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Our last stop for our day in Big Thicket National Preserve was the Kirby Nature Trail.
There was rain in the immediate forecast so we hung out in the van for a bit to let it pass before hitting the trail.
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We just did the inner loop and the cypress loop, and thank sweet baby Jesus because I was eaten alive by mosquitos on this trail.
But I didn’t know I would be just yet. The trail starts off parallel to the road before curving to the left at Staley Cabin.
Shortly after the cabin you’ll get to a kiosk where the trail splits. We did the inner loop but we started going to the right, doing the trail counterclockwise.
There wasn’t anything particularly exciting along the trail, except an occasional flower and some nice holly leaves.
What I was not expecting on this trail, however, was the number of mosquitos that we encountered.
Jennifer wasn’t bothered by them but I think it’s because they were busy feasting on me.
Not long after the feast started, we had to decide if we wanted to keep going on the inner loop or do the outer.
We went with just the inner (thankfully!) and continued on our way.
The trail isn’t super wide but it’s not really narrow either, kind of like a sidewalk width.
It’s also primarily packed dirt, but has a couple of wooden bridges.
The trail continued to the left, the mosquitos continued to feast, and we came to another decision.
Take the short cypress loop side track, or keep going. We decided to do the cypress loop.
If the water is too high to do the cypress loop, there is a high water bypass trail to avoid that.
We were there toward the end of April, but I would imagine if it has high water, that would be in the summer.
I tried to just keep moving to hopefully keep the mosquitos away, but the cypress loop was so beautiful that I had to stop for pictures.
This was definitely the best part of the trail, despite the mosquitos. It was so pretty, and the knobby cypress tree that it takes you to is so cool.
The water in Village Creek here is milk chocolate-y and (looks) slow moving.
I would imagine without the bugs it would be a much more relaxing experience. I know I keep talking about the mosquitos, but they were so bad, it was wild.
Bugs aside, this trail is worth doing just for the cypress loop section of it. Just wear bug spray.
Once we returned to the main inner loop, I told Jennifer I was hoofin’ it back to the van and I’d see her there.
The bugs were SO bad, it was so, so unpleasant. But I still liked the trail.
Overall, while I did get like, 50 mosquito bites on my back, I’m so glad we did this trail and would highly recommend it for a nice, easy hike in Big Thicket.
We did see another group as we started the trail, but once we were out there and past them, we didn’t see anyone else.
It was a really nice quiet trail, and while I did really like it, it was hard to enjoy given the conditions (for me).
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Where is the Kirby Trail in Big Thicket?
The Kirby Nature Trail is in the Turkey Creek Unit of Big Thicket National Preserve in southeast Texas, near the Louisiana border.
It’s about an hour from Beaumont, two hours from Houston, 3.5 hours from Waco, and almost four hours from both Dallas and Austin.
How long is the Kirby Trail?
There are three loops on the Kirby Nature Trail: a 1.5 mile inner loop, an additional 0.3 mile cypress loop, and a 0.9-mile outer loop.
You can combine them all into one big loop for a 2.5 mile loop. We just did the inner loop and the cypress loop for 2 miles total.
Is the Kirby Trail hard?
Nope! It’s an easy, flat trail. The worst part was easily the mosquitos.
Is the Kirby Trail worth it?
Even though I was mauled my mosquitos here, yes, it is worth it. This is a beautiful trail and the the cypress loop is really cool.
Have you hiked the Kirby Nature Trail? What did you think of it? What is your favorite hike in Big Thicket?