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Texas Matters: Explore Nature Tourism

Texas has 150 million acres of upland habitats – nearly 200 thousand miles of creeks, rivers and streams – over a thousand public lakes and reservoirs – four million acres of bays and estuaries – 18 national wildlife refuges and 100 plus state and national parks. So there’s a lot of opportunities to experience the great outdoors in Texas – but where to begin?

The book “Explore Texas – a nature travel guide” breaks the state down into zones and lays out the top destinations with tips on how to get there and make the most out of your trip.

Mary O. Parker is a nature writer and the author of the book – Exploring Texas – a nature travel guide. It’s published by Texas A&M Press.

If you are interested in birdwatching, wildlife viewing, or stargazing; flowers, geology, or water; nature centers, festivals, or photography, a destination in Texas awaits you.

From the desert gardens of Big Bend to hawk watching on the Gulf Coast to caving and bat watching in the Hill Country, nature-oriented travel in Texas also includes lesser known getaways.

Organized by the seven official state travel regions, Explore Texas features descriptions of almost one hundred nature-oriented sites, including information about the best time to visit and why it’s worth going; location, and other logistics; and a “learn” section on the observations and natural phenomena a visitor might expect to experience. Photographs by professional photographer Jeff Parker accompany the accounts, and handy color-coded icons help guide readers to the activities of their choice.  

Perfect for planning the family’s next outing or vacation, this book also contains a message of how nature tourism helps to protect biodiversity, promote conservation, and sustain the state’s tourism economy.

David Martin Davies can be reached at dmdavies@tpr.org and on Twitter at @DavidMartinDavi