The coast as it was before Houston: tallgrass prairie, wetland forest and a wild bayou, more than 4,300 acres of it between NASA's Johnson Space Center and the Bayport industrial district, the largest urban wilderness preserve in Texas since it grew in 2024. The bayou is one of the last in Texas that has not been channelized, and alligators bask along it, seen from the boardwalk and the Bayou Ranger II pontoon. Coastal tallgrass prairie once covered at least nine million acres of Texas and Louisiana; more than 99 percent of it is gone. The center keeps 900 acres, with bison, the prairie's original architects, grazing beside it. Armand Yramategui, curator of the Burke Baker Planetarium, was killed in January 1970 driving out of town to see a comet; Middle Bayou was renamed for him, and Hana Ginzbarg led the campaign that saved it. Martyn Farm's 1895 farmhouse survived the 1900 Storm and crossed Clear Lake on a barge in 1982.
What to expect
- No pets, jogging or biking; picnics only in the picnic area. The trails are for hiking.
- Bring water; none is sold on site, and glass containers are not allowed.
- Parking is free, with plenty of room in the lot.
- The Discovery Loop is an elevated boardwalk through wetland and forest.
- Stay on marked trails; snakes and poison ivy are the hazards to watch for.
What to do
- Watch the resident bison from the bison viewing platform
- Walk the Discovery Loop boardwalk through the wetland forest to the Prairie Platform, Martyn Farm and the bison
- Book a guided pontoon cruise aboard the Bayou Ranger II (Saturday Morning Bayou Cruise: $35, members $30)
- 4,300+ acresSize
- More than 370Species
- 1974Opened
- 5 milesTrails