Guest Author - Marilyn Crain

Close to the city, but far away in a precious endangered ecosystem, Resaca de la Palma State Park is a peaceful destination for hikers and nature lovers. Resaca de la Palma State Park covers 1,700 acres of semi-tropical resaca (coils of ancient river channels carved by the Rio Grande River) habitat. Because of its mission to restore and preserve the resaca and thorn brush habitat within its care, this newest Texas state park is not a traditional park. You will not find swimming, boating and other recreational activities here. What you will find is a unique environment, where you can catch glimpses of the park’s wild inhabitants, a large variety of birds and butterflies, while hiking the trails along the resaca and through the forests and grasslands.

For an off-the-beaten path hiking experience, within minutes of an international border city, try the trails at Texas’ newest state park and the most recent addition to the World Birding Center’s string of birdwatching havens. Resaca de la Palma State Park started 15 trails open, ranging in length from less than one-half mile to just over a mile. When completed, more than 78 miles of trails will wind through this diverse wilderness area.

Location: Outside Brownsville, Texas

Fees: Adults $4/Children under 12 free

Hours: Monday-Sunday 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Directions:

Coming from Highway 77 in Brownsville, take F.M. 1732/Olmito exit and follow 1732 for 2.5 miles to New Carmen Road. Turn south (left) and take this road 1.5 miles south to the park entrance on your left.

Access Road Condition: All roads are paved.

Hiking One-Way/Total: .2 mile/.4 mile (20 minutes/40 minutes)

How strenuous: Easy. Flat trail. No change in elevation.

Pets:

Dogs are welcome, but must be kept on a leash six feet or less in length and you must clean up after them. Extra baggies are available in the visitor center.

Overview:

Many types of habitat can be seen along the trails, including Tamaulipan thorn scrub, ebony-anacua forest, sugar hackberry woodlands, revegetated grasslands and the resaca wetlands. More than 250 species of birds are known to inhabit the park, including Summer Tanager, American Redstart, Green Jay and Altamira Oriole, Black-bellied Whistling duck, Groove-billed Ani, Olive Sparrow and a host of migrating waterfowl.

Ebony Trail Description:

Starting from the visitor center you will travel along an established gravel path winding past butterfly gardens with benches nearby for viewing.

Just past the gardens, you will come to the trailhead. Ebony Trail winds through a wooded area, shaded with native retama, mesquite hard ebony and sand paper trees. All perfect for birdwatching. Coyotes, bobcats and armadillos make an appearance on occasion, so stay alert.

Ebony Trail ends at an observation deck overlooking the Resaca de la Palma, home to birds such as herons, cranes and other native water fowl.

Since the trail is part of an ever-changing environment, on your return hike you will be able to get a completely different perspective on this diverse habitat.

Ebony Trail is just one of many that you'll want to hike as you visit Resaca de la Palma State Park time after time.