Warmer, a little rain, a little sun, a little hiking
First stop for our 5+ weeks in Texas, was at Martin Dies, Jr State Park. We got a beautiful spot right on the Steinhagen Reservoir, where the Gum Slough enters…kind of a “corner lot”. It is supposedly one of the most popular spots. Easy to get, as the the campground was pretty empty. We had no neighbors until last night (Friday)!
We’ll be camping at 10 spots as we cross (mostly) South Texas, visiting 9 new-to-us National Parks and revisiting Big Bend. After our next 2 stops (Waco & Austin), we’llessentially be skirting the southern border, from Corpus Christi to El Paso.
This stop was picked to…
Visit 1 new National Park Site:
- Big Thicket National Preserve (#275), where there is a Convergence of Ecosystems. Life of all types abounds in the Big Thicket. This national preserve protects the incredible diversity of life found where multiple habitats meet in southeast Texas. Hiking trails and waterways meander through nine different ecosystems, from longleaf pine forests to cypress-lined bayous. There are 15 different Units, 6 Land-based, 9 Waterways.
Over 3 days here, we visited & hiked in 3 Land-based units and spent time at the Visitor Center. Interesting tidbits learned:- Big Thicket is home to 4 of the 5 Carnivorous Plants that grow in the US. We actually saw some winter-dead Pitcher Plants on one of our hikes.
- Crawdads (Crawfish/Crayfish) don’t just live in the water, they can live burrows in the mud, when the water table is close to the surface.
Crawdad Burrow openings seen on nature hike near Visitor Center 
Explanation of Crawdad Burrows at Visitor Center 
Carniverous Plants…Why? 
Deadish Picture Plants seen on Sundew Trail 
On Woodlands Trail, 2 mile hike, aborted from 5 miles, due to impending thunder storms 
Kirby Nature Trail…Cypress Swamp 
Kirby Nature Trail…taking off to also hike the Sandhill Loop Trail 
On the Sandhill Loop Trail 
Back on the Kirby Nature Trail 
Nearing the end of the Kirby Nature Trail…Beautiful Day in the Longleaf Pine Forest
Off for Waco
For more pictures, see (in-work) Adventure Album: Across South Texas
1 Comment
Ginny Truscott · February 1, 2025 at 12:28 pm
I hope you plan to go to Terlingua when you go to Big Bend. Loved that place. Coolest graveyard ever. We spent several evenings in the historic bar there because it was 95° at our campsite. Keep in mind that was in May, apparently one of the hottest times of the year. Get there early.