The Lone Star State
Texas
Pineywoods forests in the east, the Chisos Mountains in the west, and desert wilderness bigger than some countries.
Texas at a Glance
Pineywoods
Four national forests cover 755,000 acres of east Texas longleaf pine and hardwood forest, the western fringe of the southern forest belt
Guadalupe Mountains
Guadalupe Mountains National Park contains a Permian reef fossil record considered the world's finest example of an ancient marine reef
Big Thicket
Big Thicket National Preserve in southeast Texas is a biodiversity hotspot where four ecosystems overlap, hosting plants from eastern forests, Gulf Coast prairies, and Chihuahuan Desert
Red-Cockaded Woodpecker
Texas national forests are critical habitat for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, with active management programs in all four forests
Lone Star Hiking Trail
The 129-mile Lone Star Hiking Trail through Sam Houston National Forest is the longest continuous hiking trail in Texas
Big Bend Remoteness
Big Bend National Park is the least visited national park in the lower 48 relative to its size, with a border with Mexico and no paved road within 100 miles
When to Visit
October through April for east Texas pine forests. West Texas and Big Bend country are best October through May. Summer temperatures in west Texas regularly exceed 110 degrees. Spring (March through April) brings exceptional wildflower displays.
Top Activities
Gateway Cities
Lufkin
East Texas hub surrounded by three national forests: Angelina, Sabine, and Davy Crockett, with the Neches River and multiple recreation lakes nearby.
Marfa
High desert arts town serving as the closest supply point for Big Bend National Park and the Chihuahuan Desert wilderness of west Texas.
Huntsville
Gateway to Sam Houston National Forest and the Lone Star Hiking Trail, with multiple trailheads accessible from I-45.
Did You Know?
Sam Houston National Forest near Houston is the only national forest within an hour's drive of a major metropolitan area that borders salt water.
The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas has maintained a reservation within the boundaries of Angelina National Forest since the 1800s.
Guadalupe Peak was used as a signal station by the Butterfield Overland Mail in the 1850s, and wagon ruts from the trail are still visible near the trailhead.
Texas's Davy Crockett National Forest is named after the frontiersman who died at the Alamo in 1836 and who explored east Texas in the years before his death.
The Lost Pines region in Bastrop State Park, though not a national forest, represents an isolated island of loblolly pine 100 miles west of the main east Texas pine belt.