Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary
Managed by Houston Audubon Society
152 acres1.4 mi of trail
Dogs usually not allowed
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Jim Evans · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Bolivar Peninsula
22% of Bolivar Peninsula’s land is conserved: 6,052 acres
The biggest trail networks: Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary (1.4 mi), Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge South Unit (1 mi), Louis B. Smith Boy Scout Woods Bird Sanctuary (0.6 mi). 75 acres are parks and preserves, 25 per 1,000 residents. 21% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns · #182 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Conserved land
22%
6,052 acres · of 42.5 sq mi of land
Trails
11 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
75 ac
25 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
21%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
6
3 beaches
What kind of outdoors town is Bolivar Peninsula?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Bolivar Peninsula have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bolivar Peninsula is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #182 of 642 in Texas. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Bolivar Peninsula’s overall grade.
Conserved land22% of the land · typical TX town 2% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (11 mi) · TX 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land25 acres of park per 1,000 residents (75 acres) · TX 9 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home21% of residents within a half mile of a park · TX 69% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 61%
LessMore
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 72%
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Bolivar Peninsula’s 22% is ahead of 96% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 52% of them.
Water is 12% of Bolivar Peninsula’s area (6 of 48 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 20%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary, with 1.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge South Unit
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
1,512 acres1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Louis B. Smith Boy Scout Woods Bird Sanctuary
Managed by Houston Audubon Society
55 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dogs usually not allowed
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Fort Travis Seashore Park
Park
56 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 12 parks & preserves
Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary152 acres · 1.4 mi of trail · Houston Audubon Society
Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge South Unit1,512 acres · 1 mi of trail · United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Louis B. Smith Boy Scout Woods Bird Sanctuary55 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · Houston Audubon Society
Fort Travis Seashore Park56 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Horseshoe Marsh Bird Sanctuary1,134 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · Houston Audubon Society
McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge944 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary1,555 acres · Houston Audubon Society
Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge58 acres · United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Eubanks Woods Bird Sanctuary11 acres · Houston Audubon Society
S. E. Gast Red Bay Sanctuary7 acres · Houston Audubon Society
Hooks Woods Bird Sanctuary5 acres · Texas Ornithological Society
Port Bolivar Community Park2 acres · Galveston County
Who protects it
6,052 conserved acres
22% of Bolivar Peninsula’s land. Water is left out: Bolivar Peninsula has 42.5 square miles of land and 5.7 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Bolivar Peninsula’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service5,779 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits4,549 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government191 ac
Joint56 ac
Not recorded55 ac
National Wildlife Refuge · 5,779 acConservation Easement · 2,729 acPrivate Conservation · 2,056 acPrivate Park · 55 acState Conservation Area · 11 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 374 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 30 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 3,896 | Restricted |
| Mcfaddin National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 1,882 | Restricted |
| Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 1,710 | Closed |
| Mundy Marsh Bird Sanctuary Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 321 | Closed |
| Fort Travis Seashore Park Private Park | Not recorded | 55 | Open |
| Smith Oaks Sanctuary Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 15 | Closed |
| Rollover Island State Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 11 | Restricted |
| Eubanks Woods Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 10 | Closed |
Things to do
4 places to go in Bolivar Peninsula
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Bolivar Peninsula
Bolivar Beach
DirectionsCrystal Beach
DirectionsPlus 1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Bolivar Peninsula
1 playground without a name on the map.
Trails & water
7 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.9 mi
East Bay Drive North0.5 mi
Guppy0.4 mi
Horseshoe Marsh Nature Trail0.2 mi
Bolivar Dunes0.1 mi
Casamare0.1 mi
East Bay Drive South0.1 mi
Campbell0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
4Tennis
3Baseball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 8 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Bolivar Peninsula: April and May
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 10.4 | 11.1 | 11.9 | 12.8 | 13.6 | 14.0 | 13.9 | 13.2 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.6 | 10.3 |
| High (°F) | 61 | 64 | 70 | 75 | 82 | 87 | 89 | 90 | 87 | 80 | 70 | 64 |
| Rain (in) | 4.7 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 5.6 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 6.5 | 5.4 | 4.2 | 4.5 |
February is the driest month (3.1 in) and August the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 6.5 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Bolivar Peninsula →
Questions about parks and trails in Bolivar Peninsula
Where can I hike in Bolivar Peninsula?
The longest trail networks: Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary, 1.4 miles; Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge South Unit, 1 miles; Louis B. Smith Boy Scout Woods Bird Sanctuary, 0.6 miles; Fort Travis Seashore Park, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Bolivar Peninsula is conserved land?
22% of its land, against a typical 2% for a Texas town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Bolivar Peninsula’s trails?
Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary and Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge South Unit don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Bolivar Peninsula?
3,572 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bolivar Peninsula or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 248 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Bolivar Peninsula have?
Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #182 of 642 in Texas. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Bolivar Peninsula neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →