The Outdoors in Arp, Texas

Arp's greatest outdoor asset is the pair of reservoirs just to the west — Lake Tyler and Lake Tyler East — which together cover nearly 5,000 surface acres. They're a hub for boating, fishing, water skiing, and swimming, with plenty of shoreline, coves, and open water to explore.

Fishing is a major draw, with bass, catfish, and crappie among the catches, and the lakes' size makes them ideal for boating and water sports. For Arp residents, having such a large recreation area essentially next door means an evening of fishing or a weekend on the water is always close at hand.

The lake area includes Camp Tyler, a longtime outdoor-education and camping facility on the shore, where generations of East Texas kids have experienced nature, camping, and the outdoors. It adds camping and group-recreation options to the local mix.

Just outside town, the High Hill Farm resort offers another kind of outdoor experience: 75 acres of pine, oak, and redbud forest with a spring-fed lake and white-sand beaches, hiking and biking trails, skeet shooting, and room for bonfires and gatherings. Between the public lakes and the private resort, the Arp area packs in a lot of ways to get outside.

Beyond the lakes and resort, Arp is surrounded by classic East Texas landscape — pine forest, farm fields, and the sandy, fertile soils that built the town's tomato-shipping heritage. Country roads wind through woods and pasture, good for scenic drives and a quiet sense of the rural outdoors.

And with Tyler only about 18 miles away, residents can add the city's outdoor attractions to their options, from the famous Tyler Rose Garden to the pine-shaded trails and lake of Tyler State Park. Lakes, camps, a resort, and the surrounding Piney Woods give Arp a full slate of outdoor recreation for a town its size.