Contact Information
3785 Milam
Beaumont, TX 77701
409-246-2337
The Big Thicket - now there's a resonant name, one that conjures images of Grimm Brothers fairytales and Blair Witches. But in this 83,000-acre swath of East Texas's Piney Woods, truth may just be stranger than fiction: Dank, dark, and overgrown, the Big Thicket is a maze of swamps, rivers, and impenetrably dense forests, a place both weird and wonderful. There aren't many undiscovered gems left in the National Parks and Preserves system, but Big Thicket is one of them.Big Thicket is a naturalist's dream, a remnant of primeval forest that's been called an American Ark for its biological diversity. The last Ice Age greatly influenced this region by herding species from four different biological systems into one relatively small area. Southeastern swamps, eastern forests, central plains, and southwest deserts all converge here, and odd juxtapositions are everywhere - magnolias blooming next to cacti, hardwood forest abutting cypress slough. And as local legend puts it, you'll find every critter in there from crickets to elephants - the latter may not be true, but there are armadillos, alligators, panthers and bobcats, snakes, and a formidable array of insects. Once the inaccessible haunt of outlaws, Big Thicket is now plied by well-marked footpaths, boardwalks, and myriad canoe trails. Next time you're looking to walk through the looking glass in fall or winter (skip summer's prostrating heat and legions of bugs), keep Big Thicket in mind - it offers a fascinating glimpse of how wild the West can still be.
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