November 6, 2021
Kristi and I went on an adventure today!
It began in downtown Trinity, Texas, heading west on FM 230. FM 230 is a paved road, of course, but it goes through some pretty country on the north side of the Trinity River. Our intended target was Bo Brown Road, but we got distracted.
A few weeks before we had driven to the Dairy Queen in Trinity and found the line stretched out to the shoulder of the road. So, we drove down FM 230 for a few miles to let the line go down. We turned around at Chalk Cemetery Road. At the time we each commented that it looked like a good candidate for exploration at a later date. So today, as we approached it, we both decided to take that road, instead, and leave Bo Brown for another day.
Chalk Cemetery Road is a dirt road that starts about six miles west of State Highway 19 on FM 230 and heads north. Much of it meanders through Houston County, but it begins in Walker County. This part of Walker County is referred to as Kittrell’s Cut-Off, named for an early settler and the fact that the area is “cut off” from the rest of the county by the Trinity River. In the old days, residents of the area crossed the river by ferry to get to the county seat, Huntsville. In later times they drove to Huntsville via Trinity, Texas, until the Robinson-Reynolds Bridge was opened in the mid-1990s.
The map above does not show the first part of Chalk Cemetery Road that runs from FM 230. For some reason Google Maps does not see it as a drivable road.
Chalk Cemetery Road runs through pine forest, with a few pastures here-and-there. A short way up the road we came upon the eerie remains of a forest fire that occurred back in August 2018. While taking some pictures of the burned trees I noticed some goldenrod that was a popular spot for a few species of bees, wasps, and other insects. It was nice to see so much life in what, at first glance, appeared to be a desolate landscape.
A little further up the road was the turnoff to Cemetery Spur. Chalk Cemetery, which gets its name from the geologic features of the area, is located on that road. We didn’t visit it, though.
Chalk Cemetery Road ended at County Road 1893, a paved road also known as Piney Woods Road. We turned left, heading northwest. A short distance later the pavement ended, and the road became CR 3610.
Pleasant Grove Baptist Church is located nearby. Although the building is newer (but not very!) the congregation has been around in one form or another since 1862. A historical marker is located next to the building.
We continued north on CR 3610 for quite a way through forest and pastures. There are several other county roads that intersect with it, and each looked like a worthy target for exploring in future adventures. We stopped at one point to take a picture of the road as it runs through some trees when our friends, the horseflies, came out to greet us. There were only a few, slow, fat ones, but they were enough to discourage us from exiting the truck.
CR 3610 ends at FM 230. “Hold on!” you’re probably saying. “How did you keep traveling north and end up on the road you started on?” Well, the reason is that FM 230 heads west from Trinity, turns north at the J. Dale Wainright Unit state prison (formerly the Eastham Unit), then finally heads east toward Lovelady, Texas, which is located on State Highway 19 north of Trinity.
We headed west on FM 230 and took CR 3550 over to CR 3151. The former is dirt. The latter is paved. The intersection of these two county roads is near the spot where I took some nifty pictures of the Milky Way several years ago.
CR 3151 ends at CR 1280 in the community of Pearson’s Chapel. This is one of those “dispersed rural communities,” which basically means that it is just a few homes located around where a small community was once located.
Following CR 1280 to the northwest, we came to Austonio, Texas, on State Highway 21. From there we traveled west to Midway, Texas, then headed down FM 247 to FM 2628, then took FM 980 to Hwy 19 in Riverside. After a brief stop at Tallent Sausage for some meat, we headed home, and I grilled us up a couple of ribeyes.
It was nice to get out today. It has been a while since we went on an adventure. The weather was great, and the countryside was beautiful. The dirt roads we traveled were in good condition, too. There was one small section of CR 3610, though, where I’d advise against taking a vehicle with low clearance. It is probably navigable with some creative maneuvering, though.
Oh, and we didn’t see any Machete Men in Houston County this time.