Living in Houston, it’s easy to get bogged down by the urban sprawl, especially when you’re sitting in standstill traffic on one of our many, many highways. Sign up for the Hello, Houston! daily newsletter to get local reports like this delivered directly to your inbox.

If you’ve ever wanted to escape from the sea of concrete, but don’t want to travel halfway across the state, there are opportunities well within reach, including a nearly 5,000-acre forest about 30 miles outside the city proper.

Lake Houston Wilderness Park , located near New Caney, TX, offers a number of ways to enjoy nature, from numerous trails for hiking and biking, waterways for canoeing or kayaking, camping grounds, and even an archery range.

Suzanne Simpson is a local ecologist and the co-author of Wild Hous

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