Gilmer, Texas

Longview is the nearest big city, about 21 miles south on TX 300 (around 25 minutes by OSRM routing). Tyler is about 40 miles southwest on U.S. 271 (roughly 45–50 minutes). Dallas is about 130 miles away (roughly 2 hours 20 minutes, via U.S. 271 and I-20), and Shreveport is about 86 miles (roughly 1 hour 40 minutes).

Plan around one thing if you're moving here: Gilmer no longer has a hospital. KLTV reported in November 2014 that ETMC Gilmer stopped inpatient care on October 31, 2014, and closed its emergency, lab and imaging departments on December 12, 2014. ETMC EMS and home health kept operating in Upshur County. For hospital and emergency care, residents head to Longview or Tyler.

Gilmer ISD serves the town and central Upshur County, plus a small slice of southern Camp County. The Gilmer Buckeyes play football in Class 4A, and in December 2023 they beat Bellville 28–26 for the 4A Division II title, KLTV reported. That was the program's fourth state championship. On fall Friday nights, that's where a lot of the town is.

You can't talk about Gilmer without the East Texas Yamboree. The Handbook of Texas says the first one was held in October 1935 to celebrate the sweet potato harvest, and the Yamboree's own site calls it one of the oldest continuous festivals in Texas. It runs four days in mid-October. The 89th annual Yamboree is October 14–17, 2026, per the official site. The lineup includes a queen's coronation and Queen's Parade, a school parade, a carnival, livestock shows and a Fiddlers' Contest. The City of Gilmer puts attendance at about 100,000 over the four days.

Outside festival week, Lake Gilmer is the town's own water. The city says it opened to the public on September 29, 2001, with 1,010 surface acres, off FM 852 about 4 miles west of downtown. It's stocked with Florida largemouth bass, black crappie and channel catfish. Lake Gilmer Park and the Kelsey Creek Sanctuary Nature Trails are on Armadillo Road, just off Cherokee Trace. The city also lists the Flight of the Phoenix Aviation Museum at Fox Stephens Field, the municipal airport.

For bigger water, Lake Bob Sandlin State Park near Pittsburg is about 35 minutes north. TPWD lists a 9,000-acre lake with a lighted fishing pier, campsites, cabins, kayak rentals and 3.3 miles of trails. Lake O' the Pines, run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers out of Jefferson, has four Corps campgrounds: Alley Creek, Brushy Creek, Buckhorn Creek and Johnson Creek. It's worth the drive if you want a weekend on a big lake.