Grassland Information
The McClellan Creek National Grassland (NG), 1,149 acres, is
located in the Texas Panhandle (northwest Texas). It is
administered by the Cibola National Forest. There is one
campground and it meets the selection criteria.
George B. McClellan was an Army surveyor, invented the saddle
that is still in use and bares his name, rose to General in the
Union Army, and ran for President against Abraham Lincoln, just
to mention a few of his accomplishments. While performing his
duties as an Army surveyor in the Texas panhandle, McClellan
named a little creek after himself. Years later, a dam was built
across McClellan Creek and Lake McClellan formed. Oil wells were
drilled on the ridges above the lake and a little later,
McClellan Lake became part of the McClellan Creek NG. By then
the lake was the premiere recreational area in the Texas
panhandle. Time, budget cuts, changes in how people recreate,
and a massive wildfire in 2006 changed McClellan Lake. Special
features like a dance hall and store are gone but McClellan Lake
continues to offer outstanding recreational opportunities to its
visitors.
The bright blue water of McClellan Lake is an oasis of refreshing
possibilities surrounded by the rolling golden hills of the
McClellan Creek NG. Trees along the shoreline offer shade and
shelter to both people and wildlife. Since the devastating
wildfire in 2006, the south shore has been closed but the north
shore is open and ready for campers, anglers, and ATV
enthusiasts.
McClellan Creek's only campground (Lake McClellan Recreation Area (RA)) has a pleasant
assortment of sites accommodating tent, car, and recreation
vehicle (RV) campers. About half these sites have electric and
water hookups. And the campground has flush toilets, hot
showers, and an RV waste station. Anglers are challenged by
healthy populations of Channel catfish, Largemouth bass, and
assorted panfish. Winding and steep trails offer ATV enthusiasts
a challenging, although probably too brief, recreation.
Perhaps one of the best features of Lake McClellan RA campground is
how convenient it is to I-40. A little more than three-miles
from the truck traffic, the blazing sunshine, and hurry of the
Interstate, Lake McClellan Recreation Area campground is a true
oasis of calm, quiet, and shade - a super place to end a day of travel.
It might be hard to see the McClellan Creek NG as anything other
than what it is today. However, the area now designated as
"grassland" was settled in the 1800s under a variety of
"Homestead Acts," which opened the land to people, generally
farmers, and helped to settle the west. A prolonged period of
drought in the late 1920s into the 1930s caused some homesteads
on sub-marginal farmland (a location receiving 15 or less inches
of annual moisture) to literally dry up and blow away. During
this time, Congress established the Land Utilization Program
(LUP) which bought homesteads from bankrupt private owners and
returned it to public land status. The Work Program
Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
enrollees helped to stabilize the eroding soil. In the 1950s,
the LUP holdings were assigned to the USDA Forest Service and who
was tasked with management of these sub-marginal lands. Over the
years the Forest Service has established some twenty National
Grasslands from those sub-marginal lands. "The designation of the
area as National Grassland is not a description of the area as
much as a statement of policy and effort to restore the area to a
multiple of uses and benefits."
General McClellan did not have an opportunity to see the
grassland nor lake that bares his name. But visitors to this
little grassland oasis in the Texas panhandle will probably
agree, McClellan is a place they enjoyed and will remember.
ADDRESSES
SUPERVISOR ADDRESS
2113 Osuna Road, NE
Suite A
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113
505-346-3900
RANGER DISTRICT ADDRESS
Black Kettle
Route 1, Box 55-B
Cheyenne, Oklahoma 73628
580-497-2143
|
