Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine Home Page

Photos in the June 2012 issue

This Month's Features

10 Hidden Gems

Beat the crowds and discover 10 of Texas’ overlooked state parks.

By Rob McCorkle

Texas state parks make up a sprawling spider web of more than 90 sites stretching from Amarillo to Brownsville and El Paso to Sabine Pass. Most of us have frequented or at least heard of iconic parks like Bastrop, Garner, Palo Duro Canyon and others. But what about the lesser-known, unpolished gems in remote pockets of Texas just begging to be discovered?

Whether you’re looking for an off-the-beaten-path spelunking adventure, a glimpse of prehistoric Texas, a place for your kids to see a longhorn or bison, the perfect spot to pitch a tent beneath starry skies or simply a peaceful refuge from frenetic urban life, the following 10 unsung state parks have you covered.

(read more)

Rebounding Flounder

Comprehensive effort brings the flatfish back from the edge of obscurity.

By David Sikes

Former rodeo rider Danny Adams II held securely to the boat’s bucking bow with a taut line wrapped twice around his fist as he barked the names of landmarks to guide his father at the wheel.

The year was 1998, and this was my inaugural adventure as the outdoors columnist for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times newspaper. At the request of my predecessor on the outdoors desk, the Adamses had graciously agreed to help me with a flounder story — a story that poor visibility threatened to derail.

The fog eventually lifted that morning along with my spirits, allowing us to catch enough flatfish for a newspaper article and photos. I could not have predicted that 13 years would pass before another rod and reel flounder story appeared in the Caller-Times.

(read more)

Saving Sea Turtles

Dedicated volunteers continue to fight serious threats to Gulf populations.

By Rusty Middleton

Early February 2011 found Texas frozen with an unusually frigid blast that stretched its icy fingers down to the coast. At sea turtle restoration facilities, phones rang off the hook with reports of turtles that appeared to be paralyzed or dead. The phenomenon is known as cold-stranding, a condition caused by sudden drops in temperature.

“We prepare ahead of time for cold-stranding events, but no one was ready for the sheer size of that one. It took on epic proportions,” says Jeff George, curator of Sea Turtle Inc. on South Padre Island.

Ironically, it was also a sign of progress. Finding 1,600 stranded turtles is an indicator that there are many turtles where there used to be virtually none.

(read more)