The Big Thicket National Preserve deep in the bayou country of far east Texas is unique and mysterious, one of the most biologically-diverse areas in North America. Huge Cypress trees grow out of the swampy water; the Thicket is alive with abundant wildlife. If blindfolded and taken there, you might guess a dozen times and never once think you were in Texas. Close your eyes and turn around thrice and you surely would be lost in a land that resembles a scene from a fairy tale world.

Yet adventurers will discover many guided and self-guided canoe opportunities to explore this remarkable preserve, a designated International Biosphere Reserve, regardless your skill level. There are also hiking and biking opportunities in the 97,000-acre park -- an adventurer's unique getaway destination.

The Big Thicket -- lands richly diverse in biological resources -- some of the richest diversity in North America. Natural processes have influenced the region over the millennium. The last Ice Age brought a character change on the natural systems found here. The cold environment "pushed" or encouraged species to move from separate ecological systems into a close "neighborhood." Today, species from the Gulf Coastal Plains, Eastern Forests, and Central Plains share space with species indicative of swamps and bayous. Baldcypress swamps are a short distance from upland pine savannahs and sandhills. Roadrunners watch eastern bluebirds fly to and from their nests in nearly trees.

The Big Thicket is not your stereotypical tourist attraction, but the 65,000 people who visit each year find an enveloping solitude and a biological diversity unmatched in North America.

Before planning a real adventure into the dark and mysterious Thicket, purchase this guide to the backwaters, streams, rivers, lakes, swamps and tributaries of the region. Read the reviews alone and you will know the significance to this bio-diverse preserve.