Big Thicket

Our last major destination for this trip was the Big Thicket.  We had certainly heard of it many times, but we did not have a clear understanding of exactly what it was.  That is probably because the term refers to both a general definition of the region and also refers to the federal lands set aside as the Big Thicket National Preserve.  Even with that, we did not know what to expect.  Here is what we have subsequently found out:

Big Thicket Region

The Big Thicket is a heavily forested region of southeast Texas that occupies much of at least five counties.  Prior to the Texas Revolution the region extended between the Old San Antonio Road (or Camino Real) and the Atascosito Road to the south and between the Brazos River to the west and the Sabine River to the East. However, older families in the region tend to define a much smaller region (40 miles long and 20 miles wide in Polk and Tyler Counties), now sometimes referred to as the "bear hunters' thicket".  All of these boundaries are somewhat difficult to define today because of the heavy lumbering and oil activities in the region in modern times.

Historical range of the Big Thicket (downloaded from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Big_Thicket.png)

Big Thicket National Preserve

The Big Thicket has a very interesting history, but it is most noteworthy for its biological diversity.

The Big Thicket is possibly the most biologically diverse area in the world. Cactus and ferns, beech trees and orchids, camellias and azaleas and four carnivorous plants all occupy what is called the thicket, along with the pines, oaks, and gums common to the rest of East Texas. The thicket also supports a wide variety of animal life and is especially noted for the many species of birds, around 350, that either live in the area or visit annually. 

To preserve this unique area, a portion of the historical region was designated in 1974 as the Big Thicket National Preserve, the first national preserve in the National Park System.  Creek corridors and additional land were added in 1993.  The current federal lands that make up the Big Thicket National Preserve (approximately 106,000 acres) are only a small part of the original Big Thicket region and are in 15 different non-contiguous units, nine land units and six water units.

Fortunately, we started our visit at the new Visitor's Center (corner of FM 420 and US 69, not the info station shown on the map below), which helped put all of this in perspective.  I was particularly interested in seeing some of the carnivorous plants known to grow in the preserve.  The ranger supplied us with a detailed map and helped us identify three trails to explore for our introduction to the Big Thicket: the Kirby Nature Trail at the southern end of the Turkey Creek Unit, the Sundew Trail in the Hickory Creek Savannah Unit, and the Pitcher Plant Trail at the northern end of the Turkey Creek Unit.

Some of the units in the Big Thicket National Preserve (downloaded from http://www.canoetexas.com/btmap.html)

Kirby Nature Trail

The Kirby Nature Trail, at least as we took it, was a well maintained 1.8 mile trail through a heavily forested area of various hardwoods and pine approximately 2.5 miles east of the Visitor's Center.

Kirby Trail

It also included a cypress slough and boardwalks over wet areas.  Although I think it would have been tough, it is listed as wheelchair accessible.

Cypress Slough on the Kirby Trail

There were many different micro-environments and many different types of plants.  Fortunately we bought the guide (only $1) at the visitors center.  Although it meant we took a very long time to make the loop, it provided us with a huge amount of information.



Sundew Trail

After a trip back to Kountze for lunch, we headed north on US 69 to the Hickory Creek Savannah Unit and the Sundew Trail.  This area was a bit more open and was actually quite dry, although it must at times have a considerable amount of water in some areas.

Frog taking pictures on the Sundew Trail in the Big Thicket National Preserve

One of many lizards we saw on this trip.

We had come here to see the sundew plants, a carnivorous plant that traps its prey with a sticky substance on the exterior of the plant.  We stumbled upon a few trumpet plants, but we originally did not see the sundew plants because we did not realize how very small they were.  The pictures that we had seen in the visitor's center were closeups that made them seem much larger.  The small round red clusters were hidden among the grass on the ground.   Each cluster consisted of multiple paddle-shaped leaves coming from a common center.  Each leaf terminated in a round globe covered with sticky hairs.  The sticky hairs were not really visible since they were so small.  An entire cluster with six to eight offshoots was no larger than a dime.

Sundew plants (the little red things) hidden among the grass next to the boardwalk

Pitcher Plant Trail

We were very much enjoying our visit to Big Thicket.  However, nothing had prepared us for what we saw at our next stop, the Pitcher Plant Trail at the north end of the Turkey Creek Unit.  It is a bit out of the way and the unpaved road is reportedly very bad when wet, but it is well worth the effort to find this place.

We started down the trail after looking briefly at the map at the trail head.  After having had so much trouble finding the sundew plants at the last stop, we were concerned we would not find the pitcher plants, another type of carnivorous plant.  We did not need to be concerned.  Once we came to the location with the pitcher plants, they were literally everywhere.

Pitcher plants along the boardwalk on the Pitcher Plant Trail

From a distance the pitchers almost looked like yellow flowers.

Pitcher plants

We did not know until after we got home, but the pitcher plants we saw are actually the leaves of the plant that have formed a tube at the top.  The insects are attracted to the inside of the plant, but cannot crawl out due to hairs pointing downwards. 

Trying to keep one of the pitchers from swaying in the strong wind so the Frog could get a closeup. 

The flower is separate and has five petals on a leafless stem.  We did not see any of the flowers on the Pitcher Plant Trail, but had seen a couple with the few isolated pitcher plants that we saw on the Sundew Trail.

The "pitcher" (on the right) is a large leaf that forms a tube at the top.  The pitcher plant flower (on the left) has five petals and points downwards.  These were actually along the Sundew Trail. 

Most amazing of all...we even saw an orchid among some of the pitcher plants!  We had no idea they grew wild in Texas. 

A wild orchid among the pitcher plants on the Pitcher Plant Trail

We continued around the entire loop, including a significant area that had recently been burned.  However, the main attraction on this trail was clearly the one localized area that contained the pitcher plants.