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Situated just 40 miles east of a major metropolis and fourth largest city in the nation is 23,000 acres of pristine federally managed land that is a nature-lovers paradise.
Far removed from the hustle and bustle of Houston, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District’s Wallisville Lake Project offers visitors a chance to get away from it all to enjoy the great outdoors.
Authorized by Congress in 1962, construction began in 1966 on a 10,700-acre reservoir. It was paused by a lawsuit and injunction over environmental concerns in 1971, but after reevaluation the lawsuit was dismissed, and construction continued. It was then paused in 1989 for another reevaluation after a pair of nesting bald eagles was discovered. It was this reevaluation that gave rise to the project as it stands today.
The project’s primary mission is to prevent saltwater intrusion up the Trinity River. Wallisville Lock and Dam and Structure A provide salinity control by opening and closing depending on tides, river flows, winds, and drought conditions. The Trinity River is a major source of fresh water for the Houston metro area, for several smaller communities, and for irrigation canal districts in both Liberty and Chambers Counties.
A secondary mission is environmental stewardship. This includes management of invasive species like feral hogs and nutria, an orange-toothed, rat-tailed rodent commonly considered a wetlands-damaging pest. The project’s hunting program assists with this mission by offering small game hunting permits and feral hog hunting and trapping permits.
The project’s hunting program also includes wildly popular waterfowl hunting. Hunting on the Wallisville Lake Project is limited to the waterfowl season for ducks and geese. For more information, email huntwallisville@usace.army.mil.
Environmental stewardship also includes the annual crab trap roundup, where Texas Parks and Wildlife closes crab fishing with wire mesh crab traps for ten days. This gives project staff and volunteers the opportunity to round up lost and abandoned traps. Unattended traps kill blue crabs, fish, and other species unnecessarily and may create a navigation hazard for boaters. Since 2001, volunteers have removed 42,500 derelict traps, saving an estimated 700,000 blue crabs, a valuable natural resource worth about $1.2 million.
Another stewardship and outreach event is the Combat Injured Veteran Alligator Hunt. Each year, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Lone Star Warriors Outdoors-a Texas-based nonprofit 501c3 organization, and project staff host several military veterans for a three-day trip deep in the wilderness to hunt alligators. The project is home to approximately 2,300 American alligators and this annual event allows not only for the management of the gator population but gives our country’s heroes a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The project has five areas flush with popular recreation opportunities to include fishing, birding, boating, kayaking, canoeing, and hiking.
Cedar Hill Park is on the northeast bank of Lake Charlotte. It is maintained by Chambers County as part of a lease agreement. Facilities include pavilions for large groups and individual covered areas, graveled trails with boardwalks, a hand-launch area, and a limited amount of primitive style camping.
Hugo Point Park is on the west bank of Old River Lake. It is also maintained by Chambers County as part of a lease agreement. Day-use facilities include a large pavilion, individual picnic tables, restrooms, playground, a two-lane boat ramp, parking for vehicles with or without trailers, and a handicap accessible trail out into the marsh with an accessible observation tower.
Trinity River Island Recreation Area is an island between the main stem of the Trinity River and the engineered navigation channel where the Wallisville Lake Project Office is located. Facilities include both covered and uncovered picnic tables, fishing access, a boat ramp, life jacket loaner station, and the project office complex with a visitor center.
JJ Mayes Wildlife Trace is a four-mile, all-weather road atop the levee along the west bank of the Trinity River. The trace gives visitors a close-up view of the marshes and riverbank habitats and many of the wildlife species living within the boundaries of the Wallisville Project.
The Mouth of the Trinity River Waterbird Rookery is located just east of the Trinity River. As many as 12 species of colonial waterbirds nest and raise their young at the rookery. In addition to the colonial waterbirds, the rookery is a great location to observe seasonal waterfowl and alligators.
So, the next time you’re looking to leave the city behind and explore another side of the Greater Houston Area, consider reconnecting with nature at the Wallisville Lake Project.
| Date Taken: | 06.11.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.20.2024 13:02 |
| Category: | Video Productions |
| Video ID: | 928192 |
| VIRIN: | 240611-A-ZS026-2210 |
| Filename: | DOD_110396786 |
| Length: | 00:06:28 |
| Location: | TEXAS, US |
| Downloads: | 2 |
| High-Res. Downloads: | 2 |
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