I was excited to learn in 2021 that a non-profit group, SAFE (Students, Athletics, Families, and Education), was organizing efforts to clean a long-forgotten piece of Cisco history. A trip was in order just a month after being opened to the public.
The Lake Cisco Zoo was built on the side of the lake around 1923 and quickly became a popular place to visit. A writer for the Brownwood Bulletin in August 17, 1926 shared from a recent trip, “The bear crawls into his cave out of sight and goes to sleep, the wolves duck around a boulder here to reappear at another place—in fact it is simply impossible to describe this fine feature of the treat outdoors at Cisco. The sides of the hill along the boulders all the way to the level of the valley is arranged for the accommodation of wild animals—near to the nature’s heart in very truth.”
Three teenagers were hunting in the nearby woods in 1928 when they came across a black bear cub. Rather than running in fear, they captured and brought it home. It turned out to have escaped from the zoo 3 months earlier.
Unfortunately, conditions were not ideal for year-round captivity and the animals were brought to Fort Worth’s Forest Park Zoo in 1938. After its closing, nature reclaimed the area until the recent cleanup.
Today, you will start out by walking through a large metal gate with Old Zoo Nature Trail on top. What was recently thick brush is now a wide gravel path, about a mile long. Signs have been placed throughout to show hiking paths and provide directions to the old zoo. Several stone steps will take you up a steep hill to the old exhibits where I encountered a few families exploring. Additional steps lead to private property where remains of old cabins sit. Even without animals present, it is a unique experience.
