May 15, 2021
Not all of our adventures are down dirt roads. There are many places that are paved, but still offer an interesting, off-the-beaten-path experience. On this day, we traveled down several roads in Walker, San Jacinto, Polk, and Trinity Counties–most of which were paved. This in no way diminishes the adventure, but there is something special about the dirt roads.
Dirt roads are less traveled and are typically “wilder” than the paved roads. Woods, fields, and pastures are closer to the edges of the dirt roads; and, they usually have more things that are interesting to see. They are an easy way to experience some of the wilderness without actually hiking into it.
We’ve seen forests, tree farms, pastures, swamps, creeks, ponds, and tons of interesting wildlife. Stop in the middle of a dirt road in the forest, turn off the engine, and roll down the windows. You’ll likely hear things (birds, the wind sighing in the trees), smell things (pine trees, flowers, wet earth), and see things (wildlife, interesting plants) that are absent in our more “civilized” surroundings.
Today’s adventure took us over some familiar paved roads. We started on State Highway 19, turned onto Sterling Chapel Road/Roy Webb Road toward the town of Dodge, and then took Dodge-Oakhurst Road to Oakhurst along U.S. 190.
Dodge is a small community that was founded in 1872 by the Houston and Great Northern Railroad. It is named for the Phelps-Dodge Company, which built the railroad.
The route passes by Teysha Vineyard, near Oakhurst in San Jacinto County. Teysha Vineyard is a beautiful place for a weekend visit.
Oakhurst was founded sometime around the turn of the 20th century. It is named for an oak-covered hill (hurst). It was once the site of a large sawmill.
From Oakhurst, we continued south on FM 946, through the Sam Houston National Forest, to FM 3018. FM 3018 starts off as a paved road through alternating forest and pastures with a few houses here-and-there. Then, the pavement ends and the route proceeds through mostly ranchland. There are several gorgeous vistas along this portion of the road.
FM 3018 dead-ends into Jenkins Road (which is also accessible from 946). We turned left onto Jenkins, then took a very short drive to Willow Springs Road on the right. There isn’t much out there, other than a lot of trees. At some point we returned to the pavement, then Willow Springs ended at FM 946.
Turning left, we traveled back north on FM 946 to Felix Currie Road. This dirt road wound through some pretty forested areas and pastures into the back portion of what appears to be a residential development with large lots and new mobile homes. The road ends at Wilderness Road, which eventually took us to FM 156 near the western edge of Lake Livingston.
The Bullet Grill House is located at the intersection of Wilderness Road and FM 156, just outside of Point Blank. We stopped there for lunch. What a great place! We highly recommend checking them out.
The origin of Point Blank’s name is sort of interesting, in my opinion. It was reportedly named back in the 1850s by Florence Dissiway, the French governess of one of the first families that settled in the area. She called the area Blanc Point, which according to some sources translates to “White Point” (although Google Translate says “White Dot,” but I don’t trust that interpretation). At any rate, the locals took up the name, but eventually switched the words around to “Point Blank.” I’m not certain what “White” means in this context, but it could describe something in the local geography or that it was a settlement of “white” people, much like the origin of the name of White Settlement, Texas.
From the Bullet Grill House, we headed into Point Blank, then east on U.S. 190 across Lake Livingston to Onalaska, Texas in Polk County.
And waft, across the wave’s tumultuous roar,
Thomas Campbell, The Pleasures of Hope
The wolf’s long howl from Oonalaska’s shore.
Onalaska takes its name from the passage quoted above. The name was a favorite of its founder, William Carlisle, who owned a succession of saw mills in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Besides Onalaska, Texas, he created sawmill towns in Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Washington–all named Onalaska. “Oonalaska,” or “unalaska,” is an Aleutian word that means, “dwelling together harmoniously.”
From there we explored a road that I’ve been interested in for some time: FM 3459, which heads north out of Onalaska toward Groveton, the seat of Trinity County. At some point the state maintenance ends and the road turns to dirt. Although seemingly well maintained, parts had been washed out during recent storms. It was still passable with 2-wheel drive, but a truck might be safer than a car.
The dirt portion of FM 3459 (also called Old Groveton Road and Old Onalaska Road) was by far the most interesting part of the entire trip. A long section is dead-straight, but goes up and down through the valleys of several creeks. Sections of the road are built on the limestone bedrock, which is a rare sight in this part of Texas. In addition, there is a great deal of gravel that includes nice pieces of petrified wood and jasper. We picked up a few loose rocks from in and around the ditches.
Old Groveton Road ends at FM 355, which took us to Sebastopol, on the north side of Lake Livingston. Sebastopol was originally named Bartholomew, but was renamed after the Black Sea port by Russian settlers in the 1850s. Russian merchants bought cotton in Sebastopol, Texas and shipped it down the Trinity River to the Gulf of Mexico, then on to Russia.
From Sebastopol we turned west on FM 356 and headed toward Trinity. Along the way we spotted a beautiful, but rarely seen, Coach House Platinum RV. We ended our journey at the Dairy Queen in Trinity, then headed home.