Nature, Wildlife, and Hiking Trails Minutes From Downtown Houston
Cullinan Nature Conservancy
Living in a major metropolis like Houston, you would think there aren't many nature trails to hike. Your first thought may be to travel several hours to visit a state or national park to enjoy time exploring and hiking the trails. But during this uncertain time of stay home alerts, park trail closures, or reservations requirements, where is there to go.
Using Alltrails, an app on my phone, I found Cullinan Nature Conservancy, a 750-acre nature preserve located in Sugar Land, Texas. Enclosed by a network of roads, expanding subdivisions, and shopping districts, the preserve is a lush habitat with a wide variety of vegetation and wildlife. Some activities include birding, hiking, fishing, or grabbing some takeout from a nearby restaurant for a picnic lunch.
With a mix of grasslands and woodlands, the park is home to an ample amount of animals, birds, and reptiles. And if you're an avid birder, you definitely want to stop by and see the Anhinga, the park mascot, along with several other species of waterfowl. You can find a birding checklist on the park's website. Or click for a copy of their Bird Checklist.
But when you're near the water, always be on the lookout for the resident alligators. They may look sleepy and slow but are quite fast for short distances.
This park also has a broad range of groundcover, understory, and canopy plants that provide plenty of shade on several of its hiking trails.
I spent a full morning trekking the well-maintained hiking trails within its borders and exploring the conservancy. And since I was hiking solo on this adventure, and I wanted to stick closer to home and a more heavily trafficked nature park. This is always a good idea when visiting a new area alone.
Plus, there's plenty of captivating flora to photograph. Several genera of mushrooms caught my attention.
While not technically part of the park, one of the trails passes next to a historic cemetery. The sites are marked with wooden crosses as most of the stones are gone.
Wrapping Up
Cullinan Nature Conservancy boasts two lakes within the park borders, White and Pumpkin Lakes. It also has extensive acreage of both woodland and prairie areas. Being in such an urban region, it's an incredible natural area within the greater Houston area. It's a beautiful place to get a nature fix without having to travel several hours to visit a state or national park.
If you are visiting Houston and want to get a little nature in between all the city sites, check out this sweet slice of heaven in Sugar Land. Here's their website to get more park info, Collinan Nature Conservancy
But don't forget to bring the 10 hiking essentials with you. Even if you're not someplace remote, it's always good to have them in your pack. You can download your free checklist here. Free 10 Hiking Essentials Checklist
As always, let's take all the side roads together and enjoy exploring one of the many nature parks in the greater Houston area.
Have you been to Cullinan Nature Conservatory? Did you find it enjoyable? Let me know in the comments. And if know of someone who would find this article helpful, please share it with them.
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