"This land is part of my soul," Sam Pollard said when the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation announced on October 2, 2026, that it had bought his family's Lake Palestine property for a future state park. The Pollards have owned the land since 1940. For decades it was part of Texas Pecan Nursery, the family business, and Pollard grew up working, hunting and fishing there.
For anyone who keeps a boat near Bullard, the news is good but sits some distance away, on the map and on the calendar. The park will be at the Chandler end of the lake. Its first visitors will come on guided access, and the first step in that process, the state's purchase of the land, is set for late 2027. On the Bullard end, public access will run through the same short list of ramps it does now, and this fall that list is under some strain.
Where the 650 acres actually are
The foundation closed on the property on October 1, 2026, for more than $10 million. The site is in Henderson County, about 18 miles west of Tyler and 20 miles east of Athens. KETK reported that the tract lies about halfway between Chandler and Moore Station. According to the Texas Tribune, the land has about 2,000 feet of lake frontage, along with pine forest, native grasses, a pecan orchard and around 10 ponds.
That shoreline counts for more than the acreage suggests. The foundation calls the property one of the largest contiguous landholdings with frontage on Lake Palestine. On a lake lined mostly with private lots, a single owner of that size is unusual. Once the land became public, any chance of it being cut up into waterfront parcels went away.
None of the coverage so far names the nearest road or says which shore the park will face. Until the state publishes a site plan, the most precise description available is "between Chandler and Moore Station."
The calendar is longer than the headlines
Most coverage led with "a state park is coming." The schedule matters more. The foundation will hold the land until the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department can buy it in late 2027, when more money from the Centennial Parks Conservation Fund becomes available. Madelon Allen, a public information officer with TPWD's State Parks office, told the Tribune that the wait lets the state earn more interest on the fund. That fund is a $1 billion investment lawmakers passed in 2023 and voters approved, meant for buying and developing parks.
After the purchase, the state plans to open the park in stages:
- Guided access comes first.
- Day use comes next.
- Full day and overnight access comes last.
TPWD has said it will ask for public input on the park's design once it owns the land. Planned amenities include hike-and-bike trails, traditional and primitive campsites, day-use areas and lakefront access. Habitat restoration is part of the preparation. No agency has given a date for any of these phases, and any date you see quoted is a guess.
Even getting to this point took time. TPWD identified the property as a possible park site in 2025, and the Tribune reported that the land stayed under contract for nearly a year while the state finished its studies. Texas State Parks Director Rodney Franklin told KETK that Texas loses more than 700 acres of rural land to development every day. At that rate, the foundation bought the land first and is letting the state's money catch up.
What the Bullard end launches from today
From the Bullard side, public access is spread thin. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department lists two free access points reached by taking Texas 155 south about 10 miles from Tyler, turning east on FM 344 to Teaselville, then picking up FM 346 across the Chimney Creek cove. Both are built for small boats. Ramps that can handle larger boats are farther away.
| Access point | How TPWD directs you there | What it handles | Fee, per TPWD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherokee Landing | FM 344 to FM 346, right on FM 3504 at the far end of the Chimney Creek bridge, 2 miles | Ramp for small boats, parking for 15 vehicles | None |
| Chimney Creek Landing | FM 346, road to the right at the far end of the Chimney Creek bridge, 75 yards | Bank launch, small boats only | None |
| Deep End Public Ramp | TX 155 to Frankston, east on US 175, left on FM 1892 to the west end of the dam | Two-lane ramp, all boat sizes | None |
| Saline Bay | TX 155 south through Dogwood City, east on CR 189W for half a mile | Two-lane ramp, all boat sizes | None |
Private operators along Texas 155 fill in the gaps. TPWD's directory lists fee launches at Lake Palestine Marina for $5, Lakeside Getaway for $3, Camper's Cove for $2, Palestine Pines for $3, Kiloland for $3, Lake Palestine Motor Inn for $2 and Lake Palestine Campground for $3. Lakeside Getaway and Lake Palestine Motor Inn are free for their motel guests. The directory page has no date, so call ahead to confirm current fees and hours before loading the trailer.
In practice, someone near Bullard with a bass boat or pontoon who wants a free two-lane ramp ends up at the dam or at Saline Bay. Someone with a kayak or a small jon boat has the two Chimney Creek-area options close to home. The state park will eventually offer lakefront access at the Chandler end, which helps visitors from that direction. It does not add a ramp to FM 346.
Why this fall makes the small-boat question sharper
Lake levels matter most at the small-boat launches, and the lake has been dropping since spring. Water Data for Texas shows Lake Palestine at 100% full on April 5, 2026, at an elevation of 345.07 feet. By September 5 it had fallen to 92.1% and 343.72 feet. As of October 4 it stood at 89.4% and 343.25 feet, 1.75 feet below the 345-foot conservation pool. In early October 2025, the lake was 98% full. Those daily figures are provisional.
The decline hasn't been steady. The lake bottomed out near 343.13 feet on September 28, then rose slightly over the following week. Still, a lake nearly two feet below pool behaves differently at a bank launch than one sitting at full. TPWD warns, for example, that the small-boat ramp at Chandler River Park on the Neches River may be unusable at low water. The agency has issued no comparable notice for Cherokee Landing or Chimney Creek Landing, and no source located for this post reports a closure there. Before an October weekend on the water, check the gauge and drive out to look at the launch.
What to watch between now and late 2027
The next public milestone is TPWD buying the land from the foundation. The input sessions come after that, and they will shape what the park becomes. Planners can still decide how much lakefront access the site offers, how campsites are split between traditional and primitive, and whether boat launching is part of the plan at all. The foundation's announcement says only that the property will "ultimately expand public access to Lake Palestine."
The land itself is likely to be the main draw. Franklin pointed to the pecan trees as a signature feature of the property, and the foundation highlights blufftop lake views and habitat for white-tailed deer, bobcats and waterfowl. When the park does open, its first visitors will arrive on guided tours.
For the Bullard end, the public map of the lake looks the same as it did last week. The closest free launches are still Cherokee Landing and Chimney Creek Landing off FM 346, and the closest free two-lane ramps are still at the dam off FM 1892 and at Saline Bay off Texas 155.
If you own a home or lot on the Bullard end of Lake Palestine and want to know how a new state park, a lower lake and public access across the water could affect a sale or purchase, Jana Dillard can walk you through it using what she sees on lakefront deals near Bullard. Book a Consultation.
