East Texas Nature

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Nature lovers appreciate all facets of nature, whether it be birds, hummingbirds, butterflies, flowers, trees, wildlife, insects or reptiles! And East Texas is a great place for enjoying and exploring nature!

Although the Texas Gulf Coast remains prime bird watching territory, our mild winters in East Texas provide great opportunities to watch winter migrants. The Texas Bird Records Committee has recognized 636 species as Texas Birds.

East Texas gardeners love not only common flower varieties such as Pansies, Begonias, Irises, Daffodils, Impatiens and Zinnias, but also wildflowers and ferns. And East Texas offers many locales for enjoying nature, from swamps to woodlands, from rose gardens to arboretums!

East Texas for Nature Enthusiasts

East Texas Birds

We love bird watching, and Texas is a great place for that interest! Birds appeal to our appreciation of diversity and beauty, and birdwatching provides a great opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors.

Plus, you don't have to be rich to be a birder, as you only need a pair of binoculars, and possibly an identification guide and checklist.

Although the Texas Gulf Coast remains prime bird watching territory, our mild winters in East Texas provide great opportunities to watch winter migrants.

And year-round the diversity of the Texas forests, lakes, beaches, mountains and wetlands provides a valuable habitat for permanent bird residents.

Our discussion of East Texas Birds, Birding & Birdwatching is perfect for backyard nature lovers to explore, featuring bluebirds, woodpeckers, buntings, goldfinches, roadrunners, hawks, and dozens of other East Texas species. Birding venues and resources in East Texas are also covered.

East Texas Hummingbirds

Ruby Throat Hummingbirds feeding during fall migration near Tyler, Texas

Are you a hummingbird lover like us?

The Ruby-Throat Hummingbird is the only species regularly seen in East Texas. Just to the west, in areas like Dallas and Austin, Black-Chinned and Rufous hummingbirds are common. In extrreme southern Texas and the Southwestern United States, all species may be found from time to time.

Check out the photos and hummingbird videos in our East Texas Hummingbird Gallery.

East Texas Butterflies

Beautiful Monarch Butterfly in East Texas

We love watching butterflies, and East Texas is a great place for that pastime!

We also enjoy butterfly gardening, and designing our landscape to provide food and shelter for a variety of butterflies. We regularly spot Monarchs, Swallowtails, Gulf Frits and many more species.

Texas has recorded 432 species of butterflies, and is considered the most butterfly-diverse state in the USA.

East Texas Butterfies

East Texas Flowers

Field of Daffodils near Gladewater in Texas

Tyler is the Rose Capital of America, the location of the Tyler Rose Garden, the nation's largest municipal rose garden, and the site of the Annual Tyler Rose Festival held each October.

A highlight of the spring season in East Texas is the Azalea Trails in Tyler and Nacogdoches, guiding visitors through neighborhoods of brick streets, residential gardens and historic homes.

Be sure to view the Helen Lee Daffodil Garden photo gallery showcasing millions of beautiful daffodils that bloom each spring near Gladewater.

Read more about East Texas Flowers & Trees

Quiet garden scene at the East Texas Arboretum in Athens

East Texas Botanical Gardens and Arboretums

East Texas offers the nature lover a large variety of botanical gardens, rose gardens, azlaea trails, and arboretums, from Athens to Nacogdoches, from Longview to Beaumont.

East Texas Lakes

Camping area at Toledo Bend Reservoir... summer of 2017

East Texas is blessed with over 50 lakes offering a variety of outdoor sports for vacations or weekends, for residents and visitors alike. From large lakes like the Sam Rayburn Reservoir and Lake Tawakoni to smaller lakes like East Lake Tyler and Lake Striker, the options for fishing and recreation are endless!

The lakes of East Texas offer recreation and outdoor activities for everyone, with boating, water skiing, houseboating, camping, RVing, canoeing, biking, nature hikes, and fishing all being popular activities.

East Texas Lakes

Fall colors on Old Bullard Road, CR 122, just south of Tyler Texas

Fall Foliage in East Texas

The cool fall days in East Texas are a great time to explore the region and appreciate the wonders of nature!

East Texas Fall Foliage Tours

East Texas State Parks

Whether you are touring in Deep East Texas, around Nacogdoches, or in Upper East Texas in the Tyler, or elsewhere in the area, there are a variety of state parks of interest to everyone.

East Texas State Parks

Big Thicket National Preserve

The Big Thicket is an area of dense forest located north and northwest of Beaumont. This 97,000 acre National Preserve protects a unique environmental confluence of swamps, coastal prairier, piney woods, plant life and animals.

For more information visit the Big Thicket website at NPS

Caddo Lake

Caddo Lake is a 25,400 acres lake and wetland on the border between Texas and Louisiana, in northern Harrison County and southern Marion County in Texas and western Caddo Parish in Louisiana.

Caddo Lake in East Texas

This lake was the only natural lake in Texas until it was artificially dammed in the early 1900s when oil was found and for flood control in 1914. A new dam replaced the old one in 1971.

Some of the cypress trees in the swamp are more than 400 years old.

The average depth of the lake is 8 to 10 feet with the deep water in the bayou averaging about 20 feet. The lake contains 71 species of fish, and it is especially good for crappie and largemouth and white bass.

The denseness of the swamp creates an inviting maze for paddlers in kayaks and canoes. On the Texas side, at Caddo Lake State Park, there are 10 kayak/canoe trails, with names like Hell's Half Acre, Cathedral Trail, Old Folks Playground and Turtle Shell Trail. The trails are marked, and maps are provided.

For more information on the park, located at 245 Park Road 2, Karnack, TX, phone 903.679.3351