Description: Sims Bayou is south of downtown Houston, within the city limits, and just south of the south 610 loop. In the short trip described below is a condensed version of almost everything you can see in a bayou around Houston - lush greenery with trees touching overhead, wide open channels with no trees by the bayou - an effort to control flooding in high water, refineries, golf courses, underside of the Gulf Freeway. Don't let the manmade distractions turn you off to this pleasant, easy paddle. You can do it easily in 2-4 hours if you take both natural meanders of the original bayou course, and if that's not enough and you overshoot the takeout, you can head on down Buffalo Bayou in the section that makes the Houston Ship Channel.
Group is about to enter the meander cutoff after the first golf cart overpass - next two are in distance. |
Entering the first meander. |
More natural vegetation farther down the bayou. Notice the chemical plant in the background. |
Pond with native plants at the Sims Bayou Urban Nature Center. |
Directions: The put-in for the stretch described is at Reveille Park. To get there from Interstate 45 (Gulf Freeway), get off at the Bellfort/Howard Street exit. Go West on Bellfort (its name is Howard to the east of I-45 and Bellfort to the West) about 1.3 miles to the intersection with Telephone Road (Highway 35). Turn right (north) at this intersection, but stay in the right lane as the road forks in a short distance. Bear right on what is now Reveille Street. In a short distance you will come to first Vista Verde, and then Oak Vista. You can turn right on either of these two streets and come to Reveille Park. The best put-in place is from Vista Verde, but you will have to move your car from there to the parking lot on Oak Vista if you are leaving a car at this park. It's a long carry over the bank and down to the bayou, so be prepared.
The takeout is at Milby Park. To get there from Reveille Park, drive north on Joplin Street (forms the West side boundary of the park) to Park Place Boulevard (8 blocks). Go right (east ) on Park Place, cross under the Gulf Freeway and north on Broadway. 11 blocks north of there (next street north after Brockton) is Park Terrace, go right (east), across Old Galveston Road( Hwy 3) and the railroad tracks and you are now on Central Street. In about a half mile you will see the sign for Milby Park on your right. Turn in there and park by the big oak trees and the permanent building. There is no path from the bayou here either, so note the location carefully so you won't paddle on past it. If you run a shuttle and leave a car here, you can paddle one-way from Reveille, instead of an out-and-back trip from either location.
From the put-in, paddle downstream until the three golf cart bridges of Glenbrook Park municipal golf course come into view. Between the first and second bridges, on your left, is the opening into the first of the natural meanders. Sims Bayou Urban nature Center backs up to this oxbow. There is a steep trail leading up to the nature center from the bayou - it used to have a nice landing dock before tropical storm Allison redesigned it in June 2001. You may still scramble up the bank, but it does require an effort. When you re-emerge on the main bayou, paddle upstream a short distance (to your right), then make a left turn onto the next natural meander neck. About halfway around this meander you will see Berry Creek enter - most notable for the used-auto bermwork apparently of the landowner across the way trying to preserve his bank from Berry Creek in flood. When you re-emerge on the main bayou, you will go right (still downstream) to Milby Park. You will have to crash through the underbrush that has grown up along the bayou until you are on the mowed lawns of Milby. Enjoy a snack or meal under the big oak trees here and contemplate the bayou and the refineries beyond it.
Remember of course, this is an urban area, and there are plenty of urban animals out there who could cause you grief. Take your valuable possessions with you - or leave them at home - and be sure your car is locked.
Milby Park entrance sign |
Group picnicking after a trip on Sims Bayou |