WWW. HOUSTONWILDERNESS. ORG

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1 Parent s Guide Welcome to Houston Wilderness! We are glad that you have chosen to take the time to experience the wonders of the natural world with your child. This guide is a tool for you to use when visiting all the natural treasures in our area. You are about to embark on a journey throughout hardwood bottomlands, prairie grasslands, Big Thicket forests and salt marsh wetlands, where you might find yourself encompassed by the most beautiful surroundings you have ever seen. We hope you enjoy your trip and find all the sites in the Wilderness Passport enjoyable places to visit. Have fun! WWW. HOUSTONWILDERNESS. ORG

2 About the Houston Wilderness Passport The Nature Passport is an educational program that encourages school and family field trips. Families can earn a sticker for their passport every time they visit a passport site in a new ecological area. Participating in the Passport program are nearly 40 nature centers, parks and preserves distributed throughout the 10 eco-areas of our region. All can be reached within two hours of downtown Houston and many are right around the corner. Many sites are free or low cost; please call ahead for details. The Houston Wilderness Passport is designed to look like a real passport, with a page for children to fill in information and a small photo or selfportrait. The rest of the passport is filled with sections devoted to each ecological area, with an ecological description and question, list of sites, fun fact and, of course, a place to put your sticker. It is Houston Wilderness goal that every child in our 24-county region will have had at least one outdoor nature experience by the time she/he reaches the seventh grade. Please consider offering to chaperone a school-sponsored field trip to a Houston Wilderness site. Printing provided by ConocoPhillips company.

3 Where can I get a Houston Wilderness Passport? The passport is being distributed through schools, scout councils and passport sites throughout the 24- county region. Children will most often take their first passport field trip with their classes, and then bring the passport home to continue visits with their families. The passports can also be downloaded from How can I find out more? Visit to learn about additional sites in the Houston Wilderness network; there almost 100 sites in all. Our Interactive map locates all of the sites and connects to site descriptions, contacts and MapQuest directions for each of them. Every month, our Events Calendar is full of exciting outdoor opportunities for you and your family; you ll find information about volunteering, bird counts, guided canoe trips, nature hikes and much more.

4 Before you embark on your journey here are a few suggestions to help make your wilderness adventure more fun. What to wear: Tennis shoes or hiking boots Old clothes that can get dirty Long pants in high grass or brush Hat What to bring: WATER Bug Spray Sunscreen First Aid Kit What to watch out for: Many of these wilderness sites are home to wild animals and it is important not to disturb them or approach them. It is important to always stay on marked trails and never let children venture from the group alone. Alligators are animals that you may see in some of the wilderness areas you visit. They are primarily calm animals that like to sun themselves in open areas. Although they are not aggressive creatures, caution needs to be taken in areas where they live. Be sure to ask the park rangers if there are any areas you should avoid within their park. Most parks that have alligators will have boardwalks for you to view these animals from a safe distance. What to do when you first arrive: It is important to remember that the staff who work at these sites are a wonderful resource for you. Don t hesitate to call ahead and ask for information, or to ask for help in planning your trip. When you first arrive at the wilderness site, you should stop at the visitor information center and look around. Things to get at the Visitor s Center include: Maps of the park or site Trail Maps Bird or Plant Guides Scavenger Hunt Lists Before You Go Most sites have free information handouts at their visitor s center. Some sites also may have interpretative services and tours you might want to take advantage of. If your group will be large, it is important to call ahead, and make reservations with the site so that the staff will have a chance to prepare for the tour. The visitor information center is also where children will be able to get their stickers to place in their passports. Simply ask the ranger or staff member for your Houston Wilderness sticker.

5 Sites and Activities ESTUARY AND BAY SYSTEMS GULF OF MEXICO Galveston Island State Park FM 3005 Galveston, TX (409) /Kayaking /Guided nature walks Mountain Swimming Sea Center Texas 300 Medical Drive Lake Jackson, TX (979) Aquariums Coastal Marsh Walkway pond Marine Hatchery Touch pools Matagorda Bay Nature Park 6420 FM 2031 Matagorda, TX (979) Beachcombing /Kayaking /Seining Float trips on the Colorado Nature Trails Texas State Marine Center, Palacios 102 Marine Center Drive Palacios, TX (361) Open only to school groups. Artist Boat 2415 Ave K Galveston, TX (409) Kayaking (Private, Public, and School Groups) Watercolor Painting Wildlife Viewing Photography Professional Development BAYOU WILDERNESS Armand Bayou Nature Center 8500 Bay Area Blvd Pasadena, TX (281) Eco-Camp Family star parties Farm demonstrations (weekends) Guided canoe/pontoon tours Guided trail hikes (weekends) Raptor, Bison and Snakes Exhibits Houston Arboretum & Nature Center 4501 Woodway Drive Houston, TX (713) Discovery Boxes Discovery Room trails Naturalist Explorer Classes Self-guided Scavenger Hunt Eddie V. Gray Wetlands Center 1724 Market Street Baytown, TX (281) Science experiments and games Live animals Taxidermy exhibits Wetlands exhibits Sheldon Lake State Park Beaumont Highway (Business 90 at Park Rd 138) Houston, TX (281) Catch and Release Nature walks Jesse H. Jones Park and Nature Center Kenswick Drive Humble, TX (281) Akokisa Indian Village Guided canoe/pontoon boat trips Guided nature or pioneer tours trails Live snake exhibits Redbud Hill Homestead Bellaire Nature Discovery Center 7112 Newcastle Bellaire, TX (713) Discovery Boxes Fountain & Fish Pond Herb garden Story Time Trails Sims Bayou Urban Nature Center 3997 River Drive Houston, TX (713) Butterfly Gardens Nature Discovery Hikes Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center 2111 West Park Avenue Orange, Texas (409) Butterfly gardens Boat tours Nature discovery hikes TEKS-aligned lessons Botanical gardens Greenhouse tours Mercer Arboretum & Botanic Gardens Aldine Westfield Road Humble, TX (281) Nature Discovery Hikes Butterfly Gardens Habitat Studies /Kayaking Buffalo Bayou - parks along Shepherd Drive going east to the Turning Basin Houston, TX (713) /Kayaking / Boat tours

6 PRAIRIE SYSTEMS Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR FM 3013 Eagle Lake, TX (979) Auto tour (5 miles) (2 trails) Wildflower Identification George Ranch Historical Park FM 762 Richmond, TX (281) or (281) Cowboy demonstrations Tours Blacksmith shop Davis House Pioneer toys & games Working Ranch with animals Texas City Prairie Preserve 4702 Highway 146 North Texas City, TX (409) Boardwalks Group Prairie Studies Seining Katy Prairie Conservancy Wildlife Viewing Platform Site 100 on Upper TX Coast Trail - west of Nelson Farm Preserve Sharp Road Katy, TX (713) Kid s Group Weekend Tours TRINITY BOTTOMLANDS Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge 1351 N. Main Liberty, TX (936) Wildlife Observation USACE Wallisville Lake Project FM 563 Wallisville, TX (409) Boating Hunting Wildlife viewing Waterborne Education Center 810 Miller St Anahuac, TX Open to group reservations only. Marine Sciences BIG THICKET Big Thicket National Preserve 6102 FM 420 Kountze, TX (409) Discovery Room and exhibits Horseback Riding Martin Dies, Jr. State Park 634 Private Road 5025 Jasper, TX (409) (4 miles of trails) Mountain Swimming Village Creek State Park US 96 Lumberton, TX (409) Swimming PINEY WOODS Lake Houston Park Baptist Encampment Road New Caney TX (281) Horseback riding W. Goodrich Jones State Forest 1328 FM 1488 Road Conroe, TX (936) Horseback Riding Wildlife Viewing Lake Livingston State Park 300 Park Road 65 Livingston, TX (936) Huntsville State Park Park Road 39 Huntsville, TX (936) (mountain and some road) Horseback Riding Swimming Montgomery County Preserve Located behind 1122 Pruitt Road Spring, TX (713) Sam Houston National Forest National Forests & Grasslands in Texas 394 FM 1375 West New Waverly, TX (936) Multi-use trails & Hunting Boating & Swimming & Wildlife viewing Education & Conservation Programming

7 COLUMBIA BOTTOMLANDS Brazos Bend State Park FM 762 Needville, TX (979) Alligator observation Guided and interpretive hikes Stargaze at George Observatory Nature Center San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge 6801 CR 306 Brazoria, TX (979) (6 miles gravel roads) /Kayaking (3 trails) Wildlife Observation Matagorda County Nature Center 1025 State Highway 35 S Bay City, TX (979) COASTAL MARSHES Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge P.O. Box 278 Refuge at: FM 1985 Anahuac, TX (409) Boardwalk Wildlife Observation San Jacinto Battleground State Park 3523 Battleground Rd. (TX Hwy 134) LaPorte, TX (281) Battleship Texas Tours Marsh Boardwalk Trail Monument Lookout Texas Forever! Presentation Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge County Road 227 Freeport, TX (979) Wildlife Observation OTHER PLACES TO VISIT Houston Museum of Natural Science One Hermann Circle Drive Houston, TX (713) Cockrell Butterfly Center Texas Wildlife Exhibit Houston Zoo 1513 N. MacGregor Houston, TX (713) Natural Encounters Exhibit Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History 3232 Briarcrest Drive Bryan, TX (979) Nature Art exhibitions The Children's Museum of Houston 1500 Binz Houston, TX (713) Ecostation The Discovery Room Museum of the Gulf Coast 700 Procter Port Arthur, TX (409) School tours Youth programs Community of culture series Center for the Arts & Sciences, Brazoria County 400 College Blvd Clute, TX (979) Center Stage Planetarium Museum Symphony Art League Discovery Green 1500 McKinney Houston, TX Kinder Lake Basin Houston Public Library Express Native Butterfly Gardens Playground Gateway Fountain Swimming Walking Trail POST OAK SAVANNAH Stephen F. Austin State Park Park Road 38 San Felipe TX (979) on 5 miles of trails Nature and Historical Tours Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site Park Road 12 Washington, TX (936) Barrington Living History Farm Historical reenactments Independence Hall Star of the Republic Museum Washington Townsite

8 This Wilderness Passport has been made possible through the following generous sponsors to Houston Wilderness: Beth Robertson Bridgeway Foundation The Brown Foundation, Inc. JP Morgan Chase Foundation Cockrell Family Fund ConocoPhillips J.A. and Isabel M. Elkins Foundation Ray C. Fish Foundation The Fondren Foundation The George Foundation George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation HEB Tournament of Champions Charitable Trust Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation The Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation Kinder Family Foundation The Meadows Foundation Trini and O.C. Mendenhall Foundation Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation The Powell Foundation REI Rockwell Fund Shell Corporation The Simmons Foundation Stuart Charitable Foundation The Tapeats Fund The Trull Foundation Richard W. Weekley Family Fund The Woodlands Operating Group The Wortham Foundation, Inc. (713)