Honey Creek State Natural Area is a nature preserve of almost 2300 acres in western

Comal County, Texas Comal County ( ) is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 161,501. Comal County is known for its rich German-Texan and European history. Its county seat is New Braunfels. ...

, United States. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department acquired part of the natural area from the Nature Conservancy in 1985 and the rest from a private individual in 1988. Honey Creek opened in 1985 with access by guided tour only. Since Honey Creek is designated a "Natural Area" rather than a "State Park", the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's first priority is the maintenance and preservation of the property's natural state.

Flora and fauna

The dry rocky uplands are dominated by

Ashe juniper ''Juniperus ashei'' (Ashe juniper, mountain cedar, blueberry juniper, post cedar, or just cedar) is a drought-tolerant evergreen tree, native from northeastern Mexico and the south-central United States to southern Missouri. The largest areas are ...

, live oak,

agarita ''Mahonia trifoliolata'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae, in southwestern North America. Common names include agarita, agrito, algerita, currant-of-Texas, wild currant, and chaparral berry. The name Agarita comes fro ...

and

Texas persimmon ''Diospyros texana'' is a species of persimmon that is native to central, south and west Texas and southwest Oklahoma in the United States, and eastern Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico. Common names include ...

Cedar elm ''Ulmus crassifolia'' Nutt., the Texas cedar elm or simply cedar elm, is a deciduous tree native to south-central North America, mainly in southern and eastern Texas, southern Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana, with small populations in western M ...

, Spanish oak,

pecan The pecan (''Carya illinoinensis'') is a species of hickory native to the southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River. The tree is cultivated for its seed in the southern United States, primarily in Georgia, ...

, walnut and Mexican buckeye are found nearer the creek bed. In the floodplain, the dominant trees are sycamore and bald cypress. Texas palmetto, columbine and

maidenhair fern ''Adiantum'' (), the maidenhair fern, is a genus of about 250 species of ferns in the subfamily Vittarioideae of the family Pteridaceae, though some researchers place it in its own family, Adiantaceae. The genus name comes from Greek, meaning "un ...

grow along the banks of the creek. Many of the typical animals found in the

Texas Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ameri ...

reside in Honey Creek, including

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an Upland game bird, upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic ...

s, Eastern fence lizards,

armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...

s and

leopard frog Leopard frog is a generic name used to refer to various species in the true frog genus Lithobates. They all have similar coloration: brown or green with spots that form a leopard pattern. They are distinguished by their distribution and behavior ...

s. Some of the more unusual species include

Cagle's map turtle Cagle's map turtle (''Graptemys caglei'') is a species of turtle in the family Emydidae. The species is endemic to Texas, where it is native to the Guadalupe, San Antonio, and San Marcos Rivers. Etymology The specific name, ''caglei'', is in ...

Guadalupe bass The Guadalupe bass (''Micropterus treculii'') is a rare species of fish endemic to the U.S. state of Texas, where it also is the official state fish. It is restricted to creeks and rivers (including the Guadalupe River, hence the name Guadalupe ...

(the Texas state fish), four-lined skink, green kingfisher and the

Texas salamander ''Eurycea neotenes'', also known as the Texas salamander, Bexar County salamander, Edwards Plateau salamander, or Texas neotenic salamander, is a species of entirely aquatic, lungless salamander native to the United States. It is endemic to centr ...

. In addition, Honey Creek is one of the nesting sites of the endangered

golden-cheeked warbler The golden-cheeked warbler (''Setophaga chrysoparia'') is an endangered species of bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of ha ...

References

{{authority control State parks of Texas Protected areas of Comal County, Texas 1985 establishments in Texas