Big Tree Trail is a 0.8 mile lightly trafficked loop trail located near Austwell, Texas that features beautiful wild flowers and is good for all skill levels. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
March 27, 2021A nice boardwalk connects to the Big Tree Trail, we did the trail loop and the boardwalk. The actual tree trail is through pretty dense forest so no real views, but it’s shaded. Luckily no mosquitoes today. There is one really big marked oak tree which is impressive. Worth the stop to stretch your legs and see the boardwalk.
February 6, 2021Well-kept trail and lots of canopy cover. Not much to see overall except the connection to the boardwalk.
January 18, 2021We left trail to beach and came out at boardwalk and observation towers
January 5, 2021Great views from watch tower. Lots of birds.
February 15, 2020The Big Tree Trail can now be connected with the Aransas Observation Tower via a recently completed marsh boardwalk. To complete this 1.3 mile loop, begin at Big Tree trailhead, follow the left fork of the trail through a live oak forest to some massive 500 year old survivors. The trail loops through dense yaupon underbrush to arrive at a small beach and fishing access on San Antonio Bay. From here follow the boardwalk through the tidal marsh to a small observation tower in another live oak grove, overlooking more tidal marshes. A second taller tower takes you over the tree tops where you can spot herons, egrets, pelicans and whooping cranes in the surrounding marshes. From the observation tower follow the road a short distance back to the Big Tree trailhead.
January 5, 2020September 8, 2019Nice walk through a wooded area to the waters edge. This trail now connects to the new waterside boardwalk (summer 2019) from the observation towers. (NOTE: Don’t confuse this with the famous Big Tree Loop at nearby Goose Island State Park. Both use the same name unfortunately.)
March 26, 2016I went a few times last year. If you do decide to go some of the trails may have a possibility of being overgrown, also heads up, the mosquitoes can be bad inside some of the wooded areas (if it has rained a lot). Although, it all might be worth it. You may see lots of deer and feral pigs. The last time I went I saw an armadillo, lots of birds (of course), two large pigs and a couple of babies, two deer, and an alligator sleeping near the water. I think I was lucky that day though.
October 10, 2015
First to ReviewLovely trail at the start with an observation deck to scope out the many cranes with a 1970s parks-and-rec style telescope. The trail is well maintained initially, and winds alongside various small ponds and blooming cactus and wild flowers. Maybe 3/4 mile in, the mosquitoes began to get insanely thick (clouds of 50-75 following my hiking partner up ahead) and the trail unexpectedly entered an open, poorly maintained field of shoulder-high grasses that covered the trail. A few pools of standing water and mud on just a few places where the ground was visible were marked with hooved animal tracks and something else with claws. Too disturbed by not being able to see where we were putting our feet from about two feet to the ground, we had to turn around. We literally ran out the way we came swatting swarms of mosquitoes the whole way. If the mosquitoes minded the two coats of bug spray we applied midway through, they certainly didn't let on. My hiking partner bore the brunt of it, with probably 50 or so welts all over his limbs and back from where they hit him through his shirt.
August 7, 2020August 7, 2020February 16, 2020February 16, 2020December 25, 2019February 27, 2017
