Things to Do in Garrison, Texas

Like many small East Texas towns, Garrison's social calendar runs on its school. Garrison ISD's Fighting Bulldogs are the heart of community life, and Friday-night football draws families and neighbors out together each fall. The program has real history behind it, having won a state championship in 2003.

Beyond football, school events, basketball and baseball seasons, and community gatherings give the town its sense of togetherness. For a small town, that shared pride in the Bulldogs is as much an attraction as anything — the kind of close-knit Friday-night culture that defines the region.

Much of what there is to do around Garrison happens outdoors. The surrounding Piney Woods are good hunting country — deer, hogs, and small game — and quiet country roads make for easy scenic drives. The Attoyac Bayou, southeast of town, adds fishing, paddling, and wildlife for those who seek it out.

For bigger water, Sam Rayburn Reservoir lies to the south within a drive — the largest lake wholly within Texas and famous bass-fishing water, with boat ramps and camping around its shoreline. Between the woods at home and Sam Rayburn within reach, Garrison gives outdoor-minded folks a full menu for a day or a weekend.

Garrison's location on U.S. 59 keeps the area's bigger draws within an easy drive. Nacogdoches, the county seat about eighteen miles southwest, bills itself as the oldest town in Texas, with a historic brick-street downtown, the campus and events of Stephen F. Austin State University, the Sterne-Hoya House, and gardens and museums worth a day out.

Carthage to the north — home of the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame and the Tex Ritter Museum — and Lufkin to the south add more to do within a reasonable drive. Between Bulldog Friday nights, the outdoors, and historic Nacogdoches nearby, Garrison offers a well-rounded menu for a small town.