Wichita Forest Guided Nature Tour

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Difficulty: Easy
Length: 2.8 miles / 4.5 km
Duration: 1-3 hours

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Overview: The City of Highland Village has a beautiful park system with three parks located on the shoreline of Lake Lewisville. The Wichita Forest, a wonderful little known nature preserve of about 75 acres adjacent to Lake Lewisville, is free. There is a small parking lot near the trail head just off Highland Village Road. Bruce Lockhart Park is a small improved park adjoining this parking lot.

The Wichita Forest nature trail is within the Eastern Cross Timbers region of Texas. The original region was approximately 19,000 square miles of gently rolling to hilly landscape. This nature trail is but a small remnant measuring only ½ mile deep by ¼ mile wide.

The Cross Timbers are drought-stressed woodlands, populated by low-stature, slow-growing trees. It has typically sandy soils with some pockets of clay. The dominate tree is the Post oak. The surviving Post oaks are in the 200 to 400 year old range, though their diameter may be only 12 – 18 inches.

The name Cross Timbers came from early European settlers traveling east to west because they found belts of oak forest dividing prairie grasslands. They used these strips as markers or reference points before the availability of good maps.

Wichita Forest has numerous trails and a wonderful diversity of plants and wildlife. There is something new all along the trails in all seasons. One trail is designated as joint use equestrian trail.

This guide was developed by local Master Naturalists.

Tips: Bruce Lockhart Park is a small improved park adjoining the Wichita Forest parking lot. It has a large covered gazebo with picnic tables and is a great place to meet friends at the start or end of you r hiking adventure.

There are no rest rooms facilities or drinking water available in the Wichita Forest. The hike is easy, but the trails do vary up and down throughout the park. The Wichita Forest is a small area, with many crossing trails. The thick woods make is easy to get lost even though you are never far away from civilization.

This self-guided tour is available for download on EveryTrail.com.

Check out my other self-guided tours and Trips:

They include the LLELA Nature Center in Lewisville:
Beaver Pond Kayak Water Trail
Cicada Trail
Cottonwood Trail
Bittern Marsh Trail
Pioneer House Tour
Redbud Trail

Wichita Forest Nature Trail - Highland Village
Wichita Forest Nature Guide - Highland Village
Cross Timbers Nature Trail - City of Denton
Ray Roberts Lake State Park - Pilot Point

You can take these Guides and trips on the trail with you! Go to EveryTrail for information on how to download the free app to your iPhone or Android phone. Once you have downloaded the EveryTrail app, you can download the tours and walk the trail with your phone as your guide.

Points of Interest

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Wichita Forest Entrance and Bruce Lockhart Park

The parking area is just off Highland Village Road.
The trail head is a short distance down the dirt road called Chisum Trail. Look for a rustic color coded wooden map at the trailhead entrance.

Wichita Forest Trail Entrance Sign Photo

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Wichita Forest Maps and Trail Markers

The Evironmental Protection Agency created a map of the original Cross Timbers and Prairie regions.

At the Wichita Forest trailhead there is a rustic trail map color coded with red, yellow, and blue trails. There are a few color coded trail markers with directional arrows inside the park. Caution, this map appears oriented upside down.

Along the trails other information signs remain from the Troop 265 Eagle Scout 2005 Project. These signs provide detailed information about the plants and wildlife. They also have a small 'you are here' location map in the upper left corner. These small maps are oriented correctly.

Regional Map of Cross Timbers Region Photo

Troop 265 Eagle Project 2005 Welcome Sign Photo

Red and Blue Color Coded Trail Marker Photo

Color Coded Trail Map for Wichita Forest Photo

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Barbed Wire and Invasive Plants

Notice the barb wire sections in this area. Patents were given to various inventors between the years of 1867 – 1874, however Joseph F. Glidden in 1874, received his patent and is remembered as the Father of Barb wire. “Devil’s rope” as it was also known did not easily come to Texas. Conflicts between the free range grazers and small farming/ranching settlers led to what is known of as the Fence Cutter Wars. Following much bloodshed, laws were passed making fence cutting illegal.

Beside the native trees found in the Wichita Forest, you will find numerous invader species. Non-natives plants, such as, large leaf ligustrum, privet, mimosa, nandina, Chinese photinia, liriope, chinaberry, cherry laurel and honey locust have escaped from surrounding yards. These invaders were deposited here after birds, squirrels, coyotes and other animals ate the berries of these plants.

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Color Coded Trail Marker for Red and Blue Trails

Here is the first of many trail loops. You will find one of the new color coded markers with directional arrows. Blue trail is to the north and the Red trail is to the west.

Look for the older Eagle Scout Informaiton sign about Dragons of the Forest. Insects are the largest and most diverse kingdom on earth. They pollinate our crops, decompose our litter, eat harmful insects, and delight us with their beauty and diversity. Despite their small size, their defenses range from near perfect camouflage, to the stink of the stink bugs, and the stinging hairs on caterpillars.

Red and Blue Color Coded Trail Maker Photo

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Wild Grapevines

Look above you into the treetops at the wild grapevines. A wild grapevine may live for well over a century, climbing high into the tree tops. Birds find their dense foliage excellent sanctuary, and some use the bark for their nests. Fruit, leaves, and young shoots are edible, but the roots are poisonous. Fruits from various grapevines were one of the survival foods of the Native American Indians, early pioneers, and settlers. The fruit is food for game birds, song birds, and small animals. Deer relish the stems and foliage. The old dehydrated clusters of wild grapes are sought in cold weather.

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Poison Ivy Vine

Look for vines climbing the tree trunks. In the winter Poison Ivy does not have leaves of three for you to see, but the vine can be recognized by its many hairy roots attaching to the trees. these roots will make you itch just like the leaves.

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Harvesting Hole and Texas Native Toothache Tree, Zanthoxylum clava-herculis

The large hole adjacent to the trail was left behind after native plant harvesting. Such environmental damage may take many years to heal, but nature is determined.

At the back of the hole you will notice a young Prickly ash tree or Hercules’ club, also known as the toothache tree. It is a member of the citrus family and was used by Indians to treat a range of illnesses. Examine the wonderful textured bark. Look higher on the tree to see sharp thorns still sticking out of the bumps.

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Feathered Friends

Here deep in the Wichita Forest you can stop, listen and watch for a wide range of birds. This small natural area is home to many permanent species and attracts several migratory visitors. The Cedar Waxwings stop here to feed on the berries of the Juniper or Red Cedar trees.

As natural areas give way to growth and development, we are becoming aware of the impact on native plant communities and wildlife.

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Red-eyed Viero Bird Nest

The Red-eyed Viero build its cup nest in a fork of a branch, usually just at or below eye level. It uses leaves and other forest material to carefully camouflage its home. It feeds on caterpillars, aphids and berries.

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Hidden Homes and Trails

Watch for holes, trails and tracks. Listen for movement in the area. Is it squirrels racing through the treetops, a bobcat or coyote ducking into the underbrush, or an armadillo digging for insects? Look closer and you might spot a nest, or an animal trail crossing the path. Wichita Forest is home to a wide range of native animals.

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Wild Passion Vines, Passiflora lutea and Passiflora incarnata

Spring to summer you will find wild passion vines growing in Wichita Forest. Look carefully and you can find Passiflora lutea. This more gentile member of the passion vine family grows in the shade of low moist woods. It produces a blossom about the size of your thumbnail, and fruit the size of a grape.

The more common Maypop, Passiflora incarnate, is located on the side of the park adjacent to the lake. Maypop grows in open sunny spaces and can cover a lot of territory. It produces cream colored blossom with purple fringe. The fruit is large, 2-3 inches long. Orange-yellowed colored when ripe. Passion vine is the host plant for Gulf and Variegated Fritillary butterflies.

Gulf Fritillary on Passiflora incarnata Photo

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Another Blue Trail Loop

Another loop on the Blue trail joins here. Look closely for tree fungus and lichen as you hike the various loops.

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Greenbrier, Smilax

Imagine yourself in a different time, where there are no cars, no hard-surfaced roads, or no roads at all. The open grasslands of the Post Oak Savannah is behind you and ahead directly across your path are these trees. Post oaks, and cedar elms closely crowding together joined by sumac, coralberry and plum thickets. Hanging in a thorny barricade, is greenbrier. Early travelers regarded the Cross Timbers as a nearly impassable wilderness.

Greenbrier, Smilax, is a spiny, stout, thicket-forming vine whose thorny stems can form impenetrable curtains in eastern forests. It has small, greenish flowers May to June; fruit ripens first or second year, depending on the variety and is black. The fruit is eaten by a large number of birds. Tubers are eaten by hogs, raccoon, opossum and rabbit; but were also used by Native Americans.

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A Loop Within a Loop

One of many intersecting paths on the Blue trail creating a loop within a loop.

Along the forest floor you can spot cactus pads. The main variety of cactus in this area of North Texas is Prickly Pear, Opuntia sp.

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Blue Trail View

This is a typical view of the trail during late fall. In this small area you can find something new everytime you hike the trails. The thick woods and many intersecting loops make is easy to get lost even though you are never far away from civilization.

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Rosettegrass and Woodsia Cliff Ferns

Surprises are on every loop. Here in this one spot you can find a small group of Woodsia cliff ferns.

The grass is Scribner rosettegrass, Scribner dichanthelium, a native cool season perennial.

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Soil Building on the Blue Trail

Where lichens have found a home on them, many exposed rocks in the park provide a chance to see soil building in progress. Over time, the organic acids produced by lichens’ symbiotic association of alga and fungus, combined with nature’s elements, slowly break down the stone. Mosses then follow once decomposition has begun.

The process of weather, animals, insects, and worms tilling and churning the earth and organic debris for 500 years or so produces one inch of new soil.

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Blue Trail Joins Red Trail at This Color Coded Trail Marker

The Blue trail is a series of loops at the north end of Wichita Forest. The Red trail goes east and west through the center. To return to the trail head go east on the Red trail. Go west to hike more Red trail loops or reach the outer Yellow trail.

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Hickory and Possumhaw Trees on the Blue Trail

Hickories are our most important native nuts. The hickory tree’s name comes from the Indian name for liquor that was concocted from the shells and kernels. The Indians and colonists used the nuts for food and even tapped the sweet sap in the spring for syrup.

They are slow growing trees, and sometimes reach 250 years old. The shellbark does not produce nuts until they are nearly 80 years old. Wood ducks, ring-necked pheasants, and turkeys compete with humans for nuts. Black bears, deer, raccoons, squirrels and rabbits eat the bark and nuts.

Possumhaw holly (Ilex decidua) is either male or female and must be pollinated to create berries. It is easily seen in winter with its many small red, orange, or yellow berries along leafless slender gray twigs. Berries stay until new leaves arrive in spring. Possums, raccoons, other mammals, songbirds and game birds eat the fruit.

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Prairie

It is in these open areas that a predator, may find hunting opportunities. In season you might see Mississippi Kites, Red tailed or Sharp-shin hawks soaring in the skies above. The native grasses provide cover for the mice and small rodents. Occasionally you will see Roadrunners capturing lizards on the ground.

Depending upon time of year and annual rainfall amounts, this meadow will be filled with wildflowers. The early spring primrose starts off season, followed by paintbrush, penstemon, bluebonnets, coreopsis, antelope horn milkweed, bee balm, purple coneflower and fall asters.

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Cedar Elm, Ulmus crassifolia

There are several varieties of elm in Texas. Cedar elm is the only one that blooms in fall and is known for its bright yellow fall foliage. The seeds are part of the diet of several bird species. Wild turkeys in Texas use elm seeds and buds for 5 to 10 percent of their diet. Squirrels also eat the buds.

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Yellow and Red Color Coded Trail Marker

Here you are on the outer Yellow trail. Go west to stay on the outer Yellow trail or go north to reach the interior Red trail. You will join the Red trail at its center. You can then go east on the Red trail to return to the trail head.

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Red Trail Marker

The Red trail runs east and west across the interior of Wichita Forest. Hike the Red trail east to return to the trail head.

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Photo at Red and Yellow Trails

Go west to the western Yellow trail loop. Go east to continue on the outer Yellow Trail. Go north to continue hiking on the Red trail loops, or to get to the northern Blue trail.

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Mexican Plum, Prunus mexicana

This is the star of our native plums. It makes a beautiful wide spreading tree that when blooming is a buzz with bees. Among the first to bloom in spring, they have a strong sweet fragrance. The plums change in late summer from yellow to mauve to purple as they ripen. A wide variety of birds and mammals like to feast on them. Humans use the fruit for jams and jellies, and as a great sauce for meats. Fruits were sun dried by Native Americans for winter treats

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Yellow Trail Marker

This Yellow trail marker is the start of the western loop of the outer Yellow trail. The western loop has one small inner loop and a short spur leading to Sellmeyer Lane at the top.

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Cactus, Opuntia sp.

throughout the Wichita Forest you will find small patches of cactus. Most of the cactus in this area belong to the Opuntia species. The common is Prickly Pear. Like grasses, you have to wait to see the flower or seed head for definitive identification.

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Hackberry, Celtis laevigata

Six hackberry species grow in Texas. The smooth gray bark develops large corky bumps in older trees. They bear red, brown, or orange fruit that in some varieties is quite sweet. It is essential to wildlife habitat. Hackberry fruit contain fats that are a primary source of energy for migrant birds. The fruit is popular with small mammals and birds.

Hackberry is extremely drought tolerant because it stores water in the trunk tissues. It responds to even a slight shower due to the shallow root system.

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Yellow Trail Marker at Spur to Sellmeyer Lane

Coming from Sellmeyer Lane, you can hike the western Yellow trail loop going east or south. When coming to this marker from the western Yellow trail loop, the spur to Sellmeyer Lane is to the west.

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Eastern Cottonwood; Populus deltoids

As you enter the Wichita Forest you can’t help but admire the tall Eastern Cottonwoods standing like ancient centennials to this forest. Water lovers, these trees are most often found in riparian (waterway) bottomland. It grows up to 5 feet per year the first 25 years.

Take a moment to listen…do you hear the rustle of the leaves high above. Cottonwood got its common name from the abundance of cottony seeds that float from the female trees in early spring.

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Sellmeyer Lane Entrance

You have to look closely to see the path into the Wichita Forest from Sellmeyer Lane. It appears a just a small opening in the trees.

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Inland Sea Oats, Chasmanthium latifolium

In the bottomland along the creek bed you will find a very hardy grass. In moist poorly drained loams, inland sea oats create a solid mat and keeps sandy or muddy creek banks from eroding. In the fall big drooping seed heads turn a striking golden brown. They reseed and spread under moist conditions but are far less aggressive in dryer areas. Wildlife value includes food sources for birds as well as larval food for butterflies.

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Trees Tied in Knots

Look closely at this tree along the path. Is it just one tree or two close friends? Can you figure out how the trunks grew to look like this? This is just another example of nature’s whimsy.

As you continue along the path you will enter a bottomland habitat characterized by low, flat, or depressed topography within the flood plain. Dark, slowly permeable, loamy soils are most common in this habitat type. Bottomland hardwoods such as cottonwoods, hackberry, bois d‘arc and elm comprise the canopy.

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Bois d' Arc, Maclura pomifera

Can you spot the telltale orange bark of the bois d’arc tree? Also called Osage orange, its common name comes from the Osage tribe which traded the trees, wood, and bows of the wood with numerous other tribes. The early French traders called the tree "bois d'arc" or wood of bow, a reference to the bows used by woodland tribes. The wood is impervious to termites and rot. Often used for fences, if the posts were installed before the wood dried, they took root and became hedges.

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Indian Marking Tree?

Observe the tree with the arched bend in the trunk.

Indian Marker Trees are a very rare and exciting sight representing the rich history of days gone by in our area. From very early times, there was a system of trails in place that enabled Native Americans to travel just about anywhere. The purpose of these trees was to point the way to other trails, springs, caves, water crossing points, sources of food, shelter, water, other tribes, trading places and danger.

Usually the trees chosen as markers were oak due to their strength and longevity. There are many different configurations. The trail would be marked by bending, then tying down a sapling.

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Post Oak, Quercus stellate

The Cross Timbers are drought-stressed woodlands, populated by low-stature, slow-growing trees, many of which predate statehood and the birth of the United States. Numerous post oaks surviving in the Cross Timbers are in the 200 to 400 year old range, though their diameter may be only 12 – 18 inches.

Our area is their extreme western boundary. They are shrubs or small trees due to the harsher conditions. They do not like over watering or root disturbance. High mortality is evident when construction occurs and their soil environment changes. Acorns provide food for deer and wild turkey.

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Hypoxylon canker

Hypoxylon canker is a fungus that causes the decline and death of oak, elm, pecan, hickory, sycamore, maple and other hardwood trees. It readily infects damaged, stressed, or weakened trees.

Once hypoxylon actively infects a tree, the tree will likely die. There is no treatment or cure. The fungus spreads by airborne spores. Known to be present in many healthy trees, it can survive for long periods of time in the inner bark without invading the sapwood until the tree is stressed or weakened.

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Eastern Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana

Juniper is the most widely distributed conifer in North America and remains closely linked to spirits. One myth is that parents burned juniper during childbirth in the belief that its smoke prevented the fairies from substituting a changeling for their newborn child. Today the aromatic blue-black berrylike cones of common juniper are the primary source of flavor in gin.

The berries are used by many animals, like opossum, and 50 species of birds. Juniper is the host larval plant of the Hairstreak butterfly.

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Views of Lake Lewisville

Wichita Forest extends across Highland Village Road. There are many wonderful views of the lake and a sandy beach edge.

The home in this area has been acquired by Highland Village. Future plans are for a Nature Center.

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Entrance to YMCA camp

This is the entrance for the YMCA Camp adjacent to Wichita Forest.

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Master Naturalists on the trail

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Master Natualist On The Trail

Pictures in this guide taken by: RonFellows, This map was compiled by the EPA, Troop 265 Eagle Scout Project 2005 with Elm Fork Chapter of Master Naturalists, Diana Block, Elm Fork Chapter of Master Naturalist

How does this work?

Although I have not visited these trails, I surely will do it now. Great work!

by mnannie on Dec 27, 2010