Upland Island Wilderness

By 1930 loggers had chopped down almost all the pine with any commercial value here, leaving behind a few small "islands" of immature trees and remnants of sawmill sites. A dense cover of second-growth pines and hardwoods now fills out the Wilderness, while the more stately longleaf pines have established fiefdoms on the wide, flat ridge tops. Upland Island may be the most interesting Texas national forestland acreage, with flora ranging from the carnivorous pitcher plant to wild azaleas and rose pogonias, a member of the orchid family. The "upland" portion, to the south, rises only a few hundred feet above sea level. The terrain flattens in the northern section, and again in a small southern section bordered by the Neches River and separated from the remainder of the Wilderness by a non-Wilderness road corridor. Water flows in Cypress Creek, Salt Branch, Oil Well Creek, Big Creek, and Graham Creek. Numerous trails give access to the area, some along abandoned roads, and hiking and horseback riding are relatively easy. From a trailhead on Forest Service Road 303 you can hike in half a mile to join the primary north-south pathway, which crosses the area for approximately six miles.