When traveling in the National Parks in Texas, an incredible variety of weather, terrain, vegetation, and cultures are at one's fingertips.
Although there are 13 National Parks in all in Texas, many people do not know of some, and these should be brought to attention just as much as the frequently visited ones, because they hold their own link to the past, or haven of indigenous plants that should be seen by those wishing to see where life has been growing for many, many years, whether of plant or people, in Texas.
National Parks in Texas
Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument
Alibates Flint Quarries NM is located on the Texas Panhandle approximately 30 miles north of Amarillo. The park is open year-round though winter storms can disrupt park tours.
Lake Meredith National Recreation Area and Alibates Flint Quarries National Memorial, are in fact, almost one Park.
These two parks are located in the Llano Estacado or Staked Plains, that part of the Texas Panhandle that is made up of long stretches of a dry, windswept land.
The Alibates Memorial is a place of interest historically where visitors can visit the bluffs above the Canadian River to which many Native Americans came to retrieve the rainbow-hued flint and to hunt the big game that roamed the plains there.
It is the only National Memorial of its kind in Texas today, and visitors can also see the more than 550 archaeological sites which the Monument preserves.
Amistad National Recreation Area
Amistad National Recreation Area is another park that is on the border between Texas and the USA. The park is located approximately 150 miles west of San Antonio. Open year-round with boating, fishing, swimming and the opportunity to view Indian rock art.
It contains an international reservoir that straddles the border, that was made by the formation of the Amistad Dam, which backs up water from the Rio Grande, Pecos, and Devils Rivers.
It is a very good recreation area for those wanting, to camp, fish, boat, and enjoy a very nice clear lake.
Big Bend National Park
Big Bend NP is located in Southwest Texas approximately 260 miles southeast of El Paso. The park is open year-round.
Big Bend National Park is a wonderful place at which travelers can experience an incredible variety of terrain and recognized in the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River.
At Big Bend National Park visitors can see this River that form a big part of the United States-Mexico border, and the other two ecological zones which are found in this park, the Chihuahuan Desert, and the abrupt canyons of the River which are met by the peaks of the Chisos Mountains clothed in forests and wildflowers.
Big Thicket National Preserve
Big Thicket National Preserve is located in east Texas approximately 60 miles northeast of Houston. The park is open year-round and offers the opportunity to enjoy hiking, camping, canoeing, and bird-watching.
Home to some very rare endangered species, Big Thicket National Preserve is the ideal location for those who wish to see flying in the skies, swimming through the waters, and creeping around on the ground such rarely seen creatures as the hairy woodpecker, the swallow-tailed kite, the black buffalo fish, and the speckled king snake.
These creatures' habitat is also very interesting because of the many various plants and types of terrain found therein.
Thicket National Preserve is an intriguing and not extremely well-known flatland palmetto hardwood, savannas, and floodplain forests-bay gall-cypress sloughs inhabited by sundry interesting creatures.
Chamizal National Memorial
Chamizal NM is located in El Paso, Texas. The park is open year-round and offers the opportunity to learn about international diplomacy and cooperation.
Even farther to the West, on the very tip where Texas touches Mexico, is found the Chamizal National Memorial commemorating the cooperation and goodwill between the United States and Mexico after the two countries' boundary dispute.
Many art exhibits, recitals, plays, and other programs are held year-round at the indoor theater and outdoor amphitheater for which this Memorial is well known.
Fort Davis National Historic Site
Fort Davis NHS is located in West Texas approximately 200 miles east of El Paso. The park is open year-round and offers the opportunity to visit military buildings from the days of the Indian Wars.
The Fort Davis National Historic Site and the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River are two of the more well-known parks in Texas which are in close proximity to the very well-known Big Bend National Park.
At the Fort Davis National site visitors can see the best remaining example of the Southwest Fort where men called "buffalo soldiers" were posted to protect travelers on the San Antonio-El Paso rode from the Apaches and Comanches from 1867-1885.
Guadalupe National Park
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Guadalupe Mountains NP is located in West Texas approximately 110 miles east of El Paso, Texas. The park is open year-round though there can be storms in the winter and summer. The park offers the opportunity to enjoy camping, hiking, and wildlife viewing.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, farther west in Texas, is made up of a mass of limestone mountains, one of which, Guadalupe Peak, is the highest in Texas.
This park is surrounded by vast expanses of desert, and close beside it are small canyons such as McKittrick, where many beautiful indigenous plants and animals are to be found.
Lake Meredith National Recreation Area
Lake Meredith NRA is located in the Texas Panhandle approximately 35 miles north of Amarillo, Texas. The park is open year-round though winter storms can be severe.
The park was created by the formation of a dam on the Canadian River. The lake was designated a National Recreation Area in 1990.
Visitors can enjoy a lot of water-based activities including swimming, water-skiing, boating, sailing and fishing.
Camping is allowed in park designated campgrounds.
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
Lyndon B. Johnson NHP is located in South-central Texas approximately 45 miles west of Austin. The park is open year-round and offers the opportunity to view a restored 19th and 20th-century buildings and cattle ranch.
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park makes it possible to see where the values and ideals of our 36th president were formed and nurtured on the Ranch that was Johnson's home and his ancestor's settlement.
Padre Island National Seashore
Padre Island NS is located on the East Texas Coast just south of Corpus Christi. The park is open year-round and offers camping, hiking, fishing, and ocean activities.
Padre Island National Seashore, in Corpus Christi, visitors have access to the over 65 miles of the barrier island's coastline, where they can enjoy the warm waters, varied landscapes, world-famous wind-surfing, and many species of bird and marine life as well.
Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park
Palo Alto Battlefield NHP is located in south Texas approximately 5 miles north of Brownsville. The park is open year-round and offers the opportunity to walk an interpretive battlefield trail and learn more about the US-Mexico War.
Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park is yet another place where travelers can see where a fundamental event that took part in the formation of our country, and especially the state, took place.
This is the field where the first major battle between the US and Mexico took place in 1846-1848. At this park, people can not only see where the actual battle was fought but also can see the causes and consequences of this battle and of the entire war, from the perspectives of both the US and Mexico.
Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River
The Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River is located in southwest Texas approximately 260 miles southeast of El Paso.
The park includes 196 river miles of the Rio Grande. The Rio Grande River flows along the west Texas border with Mexico.
Visitors can take guided rafting trips on the river.
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
San Antonio Missions NHP is located in San Antonio, Texas.
San Antonio Missions National Historic Park is a wonderful place to get the idea of when and how the religious influence of the Franciscan friars and also to see the incredible craftsmanship that was used in building the missions even all those years ago.
Waco Mammoth National Monument
Waco Mammoth NM is located right outside Waco, Texas. The park is open year-round and offers guided tours of the site.
You can see a nursery herd of Mammoths that are still being worked on.
Affiliated Sites
El Camino Real de lo Tejas National Historic Trail (TX, LA)
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (NM, TX)
These fourteen different parks give travelers to Texas the opportunity to experience, learn, and enjoy themselves in many different rich cultural, historical, and biological atmospheres.
Guadalupe National Park
List of National Parks in Texas
- Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument
- Amistad National Recreation Area
- Big Bend National Park
- Big Thicket National Preserve
- Chamizal National Memorial
- Fort Davis National Historic Site
- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
- Lake Meredith National Recreation Area
- Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
- Padre Island National Seashore
- Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park
- Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River
- San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
- Waco Mammoth National Monument
Affiliated Sites
- El Camino Real de lo Tejas National Historic Trail (TX, LA)
- El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (NM, TX)
There are 14 National Parks in Texas that receive over 5.2 million visitors a year. These visitors produce over $288 million in economic benefits from tourism.
Texas National Parks include 1 Wild and Scenic River, 1 National Trail, 3,235 National Register of Historic Places Listings, and 46 National Historic Landmarks.
National Parks in Texas also includes 20 National Natural Landmarks, 1 UNESCO World Heritage Site (See this list for all of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the United States), and 1,114 places recorded by the Heritage Documentation Program.
There are also over 4.5 million objects in the Texas National Park Museum Collection along with 3,834 Archeological Sites.
23 Threatened and Endangered species can be found in Texas National Parks.
National Parks in neighboring states
Do you know how many National Parks you have visited? Check out this printable list of the US National Parks in alphabetical order to check off the ones you have visited. Want to go big? Check out this list of all 419 National Park properties in the United States!
