Kountze
Kountze was established as a railroad town in 1881. It is the seat of Hardin County, an area more than 89 percent forested that produces over 5.5 million board feet of lumber yearly.
Kountze describes itself as The Big Light in The Big Thicket, that vast area of tangled, often impenetrable woods, streams and marshes, portions of which are now protected as the Big Thicket National Preserve.
Indian Springs Camp offers guided canoe tours as well as camping facilities, including an RV park.
Be sure to check out the Big Thicket Smokehouse and Craft Corral. In a room that used to be a washateria, it now features an arts and crafts shop in a re-created frontier sawmill town. Replicas of a jail, general store, a doctor’s office, barbershop, trading post, saloon, hotel, and church give visitors an idea of what the Big Thicket used to be like.
Big Thicket Information Station
Details about the Big Thicket National Preserve, interpretive panels, information on trails and boating. Hiking trails of various lengths have interpretive panels at several locations. 7 mi. north of Kountze…
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Timber Ridge Tours
Guides/outfitters offer canoe trips, tour boat rides, hikes, van tours, and country cottage in Bit…
Learn more →Pelt Pond Rural Life Museum
Features folk art, artifacts, and other media to preserve the pioneer spirit of rural East…
Learn more →Big Thicket National Preserve
Some 97,000 acres in twelve units comprise this preserve where the southwestern desert meets the…
Learn more →Kirby-Hill House Museum
Built in 1902 by timber tycoon John Henry Kirby for his brother James. The house…
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