Outdoor Recreation

Cold weather is seldom an issue for outdoor activities, as Houston averages less than one measurable snowfall every four years. Our annual average rainfall is about 50 inches per year, ensuring lush lawns, large trees, and beautiful gardens overflowing with flowers. 

Parks 

The Houston area has the largest county park in the U.S.—George Bush Park. The region also contains the third-largest municipal park in the U.S.—Cullen Park. Near Houston’s city center, Hermann Park is among the top dozen most visited parks in the U.S. according to a 2014 report by the Trust for Public Land (TPL).

The City of Houston contains 52,154 acres of parks, according to the TPL. Houston’s Parks and Recreation Department manages the city’s 366 developed municipal parks and more than 200 green spaces. Additionally, Harris County maintains 179 parks totaling 25,126 acres and 45 trails totaling 228.8 miles. 

The Houston area specifically is home to numerous bio-regions that make outdoor explorations at our local, regional, and state parks an adventure in diversity. Very few places in the world have the amount of biodiversity as can be found in the Houston region.

Activities

Texas offers a wide variety of hunting and fishing. The numerous species of wild game found in Texas allows hunters to pursue deer, turkey, javelina, antelope, aoudad sheep, small game, and migratory game birds. Duck, goose and dove hunting are extremely popular. Other small game includes quail, squirrel, and pheasant.  

The City of Houston Bikeway Program is a 345-mile bikeway network spanning across the city and providing access to 500 square miles throughout Houston. City parks offer 80 more miles of hike and bike and nature trails. Several locations near Houston provide more adventurous cycling. 

Just west of Houston, in Washington County, cyclists can make a day of visiting historical Texas sites, seeing real, large working ranches, and visit small immigrant towns to savor their old-world charm.