Joseph H.
Yelp
I was surprised on my visit to Brazos Bend State Park. After hearing and reading about people's experiences, and seeing pictures online, I thought I knew what to expect...but I was wrong. This park is far away enough from Houston but still close enough for a day trip, which is what I did. It took me about 30 minutes to drive here from Sugar Land.
As I approached the entrance gate, I saw that they had two lines of cars with gate booths, just like the national parks. A ranger came out to my car and I registered myself as a day visitor. A park map was given to me and off I went to explore!
Brazos Bend SP is larger than I thought it would be. There was a large parking lot and a few trailheads not too far away from the entrance, but I decided to drive past it to the next lot. 2 miles on the road later, the next parking lot was equally large but with much less cars and visitors. There's an interpretive center that was closed when I went, but a water fountain was nearby where I refilled my water bottle.
I ended up walking along a combination of trails to get a feel for the place. The trails are mostly flat with asphalt, dirt, and light gravel. The peacefulness of this park is what really convinced me of the gem that this place is. Along the way, I witnessed many birds, including several vulture roosts in the trees.
I also saw the American alligator in a pond, which I viewed from a safe distance. It would be quite difficult to reach the river and the ponds because of the natural vegetation in the area, so there weren't any wild alligators on the trails.
I didn't get the chance to fully explore this park, but I wouldn't mind returning here another day. The gift shop offers a variety of items to purchase and the rangers seemed knowledgeable about the history of the park. Overall, I enjoyed my time here!