Copper Breaks State Park is a state park

State park

State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the federated state level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational...

 in Hardeman County

Hardeman County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,724 people, 1,943 households, and 1,319 families residing in the county. The population density was 7 people per square mile . There were 2,358 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile...

, located approximately 12 miles (19.3 km) south of Quanah

Quanah, Texas

Quanah is a city in and the county seat of Hardeman County, Texas, United States, northwest of Fort Worth, and a few miles from the Oklahoma-Texas state line...

, the county seat. It covers around 1900 acres (768.9 ha) and contains two small lakes and 10 miles (16.1 km) of trails.

Originally, Copper Breaks was part of the land held by the Comanche

Comanche

The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...

 and Kiowa

Kiowa

The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...

. Comanche mound sites can be found in Hardeman County, but not in the park itself. Purchased from a private landowner in 1970, the state park opened to the public in 1974.

It receives 23.4 inches (594.4 mm) of rainfall in an average year, allowing the growth of grass and drought-resistant trees such as mesquite

Mesquite

Mesquite is a leguminous plant of the Prosopis genus found in northern Mexico through the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Deserts, and up into the Southwestern United States as far north as southern Kansas, west to the Colorado Desert in California,and east to the eastern fifth of Texas, where...

 and juniper

Juniper

Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...

.

Copper Breaks also includes a portion of the official state Texas longhorn

Texas longhorn (cattle)

The Texas Longhorn is a breed of cattle known for its characteristic horns, which can extend to tip to tip for steers and exceptional cows, and tip to tip for bulls. Horns can have a slight upward turn at their tips or even triple twist. Texas Longhorns are known for their diverse coloring...

herd.

External links

• Texas Parks and Wildlife Department page on Copper Breaks (used as reference)

(used as reference)