Hike Location: Houston Arboretum and Nature Center
Geographic Location: west side of Houston, TX (29.76465, -95.45433)
Length: 2.2 miles
Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: December 2019
Overview: A nearly flat hike featuring forest, bayou,
prairie, and savanna habitats.
Center Information: https://houstonarboretum.org/
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=777217
Photo Highlight:
Directions to the trailhead: The main parking area
for the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center is accessed from the northbound
I-610 Service Road on the west side of Houston between Post Oak Boulevard and
Woodway Drive. A secondary parking area
is located on Woodway Dr. just east of I-610.
You will have to pay an hourly rate for parking unless you come on a
Thursday, when parking is free as of my visit.
The hike: Located
on the west side of Houston just inside the I-610 loop, Houston Arboretum and
Nature Center protects 155 acres at the west end of Houston’s massive and famous
Memorial Park. Before it became
parkland, what would become Memorial Park was the location of Camp Logan, a
World War I Army training camp that operated between 1917 and 1923. In 1924, the land was deeded to the City of
Houston to establish a park that would honor soldiers who lost their lives in
World War I. Considering the lack of World
War I memorials in this country, I found this park’s origins illuminating and
admirable.
The arboretum dates to 1951, when
local ecologist and educator Robert A. Vines persuaded Houston’s City Council
to set aside 265 acres in the west end of Memorial Park for an arboretum. Highway construction whittled the allotment
down to the 155 acres we enjoy today. The
arboretum features a Nature Center building devoted to education; the building
was under renovation when I came here.
Over 5 miles of trails wind through the arboretum, and these trails are
open 7am to dusk daily. This hike
features the Outer Loop, which as its name suggests takes you around the
perimeter of the arboretum, thus giving a good sample of all the arboretum has
to offer.
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| Outer Loop Trail departing I-610 Parking Loop |
From the I-610 Parking Loop, the
signed Outer Loop heads south on first a mulch and then a dirt/gravel treadway. At the first intersection, you need to turn
right to stay on the Outer Loop; the Buttonbush Trail goes straight and left
here. Although the Outer Loop is
unblazed, all intersections at Houston Arboretum and Nature Center are
well-signed, so staying on course is quite easy.
Ignore side trails that exit right
and lead to a bike trail along the I-610 Service Road. At 0.2 miles, you reach the Woodland Field
Station, the first of several interpretive shelters on this hike. Made of dead wood recovered from the area,
the Woodland Field Station overlooks a mixed pine and deciduous forest, and its
numerous interpretive signs tell you about the fauna and flora of the
woodlands.
 |
| Hiking the Outer Loop |
The wide dirt/gravel trail continues
southeast, and 0.9 miles into the hike you reach the Outer Loop’s southernmost
point where the Couch Birding Trail exits right. The Couch Birding Trail is a short spur trail
that leads to a wooden overlook of Buffalo Bayou, one of the main waterways
through metro Houston. While I saw no
unusual birds on this trail, muddy Buffalo Bayou makes a nice change of
scenery. Also, interpretive signs
explain that the natural dirt bayou channel you see today is preferable to the
concrete-walled channels that were common several decades ago because they
slowly release floodwater into the bayou rather than pouring it in all at once.
 |
| Buffalo Bayou overlook |
Back on the Outer Loop, the trail
embarks on a northward course with a railroad track across the arboretum’s east
boundary to your right. Even though the
arboretum is an attractive natural area, signs of civilization such as this
railroad track and persistent highway noise from nearby I-610 remind you of its
location in metro Houston. Next you pass
through the arboretum’s tallgrass prairie, which contrasts with the forest that
has surrounded you thus far. The
arboretum’s Prairie Field Station sits 0.1 miles down the North Meadow Trail to
the left, and it is worth a quick detour if you want to visit all four field
stations.
 |
| Hiking along the prairie |
After another stint in the woods,
you reach the arboretum’s savanna and Savanna Field Station at 1.7 miles. Numerous interpretive signs describe the
sunny savanna, which is dotted with tall pine trees. Next you curve left through the northeast
corner of the arboretum to reach the Donor Boardwalk. Leave the Outer Loop to walk across the
interesting and winding Donor Boardwalk, which takes you across a shallow pond
that contained several frogs on my visit.
|
| Donor Boardwalk |
At the other side of the Donor
Boardwalk, you reach an intersection with the Wildflower Trail. The Wildflower Trail forms a 0.3 mile loop,
so you can go either way here. The
shortest route to the Nature Center is the option going left, and the I-610
Parking Loop that contains your car is right beside the Nature Center. Be sure to check out the educational exhibits
in the Nature Center before you leave.
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