For thousands of years, people came to the red bluffs above the Canadian River for flint, vital to their existence. Demand for the high quality, rainbow-hued flint is reflected in the distribution of Alibates Flint through the Great Plains and beyond.
A splash of blue stands out against limestone cliffs. The honking of a great blue heron, interspersed with the descending trill of a canyon wren, can be heard off in the distance.
Big Bend National Park is a land of borders. Situated on the boundary with Mexico along the Rio Grande, it is a place where countries and cultures meet. It is also a place that merges natural environments, from desert to mountains.
The Preserve consists of nine land units and six water corridors encompassing more than 97, 000 acres. Big Thicket was the first Preserve in the National Park System established October 11, 1974, and protects an area of rich biological diversity.
The Chamizal Convention was a milestone in diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United States in 1963.
Set in the rugged beauty of the Davis Mountains of west Texas, Fort Davis is one of America's best surviving examples of an Indian Wars' frontier military post in the Southwest.
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park tells the story of our 36th President in a unique and encompassing way.
On May 8, 1846 troops of the United States and Mexico clashed on the prairie of Palo Alto in the first battle of a two-year war.
Padre Island National Seashore, encompassing 130, 454 acres, is the longest remaining undeveloped stretch of barrier island in the world, and offers a wide variety of flora and fauna as well as recreation.
Four Spanish frontier missions, part of a colonization system that stretched across the Spanish Southwest in the 17th, 18th, 19th centuries, are preserved here. They include Missions San Jose, San Juan, Espada, and Concepcion.
Gaze across the rippling marshes and ponds of San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge and it's easy to imagine Texas as it was before settlement.
Life tends to be richest at its borders. Here, on the international border between U.S. and Mexico, a host of nature's borders converge climate, community, land form and geography.
The chorus of thousands of waterfowl, the splash of an alligator going for a swim, the rustle of wind moving through coastal prairie, the high-pitched call of a fulvous whistling duck are just some of the sound you may hear when visiting Anahuac National
Over a century ago, one million Attwater's prairie-chickens graced the Texas and Louisiana gulf coastal prairie. Each spring, males gathered to perform an elaborate courtship ritual.
"I hear him over there!" Birdwatchers exclaim in hushed whispers as a black-capped vireo pops up from the shin oak thicket.
The south Texas landscape is a unique blending of temperate, subtropical, coastal, and desert habitats. Mexican plants and wildlife are at the northernmost edge of their range, while migrating waterfowl and sandhill cranes fly down for the mild winters.
Step into a rare tropical world at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. Spanish moss drips from trees. Noisy chachalacas welcome the morning dawn. A malachite butterfly flits from the shadows.
The thunder of 40, 000 snow geese taking flight, the salty breeze off the Texas Gulf, or the sight of a 12-foot alligator loafing on a muddy bank make a trip to Texas Mid-Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex a sensory banquet in any season.
Once buffalo grazed the shortgrass prairies you see today at Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge in the Texas Panhandle. Once a lake reflected the clouds. The buffalo have vanished. The lake has dried.
Historical sites include the old "Charter Oak" on the Leon River, near the City of Belton, and the Stage Coach Inn in nearby Salado. Tour Miller Springs Nature Area located below Belton Dam.
Joe Pool Lake is a 7, 400-acre impoundment located in the southern portion of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
Just north of Dallas, popular Lewisville Lake is a 29, 592 acre lake with unlimited outdoor recreation opportunities. Over 20 parks surround the lake and offer camping, hiking, picnicking, horseback riding, boating, and golf.
Historical sites include the Stage Coach Inn in nearby Salado. Stillhouse Hollow Lake is located near the Fort Hood Army Base, which has several points of interest for the military buff.
The wonderful biological diversity and breathtaking beauty of the Flower Garden Banks prompted researchers and recreational divers to seek protection for this area.