Where is Big Thicket National Preserve?

Big Thicket National Preserve is located in Southeast Texas, about 40 minutes from the small town of Beaumont. The National Preserve is predominantly characterized by swamp/forest area and is even UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

We visited here in April 2015. The Park is divided into several Units and a large part of the park is not accessible to visitors. Alone with the car you can not see much in my opinion, you have to walk a little. For example, in the Big Sandy Creek Unit, you can run the Big Sandy Trail, in the Turkey Creek Unit, you can walk the Turkey Trail. We had actually planned it, but since it had rained a lot in the days before, large parts of the trail were unfortunately completely under water. :traen:

We drove to the Visitor Center, where we learned that the Kirby nature Trail is accessible. So we run this Loop and a small piece of the subsequent Sandhill loop. Overall, we are almost 3 miles on the road and after 2 1/2 hours back at the car.

The mosquitoes were really extremely annoying in this Park. We had sprayed ourselves with Deet, but we pulled a whole swarm of mosquitoes after US. :rolleyes:

Overall, we liked the Park quite well, but due to the annoying mosquitoes and the extremely sultry heat we did not stay very long.

If you then want to continue in a South or south-east direction, an overnight stay in Beaumont is recommended.

Address: FM 420, Kountze, TX 77625
Area: 113,122 acres (457.79 km2)
Established: October 11, 1974
Management: National Park Service
Phone: (409) 951-6800
Visitors: 137,722 (in 2011)