Brazoria County, Texas

The Amazon is not the only place to find a rainforest. Any termperate climate zone with a high rainfall will produce trees and vines and bushes that grow fast and high. The upper gulf coast of Texas is a natural rainforest. Leave the land alone and in 10 years you have pecan and oak trees 20 feet tall with impassable underbrush and vines. Leave it alone for 200 years and you have the champion Live Oak grove that dominates the Texas Rainforest Preserve.

This privately owned 5 acre habitat on the Texas Gulf Coast is home to raccoons, snapping turtles, whitetail deer, alligators, squirrels, skunks, snakes, rabbits, bobcats, field mice, wild hogs, nutria, box turtles, butterflies, bats, fish, armadillos, dragonflies, lovebugs, bullfrogs, banana spiders, porcupine, crawfish, songbirds, raptors, ducks, tree frogs, honeybees, and sometimes a few humans who want to live in a real rainforest for a few days.



The Texas Rainforest Preserve is a birdwatchers paradise. With over an acre of marsh, you will see both wetland birds and forest birds. The Gulf Coast Bird Observatory in Lake Jackson, Texas is less than a mile away. Over 270 species have been sighted in the area, including woodpeckers, herons, ibis, ducks, hummingbirds, eagles, mockingbirds, owls, hawks, cranes, sparrows, cowbirds, grackles, blackbirds, cardinals, vultures, starlings, robins, larks, wrens, swallows, doves, sandpipers, egrets, bluejays, and crows.



We drive you into this magnificent ecosystem in our Hummer and leave you alone to live in the jungle. Camp in the large tent beneath five champion live oak trees almost 200 years old with traces of the original antebellum plantation beneath your feet. Or bring your own backpacking gear and pick your favorite spot on the thick grass under the Live Oak canopy or on the shore of the marsh. Depending on the season you can pick native grapes, blackberriers, or dewberries. Experience the splendor of a moonlit night thru a canopy of Live Oak branches almost 100 feet tall, dripping with spanish moss. For more information or to make a reservation, call us at 979-798-2248 or email to: innkeeper @ valcourverandas.com.



Visitors to the Rainforest

All Photographs and Text - Copyright 2007
Valcour Plantation
2307 Whitetail Lane
Lake Jackson, Texas 77566
979-798-2248