Brazos Bend State Park is a state park along the Brazos River in

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Fort Bend County, Texas Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded in 1837 and organized the next year. It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in early days. Th ...

(with a Needville postal address), run by the

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is a Texas state agency that oversees and protects wildlife and their habitats. In addition, the agency is responsible for managing the state's parks and historical areas. Its mission is to manage ...

. The park is a haven for a diverse mix of native wildlife and plants covering an equally diverse range of ecosystems. Brazos Bend contains areas of coastal prairie, bottomland forest, and a wide range of

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s including open and semi-open lakes and transitional

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

lands. Highlights of the park's numerous inhabitants include over 300 species of resident and visiting migratory birds and mammals such as the

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

nine-banded armadillo The nine-banded armadillo (''Dasypus novemcinctus''), also known as the nine-banded long-nosed armadillo or common long-nosed armadillo, is a mammal found in North, Central, and South America, making it the most widespread of the armadillos. ...

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

, and

North American river otter The North American river otter (''Lontra canadensis''), also known as the northern river otter and river otter, is a semiaquatic mammal that only lives on the North American continent, along its waterways and coasts. An adult North American rive ...

. The most noteworthy and popular residents of the park are the relatively large population of

American alligator The American alligator (''Alligator mississippiensis''), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the two extant species in the gen ...

s. The park is open year-round, with the exception of several weekends a year during which it is closed for controlled hunts to manage the white-tailed deer population.

History

Brazos Bend State Park occupies land bordering the Brazos River and includes within its boundaries low-lying areas left over from the River's previous meanderings.

Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

inhabitants included a series of Native American groups, most notably the

Karankawa The Karankawa were an Indigenous people concentrated in southern Texas along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, largely in the lower Colorado River and Brazos River valleys."Karankawa." In ''Cassell's Peoples, Nations and Cultures,'' edited by John ...

. The land passed through a variety of landowners' hands, resulting in some of the existing structures on the park grounds, including a brick cistern. The park's current nature center is built into a structure previously utilized as a hunting cabin. Over the years, improvements were made to the various water bodies in the park for both recreational and flood management purposes. A low-elevation levied walkway surrounds the perimeter of some of the larger water bodies (Elm Lake, 40 Acre Lake, etc.). While significant modifications were made to the land within the park in the past, the current management strategy is to allow, in balance with the recreational elements of the park's mission, the maintenance of a natural landscape. In 1984 the park was officially opened to the public, its lands having been donated to the state several years previously. In 2009, the park celebrated its 25th anniversary with a variety of special events and recognitions. Today the park is run by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, with the assistance of an active non-profit volunteer organization.

Recreational opportunities

Although it contains recreational day-use areas (including a dining hall, campground, and picnic areas) Brazos Bend is by primary character a natural park. Its recreational opportunities revolve around enjoyment of its diverse ecosystems and species. Popular activities include hiking, fishing, and wildlife viewing. Like in much of the upper Gulf Coast located along the northern vanguard areas of the

Central Flyway The Central Flyway is a bird migration route that generally follows the Great Plains in the United States and Canada. The main endpoints of the flyway include the Canadian Prairies and the region surrounding the Gulf of Mexico; the migration ...

migratory route, bird watching in Brazos Bend is a popular activity, especially during the migratory seasons. The park offers numerous Scouting programs, an orienteering course and is a popular spot for

geocaching Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific l ...

Educational programs

The Texas Parks and Wildlife staff and the Brazos Bend State Park Volunteer Organization put on a variety of education programs on a weekly basis at the park, and actively conduction outreach efforts in the local area. Popular programs include bird and photography hikes, alligator and snake education programs, and guided hikes of Creekfield Lake. In addition, a rotating assortment of crafts, story time and other educational programs are offered each week. Outside of scheduled programs, the Volunteer Organization also staffs and maintains a Nature Center containing live individuals representing many of the park's venomous and nonvenomous native snake species, baby alligators, and a host of educational displays and activities.

Annual events

In addition to the weekly hikes, educational programs, and other amenities offered by Park staff and volunteers, Brazos Bend plays host to a growing number of annual events and festivals. Highlights of the park's yearly offerings include the A Simple Christmas celebration, Prairie Heritage Days, and the July 4th Bike Parade. The park also hosts a variety of activities put on in conjunction with other entities, including the

Christmas Bird Count The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a census of birds in the Western Hemisphere, performed annually in the early Northern-hemisphere winter by volunteer birdwatchers and administered by the National Audubon Society. The purpose is to provide pop ...

and the

Butterfly count Butterfly counts, to estimate the populations of butterflies in a specific geographical area, are often carried out in North America and Europe. The counts are conducted by interested, mostly non-professional, residents of the area who maintain ...

, undertaken as part of the Audubon Society and North American Butterfly Association's national efforts, respectively. Brazos Bend State Park's Christmas Bird Count effort is routinely in the top 3-4% of the over 2000 Counts taking place in North America.

George Observatory

The park is also home to the George Observatory ( code: ), a satellite facility of the

Houston Museum of Natural Science The Houston Museum of Natural Science (abbreviated as HMNS) is a natural history museum located on the northern border of Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, United States. The museum was established in 1909 by the Houston Museum and Scientific Soc ...

. This astronomical observatory contains three domed

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observ ...

s; the largest is the Gueymard Research Telescope, which has an aperture of . The facility is primarily focused on public education; it includes the Challenger Learning Center for space science education and also features an exhibit of meteorites.

Gallery

Image:BrazosBendEvening.JPG, Elm Lake during evening. Image:American alligator Elm Lake.jpg, American Alligator near Elm Lake Image:WindmillNatureCenterBrazos.JPG, Windmill near Nature Center Image:BBEntranceSign.JPG, Brazos Bend State Park Entrance Sign. Image:BBSP_entrance_sign_jan2012.jpg, Brazos Bend State Park Entrance Sign Dedicated Jan. 2012 Image:BrazosBendArmadillo.JPG, Armadillo near Burr Oak camping area. Image:Blue Dragonfly Resting on Water.jpg, Blue dragonfly in Elm Lake. Image:Horseshoe Lake with Reflection of Clouds.jpg, Horseshoe Lake with reflection of clouds. File:Eudocimus albus -Brazos Bend State Park, Fort Bend County, Texas, USA -flying-8.jpg, An American White Ibis flying at Brazos Bend State Park, July 2010. File:Brazos Bend State Park, Fort Bend County, Texas, USA (8 December 2010).jpg, Brazos Bend State Park, Fort Bend County, Texas, USA (8 December 2010)

References

External links

TPWD: Brazos Bend State Park

Brazos Bend State Park Volunteer Organization

George Observatory

Bird Species Reported at Park
{{authority control State parks of Texas Protected areas of Fort Bend County, Texas Protected areas established in 1984 Nature centers in Texas