| Document And Entity Information | 9 Months Ended |
| Sep. 30, 2013 | |
| Document and Entity Information [Abstract] | ' |
| Entity Registrant Name | 'TEXAS PACIFIC LAND TRUST |
| Document Type | '10-Q |
| Current Fiscal Year End Date | '--12-31 |
| Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding | 8,550,788 |
| Amendment Flag | 'false |
| Entity Central Index Key | '0000097517 |
| Entity Current Reporting Status | 'Yes |
| Entity Voluntary Filers | 'No |
| Entity Filer Category | 'Accelerated Filer |
| Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer | 'No |
| Document Period End Date | 30-Sep-13 |
| Document Fiscal Year Focus | '2013 |
| Document Fiscal Period Focus | 'Q3 |
| Balance Sheets (Unaudited) (USD $) | Sep. 30, 2013 | Dec. 31, 2012 |
| Assets | ' | ' |
| Cash and cash equivalents | $15,622,089 | $8,424,907 |
| Accrued receivables | 3,403,084 | 2,700,855 |
| Other assets | 18,708 | 82,082 |
| Prepaid income taxes | ' | 416,882 |
| Notes receivable for land sales | 4,232,313 | 8,370,984 |
| Water wells, vehicles, furniture, and equipment – at cost less accumulated depreciation | 63,720 | 66,103 |
| 24,464,973 | 21,186,872 | |
| Liabilities and Capital | ' | ' |
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | 837,696 | 1,075,256 |
| Income taxes payable | 3,246,933 | 240,887 |
| Other taxes payable | 236,097 | 108,816 |
| Unearned revenue | 1,286,742 | 1,017,693 |
| Deferred taxes | 975,476 | 2,274,496 |
| Pension plan liability | 588,627 | 873,579 |
| Total liabilities | 7,171,571 | 5,590,727 |
| Capital: | ' | ' |
| Certificates of Proprietary Interest, par value $100 each; outstanding 0 certificates | 0 | 0 |
| Sub-share Certificates in Certificates of Proprietary Interest, par value $.03 1/3 each; outstanding: 8,550,788 Sub-shares in 2013 and 8,795,258 Sub-shares in 2012 | 0 | 0 |
| Other comprehensive loss | -899,514 | -953,965 |
| Net proceeds from all sources | 18,192,916 | 16,550,110 |
| Total capital | 17,293,402 | 15,596,145 |
| 24,464,973 | 21,186,872 | |
| Real Estate Acquired [Member] | ' | ' |
| Assets | ' | ' |
| Land | 1,125,059 | 1,125,059 |
| Land Surface Rights [Member] | ' | ' |
| Assets | ' | ' |
| Land | 0 | 0 |
| 1/16 nonparticipating perpetual royalty interest in 373,777 acres in 2013 and 2012 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/128 nonparticipating perpetual royalty interest in 85,414 acres in 2013 and 2012 | 0 | 0 |
| Town Lots [Member] | ' | ' |
| Assets | ' | ' |
| Land | $0 | $0 |
| Balance Sheets (Unaudited) (Parentheticals) (USD $) | Sep. 30, 2013 | Dec. 31, 2012 |
| acre | acre | |
| Acres | 10,125 | 10,125 |
| Number of lots | 310 | 318 |
| Sub-share Certificates of Proprietary Interest, par value (in Dollars per share) | $0.03 | $0.03 |
| Sub-share Certificates of Proprietary Interest, outstanding (in Shares) | 8,550,788 | 8,795,258 |
| Land Surface Rights [Member] | ' | ' |
| Land (surface rights) | 901,211 | 911,491 |
| Royalty Interests In Acres 1_16 [Member] | ' | ' |
| Nonparticipaing perpetual royalty interest in acres | 373,777 | 373,777 |
| Royalty Interests In Acres 1_128 [Member] | ' | ' |
| Nonparticipaing perpetual royalty interest in acres | 85,414 | 85,414 |
| Statements of Income And Total Comprehensive Income (Unaudited) (USD $) | 3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended | ||
| Sep. 30, 2013 | Sep. 30, 2012 | Sep. 30, 2013 | Sep. 30, 2012 | |
| Income: | ' | ' | ' | ' |
| Rentals, royalties and sundry income | $9,608,435 | $6,857,629 | $25,664,004 | $18,961,648 |
| Land sales | 5,201,600 | ' | 5,533,188 | 5,809,747 |
| Interest income from notes receivable | 123,831 | 180,852 | 411,281 | 543,702 |
| 14,933,866 | 7,038,481 | 31,608,473 | 25,315,097 | |
| Expenses: | ' | ' | ' | ' |
| Taxes, other than income taxes | 339,356 | 245,335 | 965,059 | 708,846 |
| General and administrative expenses | 493,338 | 427,963 | 1,655,034 | 1,516,874 |
| 832,694 | 673,298 | 2,620,093 | 2,225,720 | |
| Operating income | 14,101,172 | 6,365,183 | 28,988,380 | 23,089,377 |
| Interest income earned from investments | 2,743 | 4,800 | 8,923 | 15,001 |
| Income before income taxes | 14,103,915 | 6,369,983 | 28,997,303 | 23,104,378 |
| Income taxes | 4,672,797 | 2,058,891 | 9,297,901 | 7,570,357 |
| Net income | 9,431,118 | 4,311,092 | 19,699,402 | 15,534,021 |
| Other comprehensive income b periodic pension costs, net of income taxes of $9,773, $6,117, $29,320,and $18,350 respectively | 18,150 | 11,360 | 54,451 | 34,079 |
| Total comprehensive income | 9,449,268 | 4,322,452 | 19,753,853 | 15,568,100 |
| Average number of sub-share certificates and equivalent sub-share certificates outstanding (in Shares) | 8,602,550 | 8,940,175 | 8,657,125 | 8,998,515 |
| Basic and dilutive earnings per sub-share certificate on net income (in Dollars per share) | $1.10 | $0.48 | $2.28 | $1.73 |
| Cash dividends per sub-share certificate | ' | ' | ' | $0.23 |
| Statements of Income And Total Comprehensive Income (Unaudited) (Parentheticals) (USD $) | 3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended | ||
| Sep. 30, 2013 | Sep. 30, 2012 | Sep. 30, 2013 | Sep. 30, 2012 | |
| Net of income taxes | $9,773 | $6,117 | $29,320 | $18,350 |
| Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited) (USD $) | 9 Months Ended | |
| Sep. 30, 2013 | Sep. 30, 2012 | |
| Cash flows from operating activities: | ' | ' |
| Net income | $19,699,402 | $15,534,021 |
| Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: | ' | ' |
| Deferred taxes | -1,299,020 | -211,819 |
| Depreciation and amortization | 13,321 | 9,564 |
| Loss on disposal of fixed assets | 2,795 | 2,470 |
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ' | ' |
| Accrued receivables and other assets | -638,855 | 320,348 |
| Prepaid income taxes | 416,882 | -484,507 |
| Notes receivable for land sales | 4,138,671 | 686,461 |
| Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities | -71,731 | 204,414 |
| Income taxes payable | 3,006,046 | -1,199,017 |
| Net cash provided by operating activities | 25,267,511 | 14,861,935 |
| Cash flows from investing activities: | ' | ' |
| Proceeds from sale of fixed assets | 20,500 | 13,500 |
| Purchase of fixed assets | -34,233 | -45,599 |
| Net cash used in investing activities | -13,733 | -32,099 |
| Cash flows from financing activities: | ' | ' |
| Purchase of Sub-share Certificates in Certificates of Proprietary Interest | -18,056,596 | -14,452,879 |
| Dividends paid | ' | -2,091,907 |
| Net cash used in financing activities | -18,056,596 | -16,544,786 |
| Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents | 7,197,182 | -1,714,950 |
| Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period | 8,424,907 | 13,029,578 |
| Cash and cash equivalents, end of period | $15,622,089 | $11,314,628 |
| Note 1 | 9 Months Ended | |
| Sep. 30, 2013 | ||
| Disclosure Text Block [Abstract] | ' | |
| Basis of Accounting [Text Block] | ' | |
| -1 | In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited financial statements contain all adjustments (consisting of only normal recurring accruals) necessary to present fairly the financial position of Texas Pacific Land Trust (the “Trust”) as of September 30, 2013 and the results of its operations for the three month and nine month periods ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively, and its cash flows for the nine month periods ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively. The financial statements and footnotes included herein should be read in conjunction with the Trust’s annual financial statements as of December 31, 2012 and 2011 and for each of the years in the three year period ended December 31, 2012 included in the Trust’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. | |
| Note 2 - | 9 Months Ended | |
| Sep. 30, 2013 | ||
| Subsequent Events [Abstract] | ' | |
| Subsequent Events [Text Block] | ' | |
| -2 | We evaluate events that occur after the balance sheet date but before financial statements are, or are available to be, issued to determine if a material event requires our amending the financial statements or disclosing the event. We evaluated subsequent events through November 6, 2013, the date we issued these financial statements. | |
| Note 3 - | 9 Months Ended | |
| Sep. 30, 2013 | ||
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract] | ' | |
| Property, Plant and Equipment Disclosure [Text Block] | ' | |
| -3 | No value has been assigned to the land held by the Trust other than parcels which have been acquired through foreclosure and a limited number of parcels which have been acquired because they were offered for sale and were contiguous to parcels already owned by the Trust. Consequently, no allowance for depletion is computed, and no charge to income is made, with respect thereto, and no cost is deducted from the proceeds of the land sales in computing gain or loss thereon. | |
| Note 4 - | 9 Months Ended | |
| Sep. 30, 2013 | ||
| Conversion Of Stock [Abstract] | ' | |
| Conversion Of Stock [Text Block] | ' | |
| -4 | The Sub-shares and the Certificates of Proprietary Interest are freely interchangeable in the ratio of one Certificate of Proprietary Interest for 3,000 Sub-shares or 3,000 Sub-shares for one Certificate of Proprietary Interest. | |
| Note 5 - | 9 Months Ended | |
| Sep. 30, 2013 | ||
| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | ' | |
| Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block] | ' | |
| -5 | The Trust’s effective Federal income tax rate is less than the 34% statutory rate because taxable income is reduced by statutory percentage depletion allowed on mineral royalty income. | |
| Note 6 - | 9 Months Ended | |
| Sep. 30, 2013 | ||
| Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract] | ' | |
| Quarterly Financial Information [Text Block] | ' | |
| -6 | The results of operations for the three month and nine month periods ended September 30, 2013 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. | |
| Note 7 - | 9 Months Ended | ||||||||
| Sep. 30, 2013 | |||||||||
| Cash and Cash Equivalents [Abstract] | ' | ||||||||
| Cash and Cash Equivalents Disclosure [Text Block] | ' | ||||||||
| -7 | The Trust invests cash in excess of daily requirements primarily in bank deposit and savings accounts and certificates of deposit with maturities of ninety days or less. Such investments are deemed to be highly liquid debt instruments and classified as cash equivalents for purposes of the statements of cash flows. | ||||||||
| Supplemental cash flow information for the nine month periods ended September 30, 2013 and 2012 is summarized as follows: | |||||||||
| 2013 | 2012 | ||||||||
| Income taxes paid | $ | 7,203,312 | $ | 9,484,051 | |||||
| Note 8 - | 9 Months Ended | |
| Sep. 30, 2013 | ||
| Segment Reporting [Abstract] | ' | |
| Segment Reporting Disclosure [Text Block] | ' | |
| -8 | ASC 280, “Segment Reporting,” establishes standards for the way public business enterprises are to report information about operating segments. In accordance with ASC 280, the Trust utilizes the management approach as a basis for identifying reportable segments. The management approach is based on the way that management organizes the segments within the enterprise for making operating decisions and assessing performance. The Trust’s management views its operations as one segment and believes the only significant activity is managing the land which was conveyed to the Trust in 1888. The Trust’s management makes decisions about resource allocation and performance assessment based on the same financial information presented in these financial statements. Managing the land includes sales and leases of such land, and the retention of oil and gas royalties. | |
| Note 9 - | 9 Months Ended | |
| Sep. 30, 2013 | ||
| Disclosure Text Block [Abstract] | ' | |
| Comprehensive Income (Loss) Note [Text Block] | ' | |
| -9 | In June 2011, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-05, “Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Presentation of Comprehensive Income” (“ASU 2011-05”). ASU 2011-05 amends existing guidance by allowing only two options for presenting the components of net income and other comprehensive income: (1) in a single continuous financial statement, statement of comprehensive income or (2) in two separate but consecutive financial statements, consisting of an income statement followed by a separate statement of other comprehensive income. ASU No. 2011-05 requires retrospective application, and it is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011. We adopted the provisions of ASU 2011-05 as of January 1, 2012 using the single continuous statement presentation. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on our financial statements. | |
| Accounting Policies, by Policy (Policies) | 9 Months Ended | ||||||||
| Sep. 30, 2013 | |||||||||
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | ' | ||||||||
| Subsequent Events, Policy [Policy Text Block] | ' | ||||||||
| We evaluate events that occur after the balance sheet date but before financial statements are, or are available to be, issued to determine if a material event requires our amending the financial statements or disclosing the event. We evaluated subsequent events through November 6, 2013, the date we issued these financial statements | |||||||||
| Cash and Cash Equivalents, Policy [Policy Text Block] | ' | ||||||||
| The Trust invests cash in excess of daily requirements primarily in bank deposit and savings accounts and certificates of deposit with maturities of ninety days or less. Such investments are deemed to be highly liquid debt instruments and classified as cash equivalents for purposes of the statements of cash flows. | |||||||||
| Supplemental cash flow information for the nine month periods ended September 30, 2013 and 2012 is summarized as follows: | |||||||||
| 2013 | 2012 | ||||||||
| Income taxes paid | $ | 7,203,312 | $ | 9,484,051 | |||||
| Segment Reporting, Policy [Policy Text Block] | ' | ||||||||
| ASC 280, “Segment Reporting,” establishes standards for the way public business enterprises are to report information about operating segments. In accordance with ASC 280, the Trust utilizes the management approach as a basis for identifying reportable segments. The management approach is based on the way that management organizes the segments within the enterprise for making operating decisions and assessing performance. The Trust’s management views its operations as one segment and believes the only significant activity is managing the land which was conveyed to the Trust in 1888. The Trust’s management makes decisions about resource allocation and performance assessment based on the same financial information presented in these financial statements. Managing the land includes sales and leases of such land, and the retention of oil and gas royalties. | |||||||||
| Comprehensive Income, Policy [Policy Text Block] | ' | ||||||||
| In June 2011, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-05, “Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Presentation of Comprehensive Income” (“ASU 2011-05”). ASU 2011-05 amends existing guidance by allowing only two options for presenting the components of net income and other comprehensive income: (1) in a single continuous financial statement, statement of comprehensive income or (2) in two separate but consecutive financial statements, consisting of an income statement followed by a separate statement of other comprehensive income. ASU No. 2011-05 requires retrospective application, and it is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011. We adopted the provisions of ASU 2011-05 as of January 1, 2012 using the single continuous statement presentation. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on our financial statements. | |||||||||
| Note 7 - (Tables) | 9 Months Ended | ||||||||
| Sep. 30, 2013 | |||||||||
| Cash and Cash Equivalents [Abstract] | ' | ||||||||
| Schedule of Cash Flow, Supplemental Disclosures [Table Text Block] | ' | ||||||||
| 2013 | 2012 | ||||||||
| Income taxes paid | $ | 7,203,312 | $ | 9,484,051 | |||||
| Note 4 - (Details) | 9 Months Ended |
| Sep. 30, 2013 | |
| Conversion Of Stock [Abstract] | ' |
| Number Of Shares Used In Ratio | 3,000 |
| Note 5 - (Details) | 9 Months Ended |
| Sep. 30, 2013 | |
| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | ' |
| Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, Percent | 34.00% |
| Note 7 - (Details) - Supplemental cash flow information (USD $) | 9 Months Ended | |
| Sep. 30, 2013 | Sep. 30, 2012 | |
| Supplemental cash flow information [Abstract] | ' | ' |
| Income taxes paid | $7,203,312 | $9,484,051 |
| Note 8 - (Details) | 9 Months Ended |
| Sep. 30, 2013 | |
| Segment Reporting [Abstract] | ' |
| Number of Operating Segments | 1 |
