It was 1900 when Houston got its first park, the Kellem-Noble land backing against the Buffalo Bayou on the edge of town. Sam Houston Park at Bagby and Lamar streets was soon landscaped into a Victorian delight with an old mill, a stream, a rustic bridge, and walking paths. Since 1954 the park has been the home of The Heritage Society that preserves eight historic structures here in the menacing shadow of surrounding skyscrapers. The 19-acre park is a welcome spot to lounge with your dog in downtown Houston. To stretch out and hike with your dog the call is Brazos Bend State Park, 35 minutes to the southwest. This area at a wide bend in the Brazos Biver is the site of Texas founder Stephen F. Austins first colonial land grant from Mexico in 1822. Five years later the land was deeded to Abner Harris and William Barrett who used the advantageous river location to ship cotton. In the years before the state of Texas purchased the land cattle grazed here, pecans were harvested and private hunting parties prowled the woods and swamps. Brazos Bend State Park - one of the largest in Texas with 4,987 acres - opened in 1984. This is easy, relaxing canine hiking. There is scarcely any elevation change over 20 miles of single-track multi-use trails and old fire roads. The footpaths are often wide and almost univer- sally well-maintained. An easy leg-stretcher at Brazos Bend is the Creekfield Lake Nature Trail, a paved half-mile trot through the wetlands. One of the most popular canine hikes in the park is the 4.5-mile White Oak Trail through a thick forest of willows, sycamores, cottonwood and oaks decked out in Spanish moss. The confluence of Big Creek and the Brazos River calls up the deepest of Louisiana bayous. One of the prime attractions of Brazos Bend State Park is its alligators. The park features six lakes and numerous water-filled depressions that can house an alligator. There are an estimated 250 gators over 6 feet long in the parks waters. Some of the best places to spot Americas largest reptiles are on the trails along the biggest lakes - Elm Lake and 40-Acre Lake. Spring and fall are when they are most active. Although no one has ever been killed by an American alligator in Texas and a gator can go a whole year without eating, you will still want to keep your dog close in Brazos Bend State Park. For a change of pace, take the dog onto the Prairie Trail that penetrates swamplands and upland coastal grass prairies. This is prime habitat for avian-loving canine hikers. Brazos Bend State Park is reached by traveling approximately 20 miles southeast of Richmond on FM 762, or by traveling south from Houston on State Highway 288 to Rosharon, then west on FM 1462. copyright 2006 |
