The Incredible Biodiversity of the Lone Star State
The Texas landscapes have something for everyone
Note to email subscribers: Due to the number of photos, this post is too long to read the whole piece in your email inbox, so if you want to read all of it, you will have to open it on the web.
Ask someone what they think about when they are asked to describe the Texas landscape, and they will probably answer with “cactus,” “desert,” or “wide open spaces.” And it is hard to dispute that vision of the Lone Star State. After all, when we first started talking about moving to Houston, that was also my vision of Texas. My only experiences had been in the western half of the state and San Antonio. And my time in San Antonio had been more about visiting the downtown area than about exploring the Hill Country.
Then we visited Houston before I accepted my new teaching position. The humidity hit us as soon as we walked out of the airport. As we drove to our hotel, we passed streets lined with palm and cypress trees. Somehow there was a disconnect between our concerns about regional flooding and the understanding of the landscape we would encounter in our soon-to-be new home.
While our new yard was filled with tropical foliage new to us, we didn’t really start to understand the biodiversity in Texas until we went on our first family camping trip five months after our move. We drove just over an hour north to Sam Houston National Forest and discovered lakes and pines, hiking through woods that looked eerily similar to the paths we had taken for years in Indiana. The only difference was palmettos blanketing the ground, moss hanging from the trees overhead, and signs that warned of alligators in the area.
Then we just kept exploring. What we discovered in the six years that we lived in and traveled around Texas was that it is a vast and beautiful state, with a biodiversity unavailable anywhere else in the country.1
So what biodiversity did we find living in Texas?
Lakes and Forests
During our years in Houston, we returned to Lake Livingston and Huntsville State Park several times, and not just because they were close. They both offered pretty landscapes, hiking, fishing, and places for our young family to safely bike from one campsite to the next. Then we discovered Martin Dies Jr. State Park, close to the Louisiana border, and made a couple of return trips there. We explored Bastrop State Park in the Hill Country, hiking the fire-ravaged piney forests with strong remnants of Civilian Conservation Corps history. In each of these regions, the only clues that we were in Texas and not in the Midwest were warning signs about alligators, moss hanging from trees, and the palmettos and cacti sprinkled throughout the different landscapes.
Swamps and Marshes
I’m not much of a swamp girl and I do not love fishing or kayaking, but there was always something special about getting into the marshland when we had the chance. We visited Brazos Bend as a family on one Easter weekend and then my husband and I returned for a day of hiking and healing shortly after I lost my job in early 2021. I never stopped marveling at the fact that you could walk trails right next to alligators that appeared to leave park visitors alone.2 We also enjoyed kayaking through the marshes along Sea Rim State Park during one short camping weekend, although a close encounter with a gator had me rushing back to the shoreline.3 I may not love mosquitoes and humidity, but the swamps and marshes in southeast Texas are stunning in their own way.
The Gulf Coast
I’m a freshwater girl, but there was something incredible about being able to visit the Gulf of Mexico in November and still be able to dip our feet into the water without freezing. Although we were only 90 minutes from Galveston, we didn’t make that trip very often. When we decided to move back to Indiana, we were very happy that we had made the time for a family trip down to the island for dolphin watching, and then we stayed at the state park during our 2023 spring break while our kids visited friends in Houston. But Galveston wasn’t the only place along the coast that we enjoyed.
The further you travel down the coast, the more scenic the coastline. We enjoyed two trips to Padre Island National Seashore on two separate Campsgiving trips, and we also enjoyed an even quicker visit to Sea Rim State Park for a short weekend trip when we also enjoyed the marshland on a particularly hot August weekend. Living so close to the Gulf taught us a lot about ocean currents, sea life, and unfortunately, hurricanes. With the incredible size of Texas, it’s important to remember that there are a lot of Texas residents who live closer to saltwater than they do to the desert.
The Desert and Canyons
We loved our travel around Texas, but nothing beat our trips to Big Bend National Park and Palo Duro Canyon over two separate Christmas breaks. West Texas is just a different world of open land, dark skies, and stunning rock formations. Honestly, I would spend every Christmas break for the rest of my life in Big Bend National Park, if I could. The temperature is just right for hiking and exploring, the chill in the air preventing visitors from overheating as they climb up steep inclines and trudge through desert landscapes. West Texas is a different world, and our trips there are some of our fondest memories of living in the Lone Star State.
The Mountains and Sand Dunes
As a Rocky Mountain loving girl, I have very high standards for mountains. I spent years unfairly downplaying the quality of the Smoky Mountains because they didn’t have majestic snowcaps. While I eventually let go of that preconceived notion, the mountains in West Texas take some getting used to. Like I said, West Texas is a different world, and embracing the mountain regions in the state means accepting that some mountains will never be truly snow-capped. However, our first Christmas break vacation did take us to Davis Mountains and we did experience a dusting of snow on our last day before heading home.
Even more discombobulating was the discovery of sand dunes in West Texas. Remember, my husband and I are from Michigan. We have very high standards for both sand and sand dunes. But there we were, on our way to Arches National Park, and we stayed for a night at Monahans Sandhills State Park. And despite the absence of water, it was everything we could have asked for in an overnight stay.
Exploring the different ecosystems around the state became one of our favorite past times, because there was so much to see. I don’t fault outsiders for not understanding the different landscapes. After all, there are many Texans who never leave their region of origin and fail to understand the different regions in their own state. But to truly understand the state, one must understand the different regions and the challenges those regions pose to locals and citizens of the whole state. Understanding the differences in Texan topography might be the key to understanding how to better work with the state as a whole.
Support my writing
While most of my work here is free for all subscribers, it is still a labor of love that I fit into the few hours I have when I am not teaching or being an attentive wife and mom. If you would like to support my writing but do not want to commit to being a paid subscriber, please consider a one-time donation.
You can also support me by ordering my book or books from my favorite book lists at my Bookshop.org affiliate page.
If you want to be a regular supporter, you can upgrade your subscription from free to paid and get occasional content only for paid subscribers.
And thank you for supporting my journey 💗
Technically, California is more biodiverse because it has even more climates than Texas, but the kind of biodiversity in Texas is unique.
I mean, they didn’t shut down the trails, so we hoped the State Park authorities were aware of any potential danger the alligators posed to hikers.
For more about this story, you’ll have to subscribe for more information regarding my upcoming camping memoir. I have a couple of good alligator stories to tell in that book.
I love this. I live in Texas and am wanting to explore more and more. This inspired me so much.
Honestly, this is why I would love to visit America! I'm from the Netherlands, which is so small that all the landscapes are exactly the same. I love the diversity of nature in the States, and Texas itself is already huge of course.