Solar Eclipse and Park Anniversary Celebration at Big Thicket

KOUNTZE, Texas – Come to Big Thicket National Preserve on Saturday, October 14, to watch a solar eclipse and celebrate the preserve’s 49th anniversary! The free event features solar-filtered telescopes and eclipse glasses for safe viewing, ranger programs, and a sneak peek at our 50th anniversary celebrations in 2024.

Event Timeline (all times central)

  • 9:00 am: Event begins
  • 10:00 am: Ranger program
  • 10:28 am: Eclipse begins
  • 11:15 am: Ranger program
  • 11:59 am: Eclipse maximum
  • 12:15 pm: 50th anniversary logo unveiling
  • 12:30 pm: Ranger program
  • 1:00 pm: Event ends
  • 1:38 pm: Eclipse ends

Beginning at 9:00 am at the Big Thicket Visitor Center, visitors will be able to observe the sun and learn about astronomy with kids’ activities and interactive ranger programs. Watch through telescopes or glasses as the solar eclipse begins at 10:28 am and builds up to its maximum at 11:59 am.

As the eclipse winds down, hear about Big Thicket National Preserve’s upcoming 50th anniversary. “2024 will be a special year for Big Thicket,” states Superintendent Wayne Prokopetz. “We invite everyone to celebrate with us as we look back at 50 years of America’s first national preserve and look ahead to the future.”

Rangers will unveil the anniversary logo and share ways you can celebrate with us. Meet our park partners and learn about the work they do to support the preserve.

KOUNTZE, Texas – Big Thicket National Preserve is excited to announce three volunteer events taking place on the nation’s largest single-day volunteer event, National Public Lands Day, on Saturday, September 23, 2023. Volunteers can help rangers take care of Big Thicket ahead of our busy fall season at one of three events:

Native Plant Garden Revitalization at the Visitor Center

The visitor center native plant garden needs some love! Help us clean out dead plants, place new weed cloth, and plant new plants. The preserve’s resource management staff will be on hand to provide guidance to volunteers. Meet at the visitor center at 9:00 am; all supplies will be provided. Register at volunteer.gov.

Adopt-a-Trail

Can you lend a hand to your favorite Big Thicket trail? Help us keep Big Thicket trails inviting by picking up trash and reporting maintenance issues as you hike. Meet at the visitor center at 9:00 am, pick up trash grabbers and trash bags, and head to the trail of your choice. Return to the visitor center by noon or when your bag is full! Registration is not required for this activity.

Clean-up at Village Creek Sandbar

Trash along the creek is not a pretty sight. Help us clean up a popular sandbar along beautiful Village Creek. Meet Big Thicket staff at the US Highway 96 boat launch on Village Creek just north of Lumberton at 9:00 am. All supplies will be provided, including gloves, bags, and grabbers. Registration is not required for this activity.

KOUNTZE, Texas – Come celebrate Junior Ranger Day at Big Thicket National Preserve on Saturday, April 22, 2023. This FREE family-friendly event will take place at the visitor center located at 6102 FM 420 north of Kountze from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

Kids and adults will explore different vehicles that rangers use in their jobs, like a wildland fire truck, an air boat, and other machinery. They will also learn more about the bugs that live in water with resource management staff. Families can learn more about the different trees around the visitor center in a scavenger hunt and about paddling the waterways. A local food truck will be selling food and ASL interpreters will be on-site during the event

KOUNTZE, Texas – Big Thicket National Preserve is expanding the volunteer longleaf pine planting efforts to ecosystem-wide planting events this winter. Volunteers can join park staff and partners to plant longleaf pine and native grasses in December, January, and February.

“As we expand our restoration efforts of the longleaf pine savannah ecosystem, we move from focusing solely on longleaf pine to planting native grasses to assist with the understory of this important ecosystem at Big Thicket,” said Superintendent Wayne Prokopetz.

The first restoration event is scheduled for Saturday, December 10, and is geared toward youth organizations. Youth of all ages are invited to learn more about the preserve and stewardship with the National Park Service while planting grasses to rejuvenate the understory of the ecosystem. The second event will take place on Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday, January 16, 2023, where volunteers will be planting grasses and longleaf pines. The third and final event will take place on Presidents’ Day, February 20, 2023.

Visit volunteer.gov and search “Big Thicket” to sign up for these upcoming events or call the visitor center at 409-951-6700 to register. Once registered, information about the event, including location and paperwork will be sent out to volunteers two weeks before the event.

KOUNTZE, Texas – Big Thicket National Preserve is expanding the volunteer longleaf pine planting efforts to ecosystem-wide planting events this winter. Volunteers can join park staff and partners to plant longleaf pine and native grasses in December, January, and February.

“As we expand our restoration efforts of the longleaf pine savannah ecosystem, we move from focusing solely on longleaf pine to planting native grasses to assist with the understory of this important ecosystem at Big Thicket,” said Superintendent Wayne Prokopetz.

The first restoration event is scheduled for Saturday, December 10, and is geared toward youth organizations. Youth of all ages are invited to learn more about the preserve and stewardship with the National Park Service while planting grasses to rejuvenate the understory of the ecosystem. The second event will take place on Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday, January 16, 2023, where volunteers will be planting grasses and longleaf pines. The third and final event will take place on Presidents’ Day, February 20, 2023.

Visit volunteer.gov and search “Big Thicket” to sign up for these upcoming events or call the visitor center at 409-951-6700 to register. Once registered, information about the event, including location and paperwork will be sent out to volunteers two weeks before the event.

KOUNTZE, Texas – Big Thicket National Preserve is expanding the volunteer longleaf pine planting efforts to ecosystem-wide planting events this winter. Volunteers can join park staff and partners to plant longleaf pine and native grasses in December, January, and February.

“As we expand our restoration efforts of the longleaf pine savannah ecosystem, we move from focusing solely on longleaf pine to planting native grasses to assist with the understory of this important ecosystem at Big Thicket,” said Superintendent Wayne Prokopetz.

The first restoration event is scheduled for Saturday, December 10, and is geared toward youth organizations. Youth of all ages are invited to learn more about the preserve and stewardship with the National Park Service while planting grasses to rejuvenate the understory of the ecosystem. The second event will take place on Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday, January 16, 2023, where volunteers will be planting grasses and longleaf pines. The third and final event will take place on Presidents’ Day, February 20, 2023.

Visit volunteer.gov and search “Big Thicket” to sign up for these upcoming events or call the visitor center at 409-951-6700 to register. Once registered, information about the event, including location and paperwork will be sent out to volunteers two weeks before the event.

Volunteers planting seeds (NPS)

KOUNTZE, Texas – On September 24, 2022, Big Thicket National Preserve will be taking part in National Public Lands Day (NPLD), the nation’s largest single-day volunteer event on public lands, held every year on the fourth Saturday of September. Volunteers at national parks give more than just hours on a time sheet—with their dedication and giving spirit, they play a vital role in preservation and protection, and greatly enhance the work of park staff.

Big Thicket is hosting three simultaneous volunteer events on September 24:

  • Pollinator Gardening • 9 am–12 noon • Big Thicket Field Research Station, 16890 FM 770, Saratoga
    Help plant a prairie pollinator garden to attract and support the bees, butterflies, and other pollinators vital to the sustainment of many habitats, including ours.
  • Trash Pick-Up • 9–11 am • US Hwy 96 Boat Ramp on Village Creek, between Silsbee and Lumberton (GPS coordinates: 30.28570, -94.19145)
    Help us pick up trash at a popular boat ramp so that everyone can enjoy Village Creek’s scenic beauty.
  • Trail Beautification • 9 am–12 noon •  Turkey Creek Trail, Gore Store Road (GPS coordinates: 30.521880, -94.346945)
    Clean up, paint, and beautify the well-used Turkey Creek trailheads on Gore Store Road.
Pitcher plants, Big Thicket National Preserve
Among the wonders of Big Thicket National Preserve are carnivorous plants, like these pitcher plants. Courtesy of Chuck Hunt, NPS

By Barbara “Bo” Jensen

In the light of day, Lafayette, Louisiana, looks worse, not better.

It’s February, and I’m driving west along the muddy Gulf Coast toward Texas to visit Big Thicket National Preserve. The highway rises to cross over a local road, and I look down at a blue tarp roof, and another, and another. Most of the houses, in fact, bear these bright blue roofs, like disaster victims huddled together, wrapped in blankets. Piles of debris wait on street corners, at the edges of parking lots, by the entrances to fast food drive-throughs, their signs blown out, bent and twisted.

Lake Charles hasn’t fared any better; I drive past tall longleaf pines snapped in half, the lower trunks still standing with ragged heartwood exposed, the upper trunks, heavy with mangled branches, hanging at terrible, disjointed angles.

The 2020 hurricane season battered this region near the Texas border with two direct hits by hurricanes Laura and Delta; those two storms alone caused an estimated $20 billion in damages. All total, the Gulf was pummeled by no less than 10 named tropical storms and hurricanes last year. I have no idea what I will find as I cross the Sabine River into Orange, Texas, heading toward Beaumont.
Cypress Swamp, Big Thicket National Preserve
Trunks of the bald cypress tree in a swamp at Big Thicket National Preserve. Courtesy of Scott Sharaga, NPS.

Bayou country is a hard place to live sometimes. It’s home to tough survivors. Locals in beat-up pickup trucks roar past me up highway 69/285, the Big Thicket National Preserve Byway, as I turn off at the visitor center. I’m looking for just that kind of adaptability to harsh conditions. I have come to find Big Thicket’s carnivorous plants. More generally, I want to learn how life survives here, because, as I look around, the Thicket seems undaunted by the recent storms.

The National Park Service describes Big Thicket National Preserve as “a biological crossroads.” Established in 1974 as one of the country’s first national preserves, this patchwork of 15 protected areas covering 113,114 acres safeguards habitat for more than 1,300 plant species, 60 mammal species, 86 species of reptiles and amphibians, 97 fish species, and over 300 species of birds. By 1981, it was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Big Thicket is a unique place, a convergence of nine ecosystems with interesting descriptions like wetland pine savannah, baygall thicket, bottomland floodplain, and cypress slough. These names give me a clue to Big Thicket’s resilience: its swamps help it absorb the impact of overwhelming rains and rising water.
Big Thicket Bridge
The Bridge to Nowhere spans Little Pine Island Bayou in the Lance Rosier Unit. Bald cypress knees grow in the foreground. Courtesy of Scott Sharaga, NPS

The Neches River and multiple creeks wind through various parts of the preserve, feeding and draining different areas during the year. From mixed loblolly pine-hardwood stands growing on higher sandy flats, to cypress and tupelo trees rising sturdy and wind-resistant within their favored bayous, the preserve’s natural forests shelter the diversity of life in the waterways and thickets.

Parking under a dense stand of tall pines, I enter the visitor center and tell the park ranger I’m looking for carnivorous plants. He explains that four of the five types that grow in North America can be found in the preserve: pitcher plants, sundews, bladderworts, and butterworts. The Venus flytrap grows wild only in the Carolinas. Big Thicket, like much of southeast Texas, consists of poor soil that supports only the hardiest and best-adapted life forms. Carnivorous plants have evolved to supplement scanty soil nutrition – with insects.

“Pitcher plants are easy to see,” he tells me. “Most have died back right now, but I saw a few out on Sundew Trail. You ever looked for a sundew?”

I tell him I have not.

“Ever seen one?”

No.
Sundew Trail, Big Thicket National Preserve
Carnivorous plants populate the Sundew Trail. Courtesy of Mary Kay Manning, NPS

He squints.

“They’re pretty hard to find,” he says sympathetically.

He pulls out a map of Sundew Trail and a highlighter. “I’ve seen pitcher plants along the trail here,” and he traces a stretch, “and some along the powerline clearing. You might find sundews right here, at the start,” and he adds another yellow mark, “but honestly – look….” He quickly pulls out his phone and shows me a photo of a sundew.

“Oh, they’re tiny!” I exclaim. “I thought they’d be bigger. No wonder they’re hard to find.”

“Mm-hmm.” He nods. His photo includes a coin for comparison; the plant is smaller than the quarter. “Some are dime-sized.”

 
Sundew plants, Big Thicket National Preserve
Sundew plants are small and hard to spot without some effort. Courtesy of Barbara Jensen

Suddenly, Big Thicket feels immense — a vast, watery world filled with millions of living beings. How will I ever spot this small life within such a massive tangle of growth?

He smiles encouragingly. “If you don’t mind getting your feet wet, there’s a whole patch of them right out here at the roadside ditch, right where you drove in. That’s where I took this picture, just yesterday.”

I thank him for the tip.

I lace up my boots. Tramping carefully out into the mushy ditch, I bend low, peering through the ground-cover of pine needles and dead leaves, focusing in on this miniature biome that I completely overlooked as I entered the preserve. After several minutes of searching, I notice something glinting in the sun. Turning, I catch a shine again, and a hint of red under the rusty-colored pine needles. Squatting, I spy a sundew.

Readjusting my vision, now I see them everywhere before me. The little rosettes have fleshy stems and leaves covered in miniscule red bristles that appear to end in shiny dewdrops.
Pitcher Plant Trail, Big Thicket National Preserve
Pitcher plants lure insects with sweet nectar. Courtesy of Scott Sharaga, NPS

These bristles are actually tentacle stalks, secreting the nectar-scented “dew” to attract insects. The sticky leaves are a trap, sprung by the tiny prey struggling to free itself. Wrapping its wriggling captive with its tentacles, the sundew’s secretions digest needed nutrients from the insect’s soft tissues. It’s a savage world, this wet ditch.

Nonetheless, encouraged by my find, I drive up the road to Sundew Trail. Here, an accessible boardwalk is part of a one-mile trail that loops through a wetland savannah. Yet, try as I might, I cannot spot any sundews where the ranger marked the map. Instead, I continue on to the pitcher plant bog.

Pitcher plants are much easier to spot. They send up foot-tall, modified leaves, each shaped like a narrow vase or pitcher. Down inside this funnel trap, an enticing, scented pool of digestive juices awaits unlucky insects that fall in from the waxy, slippery rim. This early in the spring, all I see are the tan stalks of last year’s plants, dozens or maybe hundreds of them standing dead in the marshy area between trees. I head up to the powerline clearing, but no matter how slowly and carefully I search, I’m not finding anything.

But I haven’t given up. I walk back toward the bog, looking closely at the dead pitcher plants. I can’t be sure of what I’m seeing, so I step carefully onto a wet log at the very edge of the trail, crouching to get a closer view. Sure enough, the pitcher plants in the warmest, sunniest area are putting out new growth. Four- to eight-inch pitchers unfurl like ferns beneath the old growth, rising from the common root that survives.

I have been lured in by Big Thicket National Preserve. And I’ve only seen a tiny corner of it. With more than 30 miles of hiking, biking, and horseback trails and 10 times that mileage in water trails to canoe or kayak, Big Thicket offers a wide variety of ways to experience this remarkable region.

Birdwatching, fishing, and hunting are all available; seasonal hunting permits are free, as are backcountry camping permits. I’d like to paddle my gear into Big Thicket’s quiet interior, and pitch my tent on a sandbar—really get my feet wet. I want to come back, try to find the butterworts as they begin blooming, and bladderworts that float. I’m starting to see how the incredible natural diversity, preserved and protected here, is the strength of Big Thicket.