Comeback of George Bush Park Wilderness after the 2011 Wildfire

Miles Lease gravel road inside George Bush Park

Wetlands Restoration Area inside the Barker Reservoir

South of Noble Road Trail behind Barker Dam

This trail runs along the perimeter of the US Army Corps of Engineers officially designated Wetlands Restoration Area inside George Bush Park. It is essentially a cul-de-sac and even less traveled by humans than Noble Road Trail, from which it branches off at a right angle near the edges of the a lake to the North and the better known one to the South, which is visible from the top of the dam, has a number of benches and open meadow area along its shores. 

The lake to the South of Noble Road is better known and more popular. No doubt because it is a great place for romantic sunsets, or just a place to watch great sunset without any romance, period.


There are some signs posted where the Tim Miles access trail branches off from Noble Road, but they are not all readily visible over the summer because of the more ample vegetation, except for the one that bans dogs (and their poop) from the grounds. (It’s all going down to Buffalo Bayou and on to the Bay via the Ship Channel).

Initially Tim Miles trail runs straight South and may have connected in the past all the way down to Westheimer Parkway. Not sure. I would not want to venture down there, lest I end up in the shooting range. 

Warning Sign elsewhere in George Bush Park

As of today, the gravel road makes a sharp right turn at a 90 degree angle and continues westward until it reaches the Tim Miles lease parcel, which is fenced off and has a number of oil tanks in it, with metal rods sticking into the sky on which birds occasionally roost. 

Tim Miles Lease well site with oil tank

In theory, you could continue to the West, but if there ever was a road or trail there, it is now covered in chest-high vegetation – at least during the warmer part of the year – and cannot really be called a trail. I have not ventured beyond.

The trail is lined almost throughout its entire length by a trench running North-South on the Eastern side, and one running West-East after the turn (North of the trail).

These ditches fill with water after a good rain and are totally dry at other times. The segments of the Miles Lease Trail runs alongside what is designated a wetlands restoration area. This whole area was devastated by a large-scale bushfire in 2011. 

All of the young trees on the open land are dead. Most still remain as charred skeletons. They create an eerie, yet inspiring, vista as the prairie grass and undergrowth is back is if nothing happened and furnishes a bed of green from which the charred trunks and branches jot up into the sky.

On a pretty day, this makes for a landscape in green, black, and blue … and white … if there are some clouds too to complete the composition. Gradually, the black deadwood is coming down during storms, and a few tree limbs have fallen on the trail here and there.  

When wet but not flooded, there will be puddles on the gravel road and snakes may hang out near them, which is true of Noble Road trail too. Watch your step. There are plenty of insects along the way. Of greatest aesthetic appeal are the butterflies. The most common one seems to be the Gulf Frittilary, which has different color and patterns on the upside and bottom sides of its wings. The top side is almost solidly orange with a few specks, the bottom side is white with more of a pattern. 

Depending on the season, there may also be Monarchs, Admirals, Buckeyes, and even Swallowtails. 

Additionally, there are dragonflies here too, as elsewhere in the area, but probably not as numerous as around the lakes and waterholes unless the road-side ditch are flooded after heavy rain.  They like to hunt above the surface and lay their eggs in shallow water. 

Reddish (roseate) skimmer dragonfly

Vegetation alongside the trail in Fall

 

Overgrown access road to Tim Miles Lease oil well site inside Barker Reservoir