Happy Trail

Houston-area's newest trail opens with blossoming plans for the future

Steven Devadanam
Houston-area's newest trail opens with blossoming plans for the future
The Spring Creek Nature Trail is the beneficiary of a national grant. Courtesy Photo

This story originally appeared on CultureMap/Houston.

Houston-area hikers can look forward to a smoother path, thanks to recent national grant. The endowment will help build additional bridges along the Spring Creek Nature Trail, a 13-mile unpaved natural surface trail located in The Woodlands. 

The funds come just as the Spring Creek Nature Trail opened to the public on June 1 with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The trail runs through Montgomery and Harris County, following the contours of Spring Creek.

The Bayou Land Conservancy — which works to conserve land and protect Lake Houston — is one of nine non-profit organizations across the country to receive a trail grant from the American Hiking Society (and charter sponsor L.L. Bean). The goal of the project is to construct and anchor a boardwalk that can be utilized by multiple groups. The conservancy will engage trail volunteers in the design and build of the boardwalk.

“Building boardwalks on the trail will prevent rutting, soil compaction, and degradation of wetland habitat resulting from trail traffic,” said Jill Boullion, Executive Director of the conservancy, in a statement. “This is a low-impact solution so that trail users can experience Houston’s forested wetlands without impacting them ecologically.”

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Jeremy Peña is having success hitting fourth. Photo by Kevin M. Cox/Getty Images.

The Houston Astros host the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night looking to keep momentum rolling and hand the Jays their fifth straight loss. First pitch is set for 7:40 p.m. EDT at Daikin Park.

Both teams enter the matchup with nearly identical records—Houston at 12-11, Toronto at 12-12—but they’re trending in opposite directions. The Astros have won six of their last ten and boast an 8-6 record at home, while the Blue Jays have dropped four straight and are just 4-7 on the road.

Ryan Gusto gets the start for Houston, entering with a 2-1 record, a 3.18 ERA, and 17 strikeouts across three appearances. He’ll go up against Bowden Francis, who brings a 3.13 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP into the game, along with 20 strikeouts in his four starts.

Jeremy Peña continues to spark the Astros lineup with three homers and three doubles, while catcher Yainer Diaz has added timely hits despite a recent slump. For Toronto, George Springer leads the team with a .333 average, and Bo Bichette has been steady at the plate, going 14-for-45 over his last 10 games.

The Blue Jays have found success when they out-hit opponents, going 10-3 in those games—but Houston’s pitching staff has held opponents to just a 2.86 ERA over the past 10 outings.

The betting line has Toronto as slight road favorites at -120, with Houston at +100 and the over/under set at 8 runs.

Here's a look at tonight's lineup. Cam Smith gets the night off in right field, with Zach Dezenzo filling in. It appears Dezenzo's thumb is fine after banging it up sliding into second base a couple of night's ago.


Image via: MLB.com/Screenshot.

Jake Myers is also getting the night off as Chas McCormick gets the start in center. And Mauricio Dubon is getting the nod, starting over Brendan Rodgers at second base.

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