Big Thicket National Preserve ⓘ

The Big Thicket has always been a unique place. This peculiar patch of forest offers habitat to an amazing abundance of life. Thanks to glaciers that pushed all forms of life south towards livable zones, this subtropical climate now supports a vast array of species. The term “thicket” is used because the woods are so dense with the abundance of plant growth. Historically the woods were a meat market, acting as an ideal hunting landscape for various Native American tribes. Early European settlers could survive off only what the Big Thicket had to offer, and it would eventually draw industry because of its vastness of riches. But preservation of the thicket came late. While conservationists were seeking a national park for the area as early as 1930, no protections from a government agency would arrive until 1974. By this time, the major predators who once found refuge in the woods would be all but gone and the once-impenetrable thicket would be greatly fractured by the onset of industry into the region. When a National Park Service (NPS) survey team came out in the 1960s, they couldn’t find more than 5,000 contiguous acres that had not been disturbed by roads or altered from its original state. Ironically, though, it was also this industry that brought awareness to the thicket to begin with. While little is known about the earliest tribes in the thicket, several tribes relied on the region for hunting and made permanent settlements to the north and south. European Americans were slow to inhabit the area and the earliest settlements were small and scattered. It wasn’t until the lumber industry began to extract resources from the area, building roads, rails and townships as they went, that awareness of the thicket began to take route.

R.E. Jackson would observe the wonders of the thicket because of industry. Jackson was a railroad conductor whose routes would bring him through the thicket. The railroad operated primarily to extract lumber , and so Jackson also saw this resource disappearing. He wanted to salvage the wilderness. In 1927, he established the East Texas Big Thicket Association (ETBTA) in Silsbee whose goal was to reserve, for posterity, a portion of the Big Thicket in its natural state. Jackson personally leased 18,000 acres in the southeast corner of Polk County for this purpose and pushed for federal action to protect an additional 430,000 acres with his land as the nucleus, encompassing nearly the entirety of Polk County. Though ambitious, the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce endorsed this plan, excited by the prospect of tourism. Support, overall, was slowly gained. By the mid-1930s, much of the early supporters were botanists and biologists from the Texas Academy of Science. These scientists were enamored of the area for its diversity of life, unseen in any other region of the United States, and wanted to preserve the thicket as an outdoor botanical library. A key piece of literature for the ETBTA, used to help promote the importance of the region, was a report completed by botanists Hal B. Parks and Victor L. Cory. Both scientists were first introduced to the Big Thicket through the Texas Academy of Science and, after some careful persuasion on behalf of the association, eventually published a report based on an expedition of the Thicket. The association used the report to help them garner support from the federal government to try and establish a park, with the support of Senator Morris Sheppard. While this report was highly important to the ETBTA, giving them a means to talk about the region as a defined space and ushering in numerous newspaper articles in regard to the region’s beauty, it was little more than a checklist of species in the region based on incomplete research. Confusingly, Parks also made the decision to define the region based on physio-geological features. The north border was the last shoreline of the Pliocene age, the southern border the shoreline during transgression in the previous interglacial period. The western boundary was the bluff line of the ancestral Brazos river and the east was the Sabine River (simply because the report restricted the region to Texas). By this definition, the Big Thicket covered approximately 3,350,000 acres. Many found this an odd choice of defining the region, highlighting an interesting dilemma that would be faced consistently in the quest to establish the park: What and where is the Big Thicket?

The Big Thicket, even to this day, remains a rather ambiguous region. Early European settlers used “Big Thicket” in reference to the dense, nearly impenetrable forest. The rivers and creeks were some of the only early means of moving within the thicket and those coming through the region by wagon would have to go around the dense woods. As people started to settle, the term “Big Thicket” was already a widespread colloquialism. Locals knew the region based on their traditions and experiences, rather than by any concrete landforms or natural phenomena.

Prior to Parks’s and Cory’s report, there were only two other official reports that addressed the region. The first was a 1904 article by James Gow, a US Forest Service employee. Like Jackson, Gow found himself in the area thanks to the industry as he was surveying holdings of the Kirby Timber Company. He was struck by the flora and identified six ecological regions that separated the thicket from other Texas forests: pine flats, pine upland, high hammock, swamp, low hammock and hardwood bottom. His article was incomplete but was the first ecological approach to the region that would later be used to define the park. The second official report was written by Professor Roland Harper in July 1920, while in the Thicket collecting Yaupon samples for the US Department of Agriculture. He was impressed by the longleaf pine region in eastern Hardin County. He also denoted the loblolly region, 12 miles southeast of Kountze, that he called the hammock belt and that locals referred to as the “Big Thicket.” Harper would write to Cory in 1937, indicating his surprise that the longleaf was included as part of the Big Thicket in their report. From Harper’s experience in the region, based on local terminology, he thought the “thicket” referred to just some of the hammock and expressed that he did not think the longleaf should be included given that the understory growth in the region was not the thick, nearly impenetrable density of the hammock supporting a more literal use of a Big Thicket distinction.

Professor Claude McLeod, a biology professor at Sam Houston State College, attempted to address the issue shortly before the first NPS survey team visited the area in the 1960s. His approach was to delineate the region by vegetation (an ecological approach first seen in 1904). He defined the Thicket as a loblolly pine-hardwood forest with particular types of understory shrubs and trees. He mapped 2,000,000 acres across nine counties that fit this definition. When the survey team arrived, it is that definition they used. While the Thicket would continue to be defined by its ecological zones , the amount of acreage that this definition encompassed still made the determination of where to put a park difficult to approach. Industry, lumber especially, was already spread across the region, making any location highly impactful on the local economy. Throughout the thicket’s quest for protection via park status, the struggle of clearly defining the region would continue to arise and create a near constant back and forth in attempts to quell the desires of conservationists and the public while also balancing the economy of industry.

The ETBTA eventually lost momentum and ceased to exist. The discovery of large deposits of oil in Polk County in 1936 and 1942, the onset of WWII increasing the demand for lumber, and the federal government having recently acquired land near the region for a national forest (making it unlikely that they would be willing to acquire even more land) dealt some finishing blows to the association and their mission.

The second Big Thicket Association would come to be after a failed bid to create a state park in the Big Thicket region. Price Daniel, Governor of Texas and brother of a wealthy Big Thicket rancher who pestered him to create a state park in the region after his election, was originally uninterested in the creation of a Big Thicket park. However, after a 1960 visit to Yellowstone National Park, he changed his tone when he saw how much tourism such sites can draw. Though Price’s venture would never come to fruition, after being voted out of office in 1962, it was through his actions that the creation of a park was set firmly in motion. Once he left office, it became clear that the region needed a citizen group that was exclusively focused on the preservation of the thicket if a park was ever to be created. Lance Rosier was appointed as the temporary president until Dempsie Henley was appointed and the Big Thicket Association (BTA) was officially established in November 1964. Henley was a real estate broker and had working relationships with timber firms. For this reason, Daniels, shortly before leaving office, had selected him to head a Big Thicket Study Committee that would make an official park recommendation to the state legislature. The committee was lackluster, but Henley eventually presented a plan for the park that called for six components totaling 52,200 acres. However, despite the public support for the park, neither the state nor lumber companies moved to support the proposal.

Realizing that their movement might need a catalyst, the BTA decided to act on a threat that Governor Daniels had once made: if the state doesn’t do something, the federal government will. Henley invited Senator Ralph Yarborough to tour the Big Thicket in order to add pressure on the state to act on the proposal. In October 1965, Yarborough toured the Big Thicket accompanied by prominent environmentalists and was persuaded to pursue a push for a national park. This visit and Yarborough’s consequential campaign for a Big Thicket National Park set in motion a nine-year struggle to establish a park in the region on the federal level. Between the years of 1966, when Yarborough introduced the first senate bill to establish a park, and 1974 when the preserve was finally established, 28 bills were introduced in both the House and Senate to create a national park site of some sort. Yarborough’s original bid was for a national park, but the first survey team to the area was unable to identify even a 5,000-acre tract that did not have a road cutting through it or was unaltered because of the logging, farming, and subdivisions in the area. This led them to conclude that there was not enough wilderness to meet the standards of a national park, but it could still be considered for a national monument. Yarborough was not satisfied with this and replied that, “Monuments are for dead things.” Despite this early assessment, senators and congressman alike continued to submit proposals for a national park, national monument, biological reserve and even a national recreation area.

In the end, after nearly a decade of proposed bills and over 50 years of pushing for a park, it was not a national park that was established. Nor was it a monument or recreation area or biological reserve. Instead, something entirely new was born: the national preserve. While a national preserve retains many of the functionalities and protections of a national park, it also allows for a certain level of resource extraction like hunting and fishing. The preserve attempts to balance the needs and desires of both conservation and the people that interact intimately with that space. Every park is unique in their journey to becoming national sites, the time and complexities of the process varying greatly depending on the communities the park will impact. For the Big Thicket, the character of the community and the challenges that the region presented necessitated the creation of a new designation. The bill that would ultimately be signed by President Ford was a result of many years of compromise. Industry, locals who both used the land recreationally and professionally, conservationists, and political climates all contributed to the tensions. The creation of America’s first national preserve also opened the doors for other places in the US that might face similar tensions to usher in a park as well. Today, there are 19 national preserves across the country. Conservation is not a one-size-fits-all model and with unique designations like “national preserve,” the needs of various communities can be accounted for in federal conservation efforts.

It is no wonder that the lush forest landscape that is the Big Thicket would eventually command the attention of the lumber industry. The Piney Woods of east Texas have always been home to pines and hardwoods, though the dense growth and wet terrain made access to the region difficult. Prior to the 1880s, inhabitants of the region were scarce and sparse, creating only small inroads to small settlements and cabins living off subsistence farming while hunting small game. The richness of the region’s resources did not go without notice, but the realities of the region’s climate and the dense thicket made it overall unexploitable. However, as technology progressed and forest resources on the East Coast and around the Great Lakes began to dry up, lumber companies turned their attention to the South.

The extraction of lumber from the Big Thicket started in the early 1800s and was one of the first major industries to take root in the area. There were few roads and even fewer easily accessible ones. The dense shrubbery of the region and frequent flooding made construction of such infrastructure difficult and tedious. Instead, rivers like the Neches were used to float resources out of the thicket and towards the mills along the coast. Texas saw its first major sawmills established in cities like Houston, Galveston, Beaumont and Orange while smaller sawmills existed inland to serve local needs. This early form of lumber extraction limited logging areas to those places along the river. Staging areas would be set up at central locations. Loggers cut trees deeper in the thicket and then oxen and mules were used to drag the logs to the riverbanks. However, a problem arose: the rivers of the region were not the most reliable. Just like today, river depths changed frequently and rapidly between rains, throughout all seasons. In addition, the riverways would clog with logs, silt and stags. When the logs were pulled to the riverbanks, there was often a waiting period for when the river level would rise once again. Once they were on the water, the logs would be rafted and floated downstream towards the mills on the Gulf Coast. This was not the most efficient transportation method. It is estimated that 30 percent of logs would be lost in transport or drift too far and into the Gulf. Later, steamboats would be used to help transport the logs and lighten the incidence of loss but they, too, could run only during optimal river flow.

The lumber industry in the thicket changed drastically with the expansion of the railroad and saw its boom in what is known as the “Bonanza Era” lasting from roughly 1880 to 1930. Prior to the Civil War there were railroads through the region, though the lines weren’t extensive. During the war these lines were torn for scrap. After the war, amidst reconstruction efforts, the railroads were reinvested in. The state of Texas was liberal in their land grants, granting land to railroad companies for each mile of track. Many of these investments came from the lumber industry that saw an opportunity in an expanded railroad system. In Beaumont, for example, the Long and Company Sawmill sold a right-of-way to the newly reorganized Texas and New Orleans rail line for $1 in 1876. From 1880 to 1883, Herman and Augustus Kountze, two bankers from New York who had acquired thousands of East Texas timberland and for whom the town of Kountze gets its name, rebuilt the old Eastern Texas Railroad from Sabine Pass to Beaumont and eventually expanded north into the woods. Up-and-coming lumberman John Kirby built a small railroad from Beaumont to Kirbyville in 1896 that would eventually stretch all the way to Louisiana. By 1880, the railroads connected most of east Texas to major depots throughout the state, opening new frontiers to the lumber industries. With the expansion of the railroads into the thicket, tree harvesting expanded beyond the previously claimed riverbanks. Lumber companies created company towns around newly constructed sawmills, now off the coasts and closer to the lumber source. These mill towns centered around the mainlines of the railroad bringing lumber form the woods. Deeper in the thicket, smaller camps and makeshift towns were established for the loggers themselves along railroad track known as “trunk lines.” By 1907, Texas had the third-largest lumber industry in the US, with the vast majority of that lumber coming from the Big Thicket region.

Despite the success of this era, or perhaps because of it, it could not last forever. By 1920, the lumber companies saw many of the supply exhausted. Coupled with the effects of the Great Depression, most companies either left the thicket for the forests of the Pacific Coast or went bankrupt. 1932 saw the lowest lumber production since 1880. The New Deal era would breathe life into the lumber industry of the thicket once again. The mass exodus of lumber companies left millions of acres of cut-over land behind them. There was an assumption that most of this land would be used for farming and grazing, and this certainly did take place in some areas. But the scars of the Great Depression ushered forth a country desperate to reawaken industry to bring jobs to all those left unemployed. In that effort, the cut-over forests of the Big Thicket were invested in by the federal government to usher forth a “second-growth” to provide future timber. Forest fires were fought, underbrush was cut and seedlings planted. The investment in land coupled with an expanding market for wood products was successful enough that, by 1940, timber output was up once again.

Prior to the Bonanza Era, the forests of the Piney Woods were tall and wide. The pine forests encompassed an area roughly the size of Indiana. Early surveyors noted pine that was 150 feet tall and five feet in diameter. Today, the average pine diameter in the Big Thicket is about four inches to one foot. Bald cypresses were measured to have up to 17 feet in girth. The thicket was an old forest within the Piney Woods filled with tall trees, dense understory and teeming with life. It was also one of the last havens for forests that had already disappeared elsewhere. The longleaf pine forest, for instance, was an ecosystem that once stretched from east Texas to Virginia. In colonial times, this pine turned out to be very valuable and the old-growth habitat slowly disappeared. The old-growth longleaf pine of the Big Thicket remained shielded for a time given the climate of the region, but this changed in the Bonanza Era when railroads made the pine more accessible.

The mill towns of the Bonanza Era were short-lived. Once the forests that could be reached from the railroad lines were completely chopped, the tracks were torn up, the mill was dismantled, and the companies and laborers were moved on to the next patches of land. By the early 1900s, much of the thicket’s pine forests had been reduced to cut-over woodlands. Lumber companies used a “cut-out and get-out” method of logging, leaving a “forest of stumps” in their wake. However, at no point was technology or transportation anywhere near efficient enough to allow the deforestation of the entire thicket at once. The climate of the region allows for quick regrowth. While much of the thicket was harvested, the slowness of the process meant that much of the ecosystem remained intact and the forest slowly regrew. While the old growth that many early visitors fawned over was lost, the general ecosystem of the region, and thus its biodiversity, remained.

This silver lining changed with the introduction of clearcutting. Unlike the cut-out and get-out method where only the marketable trees were cut, clearcutting first cut and shipped out the marketable trees, then bulldozed the others as well as all the understory plants into large heaps and then burned the heaps. Once the land is completely cleared, the lumber company can plant new pine saplings. This method even goes as far as filling in creeks and streams. In southeast Texas, the pine planted was usually loblolly pine, chosen for its quick growth. The newly planted plots can then be harvested in 15-25 year cycles. This type of lumbering practice began in this region in the 1930s, alongside the “second-growth” efforts of the time but took off in the 1960s and persists to this day. The trouble with clearcutting is the removal of the biodiversity that was still able to flourish under the cut-out and get-out method. Many organisms, like the red-cockaded woodpecker, lose access to their habitat and the ecosystem at large suffers through the ripple effect. Many conservation efforts in the Big Thicket focus on establishing the natural habitat lost through practices like clearcutting by planting longleaf pine saplings. In 2016, as a celebration of 100 years of the National Park Service, Big Thicket National Preserve undertook a project to plant 300 acres (100,000 longleaf pine saplings) in the Big Sandy Creek Unit known as the “Centennial Forest”. The hope is that generations can watch this forest grow over the next 100 years.

Today, the lumber industry still thrives. As you drive on the roads and highways around the Big Thicket, logging trucks can be easily spotted turning their way out of the forests and transporting their loads to the numerous industries in the towns surrounded by the Thicket that make use of the lumber, whether it be the paper mill in Evadale or the Hardwoods of Woodville.

Unlike in the past, however, logging now exists directly adjacent to conservation. As the forests of the Thicket began to disappear, it ushered forth such groups as the Big Thicket Association who desired to see the Piney Woods protected from further shrinking. The region is now sprinkled with Big Thicket National Preserve, state parks and conservation sanctuaries . While the industry continues around the protected lands, and in some cases, even within it, the conservation efforts having arisen since the 1960s have ensured that, at least in part, the ecosystems of the region can persist. Combined, these lands strategically protect stream and river corridors protecting water quality and allowing for animal and plant circulation throughout the ecosystem without compromising the economy of the lumber industry. Additionally, the habits of the lumber companies have also adapted. Some lumber companies of the Thicket have set aside their own land for special protections. This is especially true of bottomland hardwoods. These forests are full of swamps and oxbows and susceptible to floods as they make up the lowlands along riverbanks. While this makes them a rich and diverse ecosystem, it also means they are difficult to develop or use for agriculture and are poor country on which to grow pine timbers. This has led many lumber companies who own such pieces of land to set them aside for protection, even going so far as to donate such tracts to conservationists. This is true of the Lance Rosier Unit of the preserve that was donated to the park by Temple Industries. Such a trend has ushered forth an interesting balance between conservation and industry. The forests you can explore at Big Thicket National Preserve have almost all been logged at least once since 1880. Only in some of the most remote and hard to access portions of the park can you find old-growth trees. But the significance of the region, the dense growth and biodiversity, is still alive in the thicket. The forest might be young compared to what once thrived in this region, but with time, the Piney Woods may once again grow tall and wide.

Oil and gas production in the Big Thicket region dates back to the late 1800s, though the geological formations that lend themselves to the presence of oil and gas created interest and economies in the region long before that. In Sour Lake, Texas, south of the preserve’s boundary and in an area that was historically the Thicket, there are a series of small lakes and streams once heralded for medicinal properties. Native tribes including the Tonkawas, Lipans and Wichilas were known to use this area to meet, using the waters that were laced with sulphur for medicinal purposes. They and early European travelers through the area would use the petroleum deposits as pitch or to lubricate their wagon axles. By 1850, the waters of the lake and nearby springs turned the town into a health resort, where travelers would come to visit for the healing powers of the water and receive mud and mineral baths. Waters from the lake would be bottled up and sold in Houston and Galveston. The source of the petroleum deposits and sulfuric water and the bubbling springs is a salt dome beneath the land. Salt domes are pillars of salt that have risen through thousands of feet of mineral deposits. The land can occasionally be pushed into small mounds based on the presence of such a dome beneath the surface. These domes are generally covered in cap rock structures made up of sand, sandy clay or limestone. Significant to the oil industry, the cap rock typically houses oil and gas reservoirs. These salt domes lay throughout not only the Big Thicket region, but along the coast and out into the ocean. Spindletop would mark the first time that such a geological feature produced an oil boom. The Lucas Gusher at Spindletop, just south of Beaumont, Texas in January 1901 would usher forth an eight-year oil boom in Southeast Texas. Following the success of the gusher that sat astride a salt dome, eager entrepreneurs began to search the nearby landscape for telltale signs of this feature to exploit its riches further. This led them into the Thicket and resulted in oil booms at Sour Lake, Saratoga , and Batson. However, oil exploration had begun in these regions long before that. In 1866, Peter Willis would be the first to attempt to drill for oil in Sour Lake and though he found a small pocket of oil, it generated very little excitement from others. In 1895, the Savage brothers, who had been involved in oil exploration back east, drilled for oil in both Sour Lake and Saratoga, but met minimal success. Like Sour Lake, Saratoga had their own health springs because of the salt dome’s influence on their water. Prior to the Savage brothers, there was an attempt to drill for oil in 1865 in Saratoga after a man found petroleum on his pigs, but this attempt failed. Unlike Sour Lake and Saratoga, Batson did not have a significant history of oil exploration prior to the boom.

Despite all the instances of early oil exploration, the results were underwhelming. Part of the little success seen can, in part, be attributed to the use of outdated equipment. Prior to 1900, oil seekers in the Thicket would use cable rigs (that would repeatedly hurdle a drill bit into the ground with the help of steam power) which had been obsolete back east since 1880. In 1895, in Navarro, Texas, the Baker brothers first started using their rotary method for oil drilling (which they had developed a decade earlier to drill small wells on the Great Plains). In 1900, Captain Lucas adopted this method at Spindletop which would usher in the oil boom less than a year later. Unlike the cable rig, which needed to be stopped occasionally to replace the drill bit and clear out debris, the rotary rig used a hollow bit and would flush out debris using fluids while the drill bit kept going. This process allowed the bit to grind away at the rock rather than be repeatedly thrown at it. The cable rig struggled to reach depths of 300 feet while the rotary rig was able to go as far as 2,000 to 3,000 feet. This rig seems to have made all the difference for oil exploration in the Big Thicket. Thusly, oil became the second major industry to sweep through the Big Thicket region, overtaking lumber . Unlike lumber, though, the boomtowns were much shorter lived. Entrepreneurs began drifting from Spindletop and Beaumont as early as 1902, leading them into the Thicket to Sour Lake. By May 1903, shortly after numerous derricks struck success, the oil rush in Sour Lake was officially launched. But by 1905, production was already down, and the entrepreneurs began to drift yet again. As Sour Lake’s production fell, Saratoga’s rose, and so drillers drifted 12 miles north to the latest boom town. Though by 1906, Saratoga, too had seen the end of its boom. Batson saw its boom only shortly after Sour Lake and Saratoga and reached its peak production in 1904. Their boom was over just four years later in 1908. This boom and bust routine would continue for the oil companies moving on to Humble next, but Batson would be the last boom in the Big Thicket.

In just eight years, the oil boom was over in the Thicket, but the ecological effects of the gushers now gone bust are much longer lived. As entrepreneurs came into an area, trees would be quickly cleared and used for fuel or to build the derricks. Gushers would often spurt for hours, the oil saturating the land and flowing into streams. Even after the gusher was brought under control, seepage was still a regular part of oil operations in the region. This was largely due to the crude storage methods. Not expecting the success that they found, companies failed to build adequate storage and resorted to using makeshift wooden crates or earthen pits. Pine Island Bayou and Little Pine Island Bayou were frequently polluted with oil and would sometimes even ignite, causing the water to burn and fires that spread to the forest. These problems were eventually mitigated with the use of steel barrels and the construction of pipelines, though the potential for oil spills remained. Worse than the oil seepage, though, was the saltwater runoff. It isn’t called a “salt dome” for nothing and saltwater would consistently be pumped up along with the oil. Once above ground, the saltwater would be separated from the oil and dumped, allowing it to flow into nearby waterways. This intrusion strangled vegetation and killed trees. It would be the rice farmers in Sour Lake that would eventually get an injunction prohibiting the haphazard dumping of saltwater. Saltwater disposal pits were created, instead, or, in some cases, replaced underground. Nonetheless, by the 1970s dead trees still stood as a testament to the intrusion.

The end of the booms did not mean the end of oil in the Big Thicket. Oil exploration continued at the southern edge of the Big Thicket region. In the 1930s, the industry pushed north and east and by the 1950s much of the future national preserve was home to some level of oil and gas activity. When the preserve was established , subsurface mineral rights were privately-held and Congress did not authorize the federal acquisition of these rights. Oil and gas exploration and extraction, therefore, continue in and around the preserve, under the oversight of preserve staff who are required to ensure that such activities will not compromise the values for which the preserve was established. Today there are four non-federal oil and gas operations within the preserve, about 35 directional wells that were horizontally directional drilled from outside the preserve to locations beneath the preserve, and around 100 oil and gas pipeline segments that run through the preserve. These activities carry environmental concerns that preserve staff carefully monitor and mitigate, balancing industry and conservation.

1925–2012 Geraldine Watson dedicated her life to preserving and understanding the natural beauty of the Big Thicket. She used her expertise and passion to advocate for Big Thicket’s protection and served as one of its first park rangers. Watson was born in Louisiana in 1925, but her family moved to Doucette, Texas, in Tyler County and then Jasper, Texas, in Jasper County when she was very young. Both of her parents enjoyed the nature of Big Thicket and shared it with Watson. Through their guidance, she learned to identify the flora of southeast Texas as well as their uses for medicines and dyes. She developed an artistic side from her mother and an outdoorsy side from her father who would take her on fishing trips and adventures in the Big Thicket. Watson’s passion for the natural world led her to obtain a degree in biology. She put it to use by assisting the Big Thicket Association in 1964 when the organization was founded. She became a board member of the organization and helped push for the preservation of the Big Thicket region through her weekly column in a local Hardin County newspaper, The Pine Needle. Additionally, she presented slideshows about the region’s ecosystems to various garden clubs and organizations, and she resisted pushback from the lumber industry which wanted to continue their logging in the region. It was important to her that people know about the biodiversity of Big Thicket: “How are we going to save the world if we don’t understand what makes it what it is?” Watson and her family were persecuted and ostracized from the local community, as neighbors viewed her efforts to preserve the region as a threat to their property and use of the landscape for hunting, trapping, and fishing. Still, she was a driving force in getting Big Thicket its national preserve designation. In 1974, Watson spoke to Congress on behalf of Big Thicket and convinced them of the economic and ecological value of the region. She asserted that the flora of the region was understudied, that it had culinary, commercial, and medicinal value. Further, she argued that the creation of a national park would benefit the area economically. This testimony along with the work of other conservationists was successful, and Big Thicket National Preserve was established in 1974.

In 2024, Big Thicket National Preserve celebrated its 50th anniversary. It was a year of reflection as we celebrated the past, present, and future of America's first national preserve.

Big Thicket National Preserve was established on October 11, 1974, when President Gerald Ford signed Public Law 93-439 . According to that law, the preserve was created “in order to assure the preservation, conservation, and protection of the natural, scenic, and recreational values of a significant portion of the Big Thicket area in the State of Texas and to provide for the enhancement and public enjoyment thereof.”

Throughout 2024, we offered many ways for the public to join us in celebration of Big Thicket's golden anniversary:

Over 1,000 people earned bronze, silver, and gold anniversary pins after completing recreational challenges.

More than 600 junior rangers earned a limited-edition 50th anniversary junior ranger badge.

Photographers submitted their best photos and the public chose a winner in our photo contest .

Did you celebrate with us in 2024? Here's a recap of our special events in our anniversary year:

Did you know that Big Thicket is only one of two national preserves established on October 11, 1974? The other, Big Cypress National Preserve, protects tall strands of bald cypress, low-lying estuaries lined with mangrove trees, and everything in between! With only inches to differentiate between distinct ecosystems, Big Cypress is known to be one of the most ecologically diverse areas of the country and protects almost 730,000 acres of land in Southwest Florida. With so much to do and see there is an adventure for people of all abilities! Big Cypress National Preserve protects not only the land, but also the traditional uses of the land. That includes Off-Road Vehicle usage, hunting and fishing, traditional use and occupancy by the Miccosukee and Seminole Tribes, private land ownership, prescribed fires and more! It is our responsibility to strike a balance between the natural and human agendas in order to protect this land, and its traditional uses for generations to come. Whether you take a stroll on one of the four (4) boardwalks within the preserve, an Off-Road Vehicle into the backcountry or get your feet wet on a swamp walk, we know that you’ll find something that interests you! Traveling to Florida? Check out Big Cypress National Preserve !

Big Thicket National Preserve lies along a major migratory flyway, and many species of birds fly through the area during spring and fall migrations. Nearly 300 species of birds have been documented in the Big Thicket. Of these, 74 species are known to nest within the preserve. However, the dense vegetation makes birdwatching challenging, and familiarity with bird calls is essential for birding here.

Want to find all the birds that live in the Big Thicket? This list has them all! View it online or download a printable version.

The 1-mile Sundew Trail loops through a wetland pine savannah habitat that is regularly treated with prescribed fire. The longleaf pine forest here provides good habitat for Bachman's sparrows, brown-headed nuthatches, and several species of woodpeckers. The Kirby Nature Trail winds through a dense beech-magnolia-loblolly pine forest, a cypress slough, and a riparian zone that provide habitat for thicket-loving birds, such as thrushes, thrashers, and Swainson's warblers. A wetland pine savannah/longleaf pine restoration area adjacent to the preserve headquarters attracts birds that prefer open grasslands, such as Henslow's sparrows. Birders can either walk or drive to this area from the visitor center. Canoeists and kayakers may want to explore the Cooks Lake to Scatterman Paddle Trail along the Neches River, where bird sightings include prothonotary warblers, ospreys, egrets, swallow-tailed kites, and both great and snowy egrets.

Of the 181 mammals listed as occurring in the state of Texas, nearly 60 species have been verified in Big Thicket National Preserve. Beaver and river otter are sometimes seen in the rivers and streams. Eight species of bats may be seen flying overhead at dusk, consuming the plentiful moths (over 1600 species), beetles, and mosquitoes. An array of rodents scurry in the understory while gray squirrels , fox squirrels, and flying squirrels move through the trees overhead. Skunks, raccoons , ringtails, opossums , and armadillos are common, but their nocturnal behavior makes them difficult to see during the day. White-tailed deer are the only native ungulate in the preserve and must compete for food with invasive feral hogs, who eat just about anything. Gray and red fox , coyotes , and bobcats are the primary predators on the prowl looking for a rodent, bird, or snake to fill their bellies. This area was once famous for its black bear populations, but these were hunted heavily for over 100 years until they were extirpated from southeast Texas in the 1950s. However, bears may be making a comeback from surrounding states. Local residents occasionally report sighting black bears, and while the bears do not seem to have established a permanent population here, regional resource managers believe there is a good chance that bears either from the Louisiana subspecies of the American black bear ( Ursus americanus luteolus ) or from the Ozark region populations may eventually re-establish in the Big Thicket area. Visit our NPSpecies page for a complete list of mammals and other animals found in the preserve.

Read more about these nighttime fliers and the research we're conducting in order to learn more about them.

Big Thicket National Preserve is a wonderland of plant and animal species that come together in southeast Texas. Wildlife species common to the eastern deciduous forests, the central plains grasslands, the southeastern coastal swamplands, the pine savannas, and even a few from the southwestern deserts all come together in this crossroad area of North America. With a little planning and driving, visitors can easily see many of the varied plant communities with their associated mix of mammals , birds , reptiles, amphibians and fish in just a day’s visit. However, to truly experience the variety, come in the spring or fall to enjoy a hike on a trail in the Thicket or plan a canoe/kayak trip down one of the creeks or on the Neches River in the summer. The sounds of a chorus of frogs, the sighting of a log full of basking turtles, the shadow of a bald eagle or anhinga flying overhead, or the chatter of a busy squirrel in the trees above will all make your visit to Big Thicket an experience you will always remember. Check out our park species lists page for a complete list of the animal and plant species found in the Big Thicket.

Established by Congress in October 1974 along with Big Cypress National Preserve, Big Thicket National Preserve was one of the first areas to be designated a national preserve . Congress mandated that the preserve was to “assure the preservation, conservation, and protection of the natural, scenic, and recreational values of a significant portion of the Big Thicket area in the State of Texas.” The original Big Thicket of Texas covered between 2 million and 3 million acres in what is now mapped as the Piney Woods and Coastal Marsh ecoregions of the state. People have called the Big Thicket the "biological crossroads of North America", as it has one of the most biologically diverse assemblages of species in the world. It is a transition zone where southeastern swamps, eastern deciduous forests, central plains, pine savannahs, and dry sandhills meet. This diverse habitat allows an impressive array of species to coexist, including approximately 1,320 species of trees, shrubs, vines, and grasses (vascular plants ), 60 mammal species, 86 reptile & amphibian species, 34 species of freshwater mussels , nearly 1,800 invertebrate species just in the Lepidoptera Family (butterflies,moths, skippers), 97 fish species, at least 300 bird species, and 660 species of mushrooms . Cactus and orchids, beech trees and bald cypress trees, azaleas and pine trees, roadrunners and alligators, and historically, bison, jaguars & red wolves, are all included in the array of species. Four of the five known types of carnivorous plants found in the U.S. are found in the Big Thicket. The abundant rainfall and the long growing season, around 246 days, ensures that the vegetation and animal life thrive in this unique area of Texas. The preserve now manages over 113,000 acres scattered in nine land units and six water units. In 1981, Big Thicket National Preserve was also designated as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, thereby demonstrating its international importance.

Hikers on the Longleaf Pine Trail NPS Photo / Scott Sharaga Many Places, One Preserve With over 113,000 acres of public land, Big Thicket National Preserve is yours to enjoy and explore. We invite you to experience the preserve's special places.

Get info, maps, and much more at the visitor center. NPS Photo / Scott Sharaga Visitor Center Start your trip at the Big Thicket Visitor Center . Centrally located in the Big Thicket region, it has information, maps, exhibits, a film, and much more. Park rangers there will answer your questions and can recommend things to see and do in the preserve. Units of the National Preserve Unlike most national parks, the preserve is composed of 15 separate sections of parkland called units. These units range in size from 552 to 24,828 acres and are spread out over seven southeast Texas counties. Look at the park map to see where each unit is located.

Ranger Recommendations Visiting the Big Thicket for the first time? Check out the Kirby Nature Trail in the Turkey Creek Unit. It's near the visitor center and gives hikers the chance to experience a variety of Big Thicket environments, such as a baygall and cypress slough. Enjoy different kinds of outdoor recreation? Try the Big Sandy Creek Unit. You can hike, bike, horseback ride, camp, hunt, fish, and more in this part of the preserve. Want to see carnivorous plants? The Pitcher Plant Trail in the Turkey Creek Unit and the Sundew Trail in the Hickory Creek Savannah Unit are your best bets. Looking to paddle a kayak or canoe? Visit the Beaumont Unit or one of the waterway corridor units. Want to walk through a longleaf pine forest? Try the Longleaf Pine Trail at the visitor center, the Pitcher Plant Trail in the Turkey Creek Unit, and the Sundew Trail in the Hickory Creek Savannah Unit. Photo Galleries View photos of the places to visit, sorted by unit and trail »

Here you'll find many of the Big Thicket's scenic highlights, from carnivorous plants to cypress sloughs.

Just minutes away from Beaumont, see the bayou on paddling trails and at picnic areas.

From longleaf pine uplands to flooded bottomlands, this unit has a wonderful mix of scenery and trails.

Lance Rosier is the historical heart of the Big Thicket, home to dense patches of palmettos and swamps.

The smallest unit of the preserve, the Loblolly Unit is home to pimple mounds, or mima mounds.

Camp with friends in the Big Thicket backcountry. NPS Photo / Scott Sharaga Whether you want to hike or paddle, Big Thicket National Preserve offers backcountry camping throughout much of the park's lands and waterways.

Camping Permits A free permit is required for camping in the preserve. All permits are issued at the visitor center . No reservations needed. Check in for your permit at the visitor center. You'll need to provide the following information about your trip: Where you plan to camp, including the entry/exit trailhead Dates of your trip Number of people in your group (8-person maximum) Method of travel (foot, kayak, canoe, etc.) Vehicle description: color, make, model, license plate Your contact information: name, address, phone number Emergency contact information: name, phone number

Where to Camp Camping is available year-round in the Big Thicket, though there are some seasonal closures to certain areas. Most of the preserve is open for camping during the spring and summer months (March 1–September 30). In fall and winter (October 1–February 28), camping is limited to areas that do not allow hunting . Check the park map to see the location of each unit.

Restricted Areas—No Camping Allowed Camping is prohibited in some areas of the preserve: Within 1,000 feet of the Pitcher Plant Trail The Kirby Nature Trail and all areas south of Village Creek in the Turkey Creek Unit Hickory Creek Savannah Unit, Little Pine Island-Pine Island Bayou Corridor Unit, and Menard Creek Corridor Unit Sites posted as day-use areas or picnic areas Hunting areas during hunting season

Are you prepared to backpack in the Big Thicket? NPS Photo Camping Regulations Campsites must be at least 500 feet from all roads, trails, structures, and preserve boundaries. Campsites must also be at least 100 feet from water, unless the campsite is on a sandbar along a waterway. Camping in any kind of vehicle is prohibited in the preserve. Camping is not allowed in hunting areas during hunting season (Oct. 1–Feb. 28) except for sandbars along the Neches River. Campers are limited to 14 consecutive nights and 28 total nights per year. After 14 consecutive nights, campers must completely remove themselves and their property from the park for a minimum of 2 nights before returning for another backcountry camping trip. Group size is limited to 8 people. Groups must camp far enough from each other to maintain visual and noise separation. Campfires and camp stoves are allowed. Only wood collected in the preserve may be used; wood must be dead and down. Fires must be attended at all times and extinguished before leaving the area. Ashes should be scattered. Fires are not allowed during burn bans. Trenching or leveling the ground for tents or toilet purposes is prohibited. Human waste must be buried 6–8 inches deep and at least 50 feet from trails or water. Toilet paper must be carried out. Pack out all trash and food waste. Burying or burning trash is prohibited. Glass containers are prohibited on waterways and sandbars. Motorized vehicles are prohibited on trails. Horses and bicycles are allowed only on the Big Sandy Trail. Campfire Safety A campfire can enhance your camping experience, but if not properly tended and fully extinguished, it can lead to catastrophic and deadly consequences. Please follow these guidelines for campfire safety .

Whether you want to hike or paddle, Big Thicket National Preserve offers backcountry camping throughout much of the park's lands and waterways. What does backcountry camping mean? There are no campgrounds in the preserve. You'll need to hike or paddle in with all of your supplies. Camping is allowed in the woods, at least 500 feet from roads, trails, and the park boundary. Paddlers may camp on sandbars along certain waterways. Camping in a vehicle at a trailhead or roadside pullout is prohibited.

Call us at 409-951-6700 or email us . Also, see our frequently asked questions below.

No reservations are needed—you can pick up a permit on the same day as your trip. If you would prefer to get a permit before your trip, permits are available up to 14 days in advance. (Advance permits are necessary for trips beginning on these holidays when the visitor center is closed: Thanksgiving, Dec. 25, and Jan. 1.)

Additionally, many privately-owned campgrounds can be found in the Big Thicket region.