We drove about 450 miles to our next stop in Texas – the Village Creek State Park – a very small campground and only a few campers here.
After our arrival – we checked out the Village Creek and it might be interesting to paddle here tomorrow …
The next morning the weather forecast is rainy – so instead of canoeing we decided to go to the Big Thicket National Preserve to hike some trails.
First stop is the very nice Visitor Center where the informative and friendly ranger is recommending us some good trail.
We also learned some interesing facts about National Preserves. The first national preserves were Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas and Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida, both established in 1974. National preserves differ from national parks in that some public hunting, trapping, oil/gas exploration and extraction are permitted, provided their natural values are preserved.
The diversity of the Kirby Nature Trail is very impressive !!
The next trail is the Pitcher Plant Trail – wooo hooo – that was amazing ! Yes, we expected Pitcher Plants – but not that many …. not that beautiful ! See yourself … that is pretty cool:
The ranger told us – it’s a very specific environment they need to grow – so “just” here – in that one spot in the forest you will find them!