By Brandt Mannchen

In my efforts to protect the “Big Thicket” I’ve found that when I go out into “The Thicket”, I never know what will occur. Recently, I drove to the Big Thicket National Preserve (BTNP) to visit the Old Fire Tower Road and see a pitcher plant bog.  I was prevented from visiting this pitcher plant bog because Little Rock Road, which travels through the Lance Rosier Unit of BTNP (also known as the “Traditional” or “Bear Hunters Thicket”), was flooded from recent rains.

I decided I would try again to visit this pitcher plant bog and with my buddy David onboard, we left early from Houston and drove to Coe Road, which runs into Little Rock Road in the Lance Rosier Unit.

Our progress was looking good as we avoided water and went through shallow water areas that were still standing on the road and potholes.  Water was a problem because I have a Honda sedan, not a pick-up truck or SUV, and I can’t get through higher water.

We were within a half-mile of the Old Fire Tower Road, when we came to another flooded part of Little Rock Road.  I stopped the car, David got out and then I got out and we scouted the water-ladened road.  I wasn’t going to take a chance, the water looked too deep, along with an unknown muddy bottom, so we turned back.

The day was beautiful, mild temperatures in the high 60’s or low 70’s.  I didn’t want to drive back to Houston with nothing to show for our efforts.  We drove to another part of the Lance Rosier Unit, took the Teel Cemetery Road, and went to the “Bridge to Nowhere”.

On the way, we stopped at an incredible cypress-tupelo swamp that is less than 100 feet from the road.  It’s unusual to see a cypress-tupelo swamp because most of them have been destroyed by logging and drainage of these important forested wetlands.

This swamp is so beautiful that with the cameras on current phones, almost anyone can take a great photograph.  David and I took some wonderful photos of the Bald Cypress, Water Tupelo (Nyssa aquatica), Dwarf Palmetto, Swamp Chestnut Oak, American Holly, and other trees and plants that form the swamp and their reflections on the water.

Then we visited the “Bridge to Nowhere”, parked the car, enjoyed a short hike, had a photo session or two, and ate lunch next to wild Little Pine Island Bayou, which flows under the bridge.  It was an absolutely captivating place for lunch, and we thought about the oil/gas workers and loggers that constructed and used the bridge to exploit the Little Pine Island Bayou Watershed.

We then visited the Teel Cemetery.  This private, family, cemetery, surrounded by BTNP, provides a somber atmosphere as you view the gravestones and think about the age and lives of those who died and are buried here.  Large Laurel Oak, Southern Magnolia, and other trees provide a shaded canopy for your car as you, with respect, visit the cemetery.

We then drove to “Ghost Road” just outside of Saratoga, Texas.  Again, the water was too deep for us to visit this historic road, so we drove to Marysee Prairie to view the only “Restored Tallgrass Prairie” in the Big Thicket.

We met Greg, who lives across the road from Marysee and with his wife maintains the fire lane that is mowed around the prairie. It was good to see and talk with him and his very young, but very active, grandson.

We then visited the Loblolly Unit of BTNP.  Unfortunately, the water was again too high for us to drive the road through this hardwood forest.  We had to turn around and head back to Houston.

Although water had stopped us three times on our trip to BTNP, we were excited, invigorated, and glad that we had spent time there.  Hopefully, the next time I visit the “Big Thicket”, it will be a little less wet, and I can again enjoy what Nature has blessed us with in Southeast Texas. 

Photo by Brandt Mannchen