Spring Creek Greenway

The longest connected urban forested corridor in the United States, in the heart of one of the largest metropolitan areas, Houston, Texas.

Canadian Geese (Branta canadensis) in shallow lakes along the Spring Creek Nature Trail in The Woodlands, Texas.
A Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) sits atop a tree along the Spring Creek Nature Trail in The Woodlands, Texas.
The Beaver Pond on the Spring Creek Nature Trail. When some think of beavers, they think of a nuisance, but beavers are classified as a Keystone species. Beaver ponds create wetlands which are some of the most productive and bio-diverse eco-systems. Wetlands help to increase plant, fish, bird, and wildlife variety, improve water quality, and mitigate against the effects of flooding. Although beavers are infamous for cutting down trees, the process by which they create their ponds opens up the area to more sunlight and thereby increases the possibility for other species to thrive. Beaver ponds also help our climate, storing carbon in the form of buried organic matter and slowly releasing it as methane. So the next time you are out on the Spring Creek Nature Trail, take a walk around the Beaver Pond and appreciate what nature has created for us.
The Beaver Pond on the Spring Creek Nature Trail. When some think of beavers, they think of a nuisance, but beavers are classified as a Keystone species. Beaver ponds create wetlands which are some of the most productive and bio-diverse eco-systems. Wetlands help to increase plant, fish, bird, and wildlife variety, improve water quality, and mitigate against the effects of flooding. Although beavers are infamous for cutting down trees, the process by which they create their ponds opens up the area to more sunlight and thereby increases the possibility for other species to thrive. Beaver ponds also help our climate, storing carbon in the form of buried organic matter and slowly releasing it as methane. So the next time you are out on the Spring Creek Nature Trail, take a walk around the Beaver Pond and appreciate what nature has created for us.

'Wetland Forest Elder'
Old growth Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum). Growing up to 120 feet tall with a trunk 3 to 6 feet in diameter, bald cypresses are frequently referred to as giants. They are native to the southeastern United States and Gulf Coast, being well-adapted to wet conditions along riverbanks and swamps. This particular tree is hundreds of years old and is several feet in diameter.

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