Lufkin is a city in Angelina County, in the Piney Woods region of north-east Texas. It has its origins in railroad lines, as it became a stop along the Houston, East and West Texas Railway in 1882 and a depot where cotton could be stored. Not long after, commerce gave way to the timber industry with several sawmills and the Angelina County Lumber Company operating, which in turn saw the addition of foundries and paper mills.

Even though much of this industry has subsided, Lufkin still holds on with chicken plants, retirement homes, churches, etc, plus a handful of tourist attractions.

One distinction about the area is that it witnessed the demise of the Space Ship Columbia during reentry in 2003, which can be appreciated at the Naranjo Museum.

See

• Ellen Trout Zoo, 402 Zoo Circle, ☏ +1 936-633-0399. Daily 10AM-5PM. Pleasant small zoo with shady areas and typical zoo-type members but including white rhinos, hippos, and jaguars. A notable feature is a cadre of free-roaming peacocks, plus a miniature train ride around the park (surcharge). Also there's a food concession. $8 Adults, $2 Train Ride. 
• Ellen Trout Park (adjacent to the zoo). One notable feature that might strike you about this place is that live alligators inhabit the pond. 
• Lufkin Azalea Trail. 
• Naranjo Museum-Natural History, 5104 S First St, ☏ +1 936-639-3466. M-Sa 10AM-6PM, Su 1PM-6PM. Dinosaur replicas, weaponry of the ages, gems and fossils, even artifacts from the Space Shuttle Columbia, or at least a display thereof. $7.50 Adults, $5 Youth ages 4-18. 

• Texas Forestry Museum, 1905 Atkinson Dr, ☏ +1 936-632-9535. M-Sa 10AM-5PM. Forestry museum that is neat as a pin with emphasis on the logging side of things, with a train, old-timey vehicles and equipment displayed outside. Free, but donations accepted. 
• National Forests. Angelina and Crockett National Forests in the vicinity. 

Buy

• Lufkin Antique Mall, 118 N. First St, ☏ +1 936 634-9119. 
• Atkinson Candy Co, 1608 W Frank Ave, a local candy company with peanut butter, coconut confections and such things made on site. M-F 8:15AM-4PM. +1 936-639-2333

Sleep

• Courtyard by Marriott Lufkin, 2130 South 1st St, ☏ +1 936-632-0777. 

Go next

• Lake Sam Rayburn, 10 minutes east, is the largest lake completely inside Texas.

Routes through Lufkin

Houston ← Livingston ←	S  N	→ Nacogdoches → Marshall
Tyler ← Jacksonville ←	N  S	→ Woodville → Beaumont