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Map of Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas. Fifteen units shaded in green are spaced across an expanse of beige-colored terrain. They and towns shown in yellow, national wildlife refuges shown in pale green, and bodies of water shown in blue are connected by a network of county, farm-market, and state roads.

Extended Description

The units mostly lie along three arms that flare from the bottom right corner to go up the right edge of the map, diagonally up and across the center, and parallel to the bottom edge. This description will begin the lower right corner and work its way up, then diagonally, and across the units from east to west.

The Neches River flows from B.A. Steinhagen Lake in the upper right quadrant down into and through the town of Beaumont in the lower right corner. Most of the units along the right edge of the map line or encompass the river. Starting at the bottom and moving upstream, the first park is Beaumont Unit, which lies north of the town. Still moving south to north, sites within that unit include Collier’s Ferry, which has a picnic area, public boat launch, and restrooms; Saltwater barrier and Confluence, each with a public boat launch; Edgewater, which has river access (no boat launching), a picnic area, and restrooms; Cooks Lake and Four Oaks, both of which have river access as well as a site to the north in this unit.

Lower Neches River Corridor Unit is next, and it winds to either side of the river to the town of Evadale, which has a public boat launch, and then Neches Bottom and Jack Gore Baygall unit, which has river access and Timber Slough Road with rough road conditions. Farther north is Canyonlands Unit and Upper Neches River Corridor Unit, which has McQueens Landing with canoe and river access and US Army Corps of Engineers Project Office with information at the Town Bluff Dam.

Now back at B.A. Steinhagen Lake, sites around its perimeter include Martin Dies Junior State Park, which has a ranger station, picnic area, self-guiding trail, public boat launch, and camping; Sandy Creek (US Army Corps of Engineers) with camping; a picnic area and public boat launch on an island in the lake; and Magnolia Ridge (US Army Corps of Engineers), which has camping. Beech Creek Unit is just southwest of the lake, and it includes Beech Woods Trail, which has restrooms and a picnic area.

The arm that stretches diagonally up and across the map branches off the eastern arm at Lower Neches River Corridor Unit. There, Village Creek State Park, which has a picnic area, public boat launch, and camping, reaches west to the town of Lumberton. A thin, curving, unmarked green area connects Lumberton to Silsbee and has two canoe access sites. Next is Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary, which has a self-guiding trail and canoe access, and Village Creek Corridor Unit.

From here, Turkey Creek Unit reaches north and has the Sandhill Loop trail; the southern terminus Turkey Creek Trail, which has a picnic area and restrooms; the Hoffman Loop; Pitcher Plant Trail, which has a picnic area, restrooms, and wheelchair-accessible self-guiding trail; and the northern terminus of Turkey Creek Trail, which has a picnic area and restrooms. The towns of Ivanhoe, Woodville, and Colmesneil are in a widely spaced line north of this unit to reach the top edge of the map.

Now continuing northwest from the northern end of Village Creek Corridor Unit are the Kirby Nature Trail, which has a picnic area and restrooms, and Big Thicket National Preserve Visitor Center and Headquarters, which has restrooms, drinking water, a picnic area, and ranger station. The visitor center lies at the center of the map, and coordinates are given: 30.458302, -94.386927.

Next is Big Sandy Creek Corridor Unit and then Big Sandy Creek Unit, which has Woodlands Trail with restrooms, the multi-use Big Sandy Trail with a picnic area and restrooms, and Beaver Slide Trail. The Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation to the north of this unit is shaded peach and has a campsite at its center. The spindly, U-shaped Menard Creek Corridor Unit drops south from the western edge of Big Sandy Creek Unit and passes Holly Grove with access to Menard Creek, Forest Park, and Birdwatchers Trail, which has a picnic area, before ending near the left edge of the map.

Before moving on, the Hickory Creek Savannah Unit is between Turkey Creek and Big Sandy Creek Corridor units. Hickory Creek Savannah Unit has wheelchair-accessible, self-guiding Sundew Trail with a picnic area and restrooms.

Back at Beaumont Unit, Little Pine Island – Pine Island Bayou Corridor Unit reaches like a gangly arm west to Lance Rosier Unit. Saratoga sits like a bubble on its northwestern end, and Big Thicket Field Research Station is marked there. An outlier, Loblolly Unit, is a tiny upside-down L shape west of Lance Rosier unit.

Moving south to north along the left edge of the map are the town of Liberty, four sections of Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge, and Davis Hill State Park.

Legend

A legend in the top left corner of the map reads as follows:

Green for Big Thicket National Preserve,

Pale green for Other conservation areas (not NPS),

Peach for Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation,

Black dashed line for Trail,

Gray line for Unpaved road,

Number in an oval for State road,

Number in a white rectangle for Farm-Market road, and

Number in a gray rectangle for County Road.

Two columns of symbols represent Ranger station, Picnic area, Wheelchair-accessible self-guiding trail, Restrooms, Drinking water, Camping, Public boat launch, Canoe access, and River access (no boat launching).

A scale below measures distances of 1 and 5 kilometers and 1 and 5 miles. A map of the state of Texas has a green dot indicating that the preserve is near the eastern border on the belly of the state.