A Garden for All Seasons
Roses in the spring, summer and fall. Azaleas of all colors every spring. Tulips before the azaleas. Pansies in the fall and winter. 
And the list goes on and on. Hodges Gardens has been a treasure of the western Louisiana landscape for many years. Located near Florien,bout 20 miles north of Leesville, home of Ft. Polk Army Base, on LA Highway 171, Hodges gardens has a colorful history.
Originally the site of a sandstone quarry (who would have thought – a stone quarry in Louisiana!), the sandstone for the jetties in Port Arthur, TX came from this site. Abandoned, the site caught the attention of oil & gas businessman A. J. Hodges, Sr. A conservationist, he and his wife acquired the property and envisioned building a beautiful garden, capitalizing on the large rock formations and sandstone cliffs left from the open pit mining operation. Formal rose gardens were planted, bridges and walkways were added, and a lake was dug to both add beauty to the locale, as well as provide irrigation for the extensive gardens.
Open to the public as a private garden for many years, the Hodges family donated the 4,700 acre property to the State of Louisiana in 2007. Now a state park (www.stateparks.com/la.html), you can stay overnight in one of 9 tent sites, 
or in the cabins; no RV sites are available right now. (For information, call 1-800-354-3523.) The five mile, paved road around the lake is challenging for the most physically fit, and bicycles are a must. The park service rents boats and canoes for lake use.
We met a couple in their 70’s the last time we camped here, who came once a year with their bicycles to ride the 5-mile route – just to prove, one more year, that they could still do it! Bordering on property owned by Ft. Polk, don’t be surprised if you hear the sounds of war games going on occasionally.
While Hodges Gardens is beautiful, the excellent hiking opportunities nearby make the Gardens a nice home base. Much of the land on both the Texas and Louisiana sides of nearby Toledo Bend Lake is owned by timber companies. They have made available some of the more scenic natural areas for public use. One such hiking trail is worth finding. Canyon Rim Woodlands Trail, owned by Champion International Corp., is located on TX Highway 87, 1.5 north of the intersection of Hwy 87 and R255. Used as a training area for soldiers from nearby Ft. Polk during WW II, the 1.6 mile trail follows the rim of a natural canyon, made by a sandy creek flowing through the area.
Naturally very hilly, we found a variety of walking sticks for our use at the beginning of the trail. It was obvious – use one, return it when you leave. We left the trail to get a closer look at the creek, and found a small treasure, that is, if you are a rockhound. 
Nice chunks of petrified wood littered the creek bed. What a find! For more information on this trail – www.newtontxnetwork.com/tour/parks/canyonrim.
Not far south of this area, you will find Wild Azalea Canyons. Not to be confused with several Wild Azalea Trails in Louisiana , this wilderness area is a little tricky to find, but absolutely worth the effort; good directions can be found at www.Toledo-Bend.com. Owned by Temple-Inland forest Products, this natural canyon hosts the largest known stand of wild azaleas in Texas. The azaleas only bloom for about two weeks around Easter; but for that two weeks, it is a spectacular sight. Even when the azaleas are not blooming, it is a scenic hike. The trail is very steep and slippery with pine straw. It is not for the physically challenged, and there is no water source or bathrooms. This is truly a wilderness hike! So, be prepared. But the cliffs and the canyon views, along with the creek that cut the canyon, make this a beautiful trek for those who are in fairly good condition.
Returning to Hodges Gardens State Park, you have little choice but to cross over Toledo Bend Dam. A pretty interesting sight, you can get more information about it at www.Toledo-Bend.com. 
If you camp-in-comfort in an RV, options close to this area include Texas state parks Village Creek in Lumberton, TX, and Martin Dies, Jr. State Park near Jasper. In Louisiana, South Toledo Bend State Park, not far from Toledo Bend Dam, offers both RV and cabin service.
