Dirt road to oil well site in Barker Reservoir in winter

The Tim Miles Trail in Barker Reservoir

This is a side trail branching off from Noble Road Trail inside Barker Reservoir, running first south on the edge of the wetlands restoration area that was devastated by a wild fire in 2011, then turns West and ends at a fenced oil well site with a number of large tanks. This dirt road does not have a name; so I am identifying it by the name of the Oil Lease (Tim Miles) to which it leads. Unlike Noble Road Trail, which crosses the park and links up with the Barker-Clodine Road bike-hike trial, the Tim Miles Trail is a cul-de-sac that does not get much foot or bicycle traffic. The West Houston sunsets from the North-South section of the trail can be pretty awesome, though, rivaling the scenic sunsets on the lake right behind the Dam. While there is no water here most of the year, and thus no reflection of the setting sun, the charred tree trunks limbs make for a ghastly silhouette against the blue and orange evening sky. The wildfire raged here in the Fall of 2012 and effects are very much still present, especially in the winter when the greenery is gone.   

West Houston Sunsets at George Bush Park

Almost looks like another wild fire

Sundown at the big lake in Bush Park (behind Barker Dam)

View of setting sun from Tim Miles oilwell  access road

Sunsets at lake in Barker Reservoir with a couple of bird  in golden water

Sunset at Flood Channel T103 in the Southern section of George Bush Park
View from beneath the pedestrian bridge

West Houston landscapes' aesthetic appeal not to be underestimated

You just need to find the right spot at the right time to enjoy some awesome vistas ... even in January ... even if the weather is dreary. The clouds can greatly enhance the aesthetic appeal of the winter-time landscape that has lost much of its lush spring and summer-time greenery, and even leafless tress can provide great scenic appeal as silhouettes against a deep-blue sky at dusk.  

George Bush Park is a great place for awesome-view prospecting, not to mention local landscape photography. After all, it is one of the largest contiguous uninhabited nature zones in the Houston metropolitan area. The high-rises are few and distant, and don't clutter the horizon. Because of its elevation and because the reservoir is located to the West of it, Barker Dam is one of the best places to enjoy West Houston sunsets, but the pictures here were taken inside the Reservoir North of Rugby fields at and near Flood Control Channel T-103.  

Sundown in George Bush Park early in the year

Silhouette of tree against overcast sky with setting sun

Man-mad watercourse for drainage  in Bush Park - Looking West

Looking East from pedestrian bridge at Flood Control Channel T-103 

X-Mas Day Sunset at Bear Creek Pioneers Park

Sun setting behind the tree

Silhouette of tree without leaves in grassy area next to abandoned road parallel
to N. Eldridge Parkway in Addicks Reservoir December 25, 2012

Sun setting behind trees at Harris County road maintenance facility
at North Eldridge Parkway and War Memorial Drive

Grounded vultures in pens for other animals at Bear Creek Pioneers Park

Spectacular sunset as water level rises in Addicks-Barker Reservoir after days of heavy rains (7/17/12 photos)

Scenic sun-down view of Barker Reservoir at high water level (7/16/12)

Reflection of a the evening sky and of the sphere-shaped crown of a tree
in the detained water

Sunflower against the evening sky

Sky with layers of red and yellow above the Barker Reservoir
tree line on July 16, 2012 at sunset

Buffalo Bayou water flow control gate at Barker Dam:
Massive amounts of water are backed up for later gradual release
to protect rain-soaked Houston downstream from flooding in the interim.
The  U.S. Corps of Engineers is monitoring the situation.