The 50 acres that made up the original tract were purchased by the DePelchin Faith Home in 1934, and used as a summer camp for their foster children. The lodge building dates back to at least 1945, and there are residents of the area who were involved in this program who still come back to the lodge to participate in some of Harris County Precinct 4's Senior Adult Program activities. in 1978, the YMCA took over operations of the facility, named it Camp Pine Tree, and allowed the DePelchin children to continue coming here in lieu of paying rent for the property. Then in 1994, the YMCA fully took over operating the facility. It was then purchased in 2009 by Harris County, and the entire grounds were completely renovated prior to its opening as Dennis Johnston Park in April 2013. This facility now serves as the headquarters for the Harris County Precinct 4 Parks Department, and features a large lodge building that will eventually be available for rental for parties, weddings, receptions, and the like. In the meantime, it is definitely a destination for active people who want to access the Spring Creek Greenway trail! This is the newest section of the trail, and construction was completed in April 2014. When complete, the Spring Creek Greenway will encompass 12,000 acres and almost 40 linear miles of contiguous park and linear trail, from Highway 59 at the San Jacinto River to Spring Creek Park west of Tomball. While Phase III of the trail is not officially open yet as of the publishing of this cache, the construction is complete, and it’s time to get these posted! This section of trail begins here at Dennis Johnston Park and extends over 2.5 miles to Pundt Park on Spring Creek Drive; and this now brings the completed SCG trail length to almost 12 miles, from Jesse H. Jones Park & Nature Center in Humble all the way to here! The section from Jesse Jones Park to Highway 59 is now in the design phase, and we hope to have this monumental piece complete within a couple of years. Please note that SCG trail hours are dawn to dusk, and replace all containers as you found them. And if you're here on a weekday, stop on in and say hi to me. (HoustonHerp/Mike); we love to hear about how much people are enjoying the parks and trails of Harris County Precinct 4!