A recent graduate of the paralegal certification program at the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University, Marc Martin undertakes paralegal work at a Houston law firm. Passionate about fitness and the outdoors, Marc Martin enjoys cycling, hiking, and rock climbing in his free time.

While the Houston area does not have a large variety of hiking opportunities, there are a surprising number of spacious green areas worth exploring within an hour of downtown. One of the most scenic of these is Brazos Bend State Park, which encompasses nearly 5,000 acres and has 37 miles of trails that can be explored on bike or horse, as well as on foot.

Situated just to the southwest of Houston’s expanding suburbs, the park features tallgrass prairie, with native grasses reaching as high as six feet. Once a common feature of the region, this ecosystem is now fragmented and disappearing. Brazos Bend also offers live-oak gallery forests that include bottomland hardwood ecosystems, and migratory birds are attracted to a mature canopy that is relatively unchanged since frontier days.

Brazos Bend also encompasses lakes, swamps, and temporary ponds that emerge during the rainy season. It supports more than two dozen mammal species, including river otters, white-tailed deer, fox, and bobcat. With alligators calling the wetland areas home, safety on the trail is one important aspect visitors should be aware of.