In 1983, a bill was introduced in Congress to designate wilderness in the National Forests in Texas.  After much pushing, cajoling, threatening, and public outcry, in October 1984, the Texas Wilderness Act was passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Ronald Reagan.  Five wilderness areas were established in the National Forests in Texas.  Little Lake Creek Wilderness Area was one of those wilderness areas.  A few years later after some boundary adjustments were made, Little Lake Creek Wilderness Area grew to 3,855 acres.

The beauty of Little Lake Creek Wilderness Area is many-fold.  The entire drainage, except for a small part above Forest Road 211 (Bethel Road) and below the wilderness boundary near FM 149, is wilderness.  Little Lake Creek starts small and ephemeral, picks up tributaries, and runs about 5 miles before it exits onto private land, crosses under FM 149, and flows into Lake Conroe.

The uplands in Little Lake Creek Wilderness Area are dominated by Loblolly and Shortleaf Pine, Post Oak, Winged Elm, Southern Red Oak, and Black Hickory.  Many upland pine trees have been thinned out naturally by southern pine beetles.  These dead, ghostly, standing snags and downed trees enrich the soil.  Hardwoods, along with pines, have seeded in and are now dominating these naturally thinned areas.  A few rare Black Walnuts exist in the uplands.  These trees are some of the western-most Black Walnuts in the United States.

A real treat in Little Lake Creek Wilderness Area is found in the bottomlands.  Huge Green Ash, Loblolly Pine, Water Oak, Sugarberry, Willow Oak, and American Elm fill the bowl-like floodplain of the mid and lower portions of Little Lake Creek.  The midstory, understory, and shrub layers of this forest can be thick, but are very diverse.  Some smaller trees include Arrowood Viburnum, Carolina Buckthorn, Little Hip Hawthorne, Parsley Hawthorne, Deciduous Holly, and Yaupon Holly.

When you go deep into Little Lake Creek Wilderness Area and hike along the languid waters of Little Lake Creek you feel a million miles from civilization.  It’s a quiet place and provides the solitude one rarely experiences in our hurry-burry, rushing, civilization.  Meditation and kinship with the forest are feelings enhanced by a walk along Little Lake Creek or one of its tributaries, Pole Creek and Sand Branch.

However, total silence is not found in Little Lake Creek Wilderness Area.  You can hear a Pileated Woodpecker banging on a snag or Chickadees and Tufted Titmice swarming through the understory busily feeding and visiting.  Barred Owls can be heard hooting in the distance and Red-Shouldered and Cooper’s Hawks dart through the wood or circle overhead looking for dinner.  Tree frogs can be heard near ponds and wet places.  Particularly in fall and winter, Wood Ducks are seen near beaver dams and Grey Squirrels are heard chattering overhead.  It’s a living menagerie and you are welcomed back into this family.

There is no place like Little Lake Creek Wilderness Area in the 161,000 acres of Sam Houston National Forest.  Little Lake Creek Wilderness Area is the only wilderness in this forest and it’s special due to its wilderness nature.  The Sierra Club visits and celebrates the beauty, vibrancy, and wildness of Little Lake Creek Wilderness Area.  May it always exist in our minds and as we leave only footprints and take only memories.   

Photo by Brandt Mannchen.