Hike Location: Brazos Bend State Park
Geographic Location: south of Sugar Land, TX (29.37032, -95.62741)
Length: 8.9 miles
Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: December 2019
Overview: A nearly flat hike past many aquatic areas that
offer good bird viewing.
Park Information: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/brazos-bend
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=777166
Photo Highlight:
Directions to the trailhead: Southwest of Houston,
take I-69 to SR 99. Exit, but instead of
turning north onto SR 99, turn south onto Farm-to-Market Road 2759. FM 2759 magically becomes FM 762 in 2.2
miles. Keep following FM 762 as it makes
several sharp turns. After driving a
total of 16.5 miles from I-69, you reach an intersection with Park Road and the
entrance to Brazos Bend State Park. Turn
left to enter the park, pay the park entrance fee, and park in the parking lot
for 40 Acre Lake, which is the first parking lot on the left after you enter
the park.
The hike: Opened
only in 1984, Brazos Bend State Park sprawls for roughly 5000 acres on the west
bank of its namesake river. Before it
became a park, the land was used as a hunting ranch. Cattle grazed here, and pecans were grown
here; remnants of that time can still be seen on the park’s trails today.
Brazos Bend State Park is the
biggest and best outdoor recreation destination in greater Houston. On point, the park offers a 71-site developed
campground, several picnic areas, three fishing lakes, a playground, an interpretive
center, and 17 trails that stretch for nearly 30 miles. The trails in the eastern part of the park
are open to horses in addition to hikers, so I chose to focus on the hiker-only
trails in the western part of the park.
The route described here explores every point of interest in the western
part of the park, and it passes many wetland areas that offer great bird
watching in the winter. Also, several
shorter options are presented should this hike’s distance seem too great.
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| Start of Prairie Trail |
From the parking lot for 40 Acre
Lake, pick up the gravel Prairie Trail as it heads south across the main park
road at a marked crosswalk. True to its
name, the Prairie Trail traces the edge of a large tallgrass prairie, and a
wooden observation platform gives a slightly elevated view of the prairie. Although parts of the prairie are quite wet,
the well-constructed trail stays dry except after a heavy rain.
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| Brazos Bend's tallgrass prairie |
The Prairie Trail traces three sides
of the prairie, and on the third (east) side it comes close to Jungman Road on
the right. Just past 1 mile, the trail
angles left to briefly follow an asphalt maintenance road before angling right
to continue its northward course. At
1.25 miles, you reach the end of the Prairie Trail at an intersection with the
Live Oak Trail. If you want a short
hike, you could turn left here and return directly to the 40 Acre Lake parking
area in another 0.4 miles. To continue
this hike, turn right to begin the Live Oak Trail, which heads east past an
information board and a bench.
 |
| Large live oak on Live Oak Trail |
The gravel Live Oak Trail is the
park’s newest trail, and for the next mile it traces a nearly straight line
flush against the park’s south boundary.
True to its name, several large live oak trees grow beside this
trail. Traffic on the main park road
some 200 feet to the left prevents much solitude, but the wooded wetland areas
along this trail comprise the first of several excellent bird viewing opportunities. When I walked through here on a cool morning
in mid-December, I saw a green heron, a great blue heron, and several ibises in
addition to common songbirds such as cardinals, chickadees, and sparrows.
 |
| Great blue heron |
Just shy of 2.5 miles, the trail briefly
follows a power line before curving left to cross the main park road. At 2.8 miles, you reach the east end of the
Live Oak Trail at a junction with the Pilant Slough Trail, which goes right and
left. This hike’s next birding destination
is Elm Lake, and the shortest route there is to turn left on the Pilant Slough
Trail. To also visit the park’s
Interpretive Center, this hike turns right on the Pilant Slough Trail and takes
a longer route to Elm Lake.
 |
| Pilant Slough |
The Pilant Slough Trail heads
northeast with its namesake watercourse in a steep but shallow ravine to your
left. A bench overlooks the slough,
which was very still and quiet on my visit.
3.3 miles into the hike, you reach the Interpretive Center. The Interpretive Center has some interesting
exhibits on the birds, amphibians, and reptiles that inhabit the park’s
wetlands. Restrooms are also available
here.
After touring the Interpretive
Center, continue north to a trail intersection beside an asphalt park road,
then turn left to begin the Elm Lake Trail.
The Elm Lake Trail parallels the park road for 0.4 miles before
splitting to form a loop around its namesake lake. Stay right to hike along the north side of
Elm Lake with a large picnic area to your right.
|
| Elm Lake |
Shallow and grassy Elm Lake
represents the second excellent bird viewing opportunity on this hike. A wooden pier takes you out over the water,
but I saw flocks of ducks and coots just by walking along the shore. At 4.2 miles, you reach the northwest corner
of Elm Lake and a trail intersection with many benches. We will eventually turn left to continue around
Elm Lake, but for now angle right twice to begin a counterclockwise trip around
the Horseshoe Lake Loop.
There are actually two bodies of water
beside this trail known as Horseshoe Lake: Old Horseshoe Lake to your left and
New Horseshoe Lake to your right. Both
lakes are former channels of nearby Big Creek, but grassy and shallow Old
Horseshoe Lake is quickly being filled with sediment. Thus, New Horseshoe Lake offers better
wildlife viewing opportunities, and I saw several egrets and some turtles while
walking here.
 |
| Egret in New Horseshoe Lake |
The trail curves left, passes a
wooden observation platform that overlooks Old Horseshoe Lake, and arrives at
the signed start of the Big Creek Trail at 5.6 miles. If you are getting tired or have less than 2
hours of daylight remaining, then you should skip the Big Creek Trail and
continue around the Horseshoe Lake Loop.
If time and energy allow, turn right to begin the Big Creek Trail.
The Big Creek Trail forms a lollipop
loop through the park’s remote northwest corner, and its dirt surface contrasts
with the gravel surface on most of the park’s other trails to give this trail a
more primitive feel. Big Creek’s ravine
soon comes into view on the right, and 6 miles into the hike you reach a bench
that gives a clear view into the ravine.
The ravine is surprisingly steep and deep considering the flatness of
this hike.
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| Big Creek in its ravine |
Shortly the Big Creek Trail splits
to form its loop; I chose to continue straight and hike the loop
counterclockwise. The long but skinny
loop passes through open savannah, so this loop would be hot and buggy in the
summer and muddy after a good rain. The
fence that marks the park’s north boundary comes into view just before the
trail curves left for the second half of the loop. After closing the Big Creek Loop, turn right
to get back to the Horseshoe Lake Loop, then turn right again to finish the
Horseshoe Lake Loop.
At 7.4 miles, you return to the
intersection at the northwest corner of Elm Lake. Turn right to hike along the west bank of Elm
Lake. A dike with several concrete water
control structures forms this side of Elm Lake.
At 7.8 miles, you reach the southwest corner of Elm Lake and another
trail intersection. To begin the final
segment back to your car, turn right to leave the Elm Lake area and begin the
Spillway Trail.
 |
| Hiking the Spillway Trail |
The Spillway Trail heads due west
atop a dike that separates two periodically inundated areas. Trees draped in Spanish moss line the
trail. At 8.2 miles, a wooden bridge
takes you across the concrete spillway that gives this trail its name. 0.2 miles later, you reach the northeast
corner of 40 Acre Lake and a wooden observation tower. Five sets of steps lift you to the top of the
tower, which provides excellent views of 40 Acre Lake to the southwest and
smaller Pilant Lake to the north. Winds
buffeted the top of the tower on my visit, but I still took several minutes to
see what I could see.
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| Birds in 40 Acre Lake |
Continue west on the wide gravel 40
Acre Lake Trail as it heads counterclockwise around its namesake lake. More excellent bird viewing can be had in
this area, and I saw the only alligator on this hike in the waters of 40 Acre
Lake. Where the Hoot’s Hollow Trail
exits right, angle left and make a brief ascent to return to the parking lot
that contains your car, thus completing the hike.
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