Lake Amon G Carter lies in Montague County, six miles south of Bowie, Texas. Montague County borders the Red River on its north. The City or Bowie owns and operates Lake Amon G Carter, which supplies water for municipal and industrial uses. Lake Amon G Carter is about 60 miles northwest of Ft. Worth, Texas.
Lake Amon G Carter covers 1,848 acres with a maximum depth of 50 feet. Lake Amon G Carter is actually two reservoirs joined by a twenty-foot tunnel. Big Sandy Creek, a tributary of the West Fork Trinity River, feeds Lake Amon G Carter, but the waters of Prairie Branch, Trail Creek, and Brier Creek also drain into the lake. The drainage area above the dam is 100 square miles.
This lake is in an extremely rural area with Bowie, Texas, the only town anywhere near its shores. FM 1125 is the main road to gain access to Lake Amon G Carter and the Soil Conservation Site 8 Reservoir running south out of Bowie. From Ft. Worth, you take US 81 north, but you need to know the back roads out of Sunset, Texas, to take a shortcut west to FM 1125.
Most of Montague County's 937 square miles sit in the western Cross Timbers, where dominantly light colored, sandy, and loamy soils support a post oak savannah. The Grand Prairie Land Resource Area is in the east central part of the county. Gently rolling hills with broad valleys and high rolling prairies characterize Montague County’s terrain.
History of Lake Amon G Carter
Fort Worth businessman and philanthropist Amon G. Carter died one month before the construction of Lake Amon G Carter’s dam began in July 1955. Construction was completed in August 1956, but impoundment began in May 1956. Amon Giles Carter was born in Wise County, which borders Montague County.
Amon’s mother died in childbirth when he was 12-years-old, and he moved to Nocona, Texas, in neighboring Montague, County. Amon dropped out of school at age 11, and he became a master salesman. His first job was collecting liquor bottles from around town and selling them back to the saloon owners. He moved to Bowie and continued to sell.
In Bowie, Amon sold sandwiches to passengers on the Fort Worth & Denver City trains as they passed through Bowie. If he could not buy chickens at a good price, he raided henhouses at night. If that failed, he substituted rabbit meat. Amon then moved to Norman, Oklahoma. In 1904, he returned to Bowie to marry Zettie Thomas, daughter of a prominent local businessman. Amon G. Carter’s connections to Montague County are deep, therefore Lake Amon G Carter.
Before the of French trappers and Spanish explorers in the sixteenth century, the Comanche, Wichita, and Kiowa Indians inhabited the western Cross Timbers several decades in Montague County. French fur traders and trappers formed alliances with the Indians and eventually established two settlements on the Red River in the 1,600s.
The Spanish did not fare so well in later years. By 1759, after an Indian raid, the Spanish explorers discovered that moats and stockades surrounded the Indian villages. The Spanish continued to forge ahead, and by 1812, the European diseases, and especially smallpox, had significantly reduced the Indian’s populations, but the Indians continued to survive in the area. They were a force against pioneer settlement at that time.
It would be 1956 by the time settlers could make their homes in Montague County. Daniel Montague, surveyor of the Fannin Land District and veteran of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), is the namesake of the county. Pioneers came primarily from Tennessee, but they also came from Kentucky and Arkansas by the mid-19th century. At the time, the U.S. military protected the Red River region.
When Texas joined the Confederacy, Montague County settlers suffered from Indian attacks well into the 1870s. But, by the early 1880s, the county’s population was 11,000. By the 1880s, three railroad lines crisscrossed Montague County. Montague, Texas, the county seat, did not have a railroad, and Nocona, Texas, grew faster and became home of the internationally famed Justin Boot Company.
The cattle ranches of Montague County fell away to cotton farms by 1900. The boll weevil arrived in 1910 and almost destroyed the county’s economy. Farmers turned to truck farming and planted watermelons, tomatoes, and potatoes. In 1980, Montague County led the state in the production of apples and ranked sixth for peaches. Today, Montague County’s economic wealth rides on beef, hay, wheat, dairy products, pecans, peaches, and melons, oil production, manufacturing, and tourism.
Fishing Lake Amon G Carter
Predominant game species in Lake Amon G Carter include largemouth, spotted, and white bass, channel catfish, and white crappie. Other species include hybrid, striped, and yellow bass, carp, flathead catfish, black crappie, panfish, sunfish, trout, and walleye. Water willow, brushy pondweed, and cattail provide aquatic vegetation. Selma Park offers two fishing piers and shoreline fishing.
Amon G Carter is two reservoirs with very different fish cover. Rocky shorelines, main lake points, cattail beds, and some standing timber in the upper end characterize the new lake habitat. The new lake has a good amount of standing timber and some weed beds along the shoreline. Both reservoirs have rip-rap along their dams, which provide excellent cover for fish. The 20-foot tunnel that joins the two reservoirs provides good cover for some fish species.
There are two free public boat ramps and two other boat ramps on Lake Amon G Carter. This lake is relatively small, and the boat ramps are convenient to find. Two are located on the old lake, and two are on the new lake. The Big Sandy Creek public boat ramp has picnic and camping areas. Fishing guides work several other area lakes due to the small size of Lake Amon G Carter, so plan ahead for a fishing charter.
Find experienced local guides on our Lake Amon G Carter Fishing Guides page.
Boating Lake Amon G Carter
The City of Bowie owns and manages Lake Amon G Carter, and they have rules and restrictions. There are several no-wake zones, no swimming areas, no boats allowed in swimming areas, and no anchoring on either side of the tunnel within 50 feet of it. You must register your boat by applying for a $5 license every year before September 1 with the city.
Other than that, the two public boat ramps, Big Sandy Creek and Selma Park, accommodate boats of all sizes. All watersports are popular, but there are no marinas on Lake Amon G Carter, and you must bring your gas with you. There are no Amon G Carter restaurants, and only one grill. The landscape is typical of the western Cross Timbers, with low rolling hills, grasslands, and post oak savannahs.
Find or sell a boat on our Lake Amon G Carter Boats for Sale page.
Amon G Carter Real Estate
Lake Amon G Carter real estate is a serene, but lesser known, market for lake homes and land in Texas. Lake Amon G Carter homes for sale have an average list price of $389,000, and there are typically ten homes and 20 lots for sale at any given time. There are two tiny communities on the shores of Lake Amon G Carter.
The nearest shopping area with a Walmart Super Center, restaurants, and schools is in Bowie, Texas, about six miles north of the north side of Lake Amon G Carter. There is one burger grill on the lake. The Bowie ISD is the only school district serving the lake. There is no nightlife around the lake. DFW International Airport is 80 miles to the northeast. Life here is simple, rural, and peaceful.
To find your dream lake home, explore our Lake Amon G Carter Homes for Sale page.
Lake Amon G Carter Vacation Homes and Rental Cabins
There are very few rental homes on Lake Amon G Carter, so your best bet is to check the Vrbo and Airbnb websites to see if there are any openings, but most listings are not on the lake’s shores. Selma Park, the biggest public park on the lake, does not have rental cabins.
Find the perfect vacation home on our Lake Amon G Carter Cabins page.
Camping at Lake Amon G Carter
There is one RV park and a few RV parks outside of Lake Amon G Carter and only one campground, Selma Park. Selma Park offers beach areas, boating, campsites, fishing, other outdoor activities, park security host, playground equipment, public showers, restroom facilities, swimming, and a swimming pier.
The Ooak RV Park and Campground features full hook ups and primitive campsites, with a convenience store, fishing supplies, live bait, and an RV Park. The grill is always open, and they serve Hunt Bros. Pizza, burgers, and a few other favorites. Their picnic areas provide BBQ grills. This park also serves as an Official Weigh Station for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Check out our list of campgrounds and RV parks for your family adventure on our Lake Amon G Carter Camping page.
Things to Do at Lake Amon G Carter
The primary activities at Lake Amon G Carter happen on the water and the shores. If you want to take a short drive into Bowie, Texas, it is a historical Texas town steeped in cowboy culture. There is the one golf club, Twisted Oaks Golf Club, formerly known as Top o’ the Lake Country Club on the lake.
Twisted Oaks Golf Club features a 9-hole course with a clubhouse and entertainment pavilion. This club hosts a Ladies Golf Association, events, and golf tournaments. It is peacefully secluded and surrounded by a gently rolling countryside with long fairways and generous greens on the lake. Twisted Oaks Golf Club is located at 676 Country Club Road, Bowie, Texas.
Bowie, Texas, hosts a huge outdoor market, Second Monday Trade Days, near downtown, where you can buy farm produce and plants, unique boutique finds, antiques, handmade crafts and furniture, and many out of the ordinary items.
Visitors can check out the World’s Largest Bowie Knife sculpture at 101 East Pecan St, Bowie, Texas. It measures 20 feet with the blade at 14-feet, 5-inches in length, it is made purely from steel, and weighs 3,000 pounds.
The River Star Casino is only 30 minutes away from Lake Amon G Carter, just north of the Red River on US 81. This casino features electronic games, food & drink, a gift shop, rewards, and table games. It is located at 11801 E 2160 Road, Terral, Oklahoma.
Plan your trip on our What To Do At Lake Amon G Carter page.
Lake Amon G Carter Weather & Climate
Lake Amon G Carter sees an average of 36 inches of rain, with one inch of snow, and 241 days of sunshine per year. The winter low in January is 29 degrees, with a summer high in July of 94 degrees. April, May, and October are the most comfortable months for this region, while July and August are the least comfortable months. Stay up to date on our Lake Amon G Carter Weather page.
Lake Amon G Carter Zip Codes
Montague County: 76230, 76239, 76251, 76255, 76261, 76265, 76270.
Lake Amon G Carter Flora and Fauna
White-tailed deer, small mammals, bobcats, coyotes, red foxes, waterfowl, and songbirds thrive in the diverse habitats provided by the western Cross Timbers region where Lake Amon G Carter lies. The quality and quantity of wildlife and habitat resources vary. There are also several species of butterflies.
Lake Amon G Carter wildflowers put on a show spring through fall. Some of the dominate bird species are eastern bluebirds, bobwhite quail, Canada geese during migration, cardinals, Carolina chickadees, great egrets, killdeers, northern mockingbirds, rock pigeons, wild turkeys, and red-bellied woodpeckers, plus many more.