Woodlands Trail: 4.5-Mile Loop

Dogs Leashed

Features River/Creek · Wildlife

The parking area for the Woodlands Trail can be difficult to see: there are no signs on the road before you reach the small, unpaved drive and the signs for the Woodlands Trail at the parking area are a little tucked back. A GPS may not have a result for the trailhead either. The parking area is on FM 1276 on the east side, 3.3 miles south of US 190 or 5.9 miles north of Dallardsville. There is parking available for perhaps a dozen vehicles, restrooms, and a kiosk.

This is the second loop option on the Woodlands Trail in Big Thicket National Preserve. To get to it you'll have to take the Woodlands Trail: 3.3-Mile Loop to its northern most point. The Big Thicket's name for the trail (4.5 miles) includes the sections of the Woodlands Trail: 3.3-Mile Loop you have to take to get to and from this trail.

If you think of the loop extensions as an upside-down-snowperson this section would be the torso. This section continues north, with the eastern side following the Big Sandy Creek and the western section deeper in the woods. It will pass by both ends of the Woodlands Trail: 5.4-Mile Loop, the longest extension of the trail.