By Brandt Mannchen

The Houston Sierra Club (HSC) and its Bay Area Sierra Club subgroup visited and enjoyed wetlands, wildflowers, ponds, and walking trails at Exploration Green.  Exploration Green is 200 acres of parkland that used to be a golf course.

The 200 acres have been turned into a green space for flood control, recreation (hike/bike trails), and wildlife observation. In 2018, the HSC, along with others, conducted an outing to Exploration Green and helped plant wetland plants along and on the shoreline of one of the flood ponds. 

This use as connected flood ponds was a literal life saver in 2017 when Hurricane Harvey dropped scores of inches of water in Houston.  Because of the connected flood ponds, many people in the Clear Lake City area didn’t flood! 

At the end of February, I walked part of trails along the flood ponds to reconnoiter for a possible future outing to Exploration Green.  The parking is substantial, which is much appreciated on sunny days when people get out into Nature.

There are several islands that have been created in the flood ponds.  They have large numbers of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, cormorants, and various egrets and herons.

The concrete trails are wide and make it easy for people to walk and bike without running into each other.  Many trees have been planted and are getting taller along the flood ponds. Loblolly Pine, Bald Cypress, Live Oak, and Mexican Plum are some of the trees that you’ll see as you walk the trails.

Turtles can be seen on shorelines or objects in the water and include Red-eared Sliders and softshell turtles.  Overhead you can see an Osprey looking for a fish to catch in the flood ponds while Turkey and Black Vultures circle overhead.

Other birds that I saw included Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Tri-colored Heron, Limpkin, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Eastern Phoebe, Boat-tailed Grackle, Red-shouldered Hawk, Eastern Bluebird, American Crow, Greater Scaup, Blue-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Muscovy Duck, and Mallard.

Early spring wildflowers included Mexican Primrose, Fire Wheel, buttercup, pea plant, Scarlet Pimpernel, Crow Poison, Sow thistle, and Dandelion. A Monarch Butterfly fluttered among the wildflowers.

All in all, it was a delightful time to walk in the sun with a great view of water, wetlands, birds, and Nature.  If you’d like to visit Exploration Green, the directions are:

1. Go S on I-45 and exit at Bay Area Blvd.

2. Turn left (east) onto Bay Area Blvd and go to El Camino Real.

3. Turn left (north) onto El Camino Real and go 1 block to Ramada Dr.

4. Turn right onto Ramada Dr, go 2 blocks, turn left onto Diana Ln.

5. Go about 1 block and turn into the parking lot at 16306 Diana Ln. 

Photo by Doug Peterson.