, Texas Category:San Angelo, Texas Category:State parks of Texas