Bear Creek Pioneers Park

Bear Creek occupies 2,154 acres of the 26,000 acre, 138 square miles, Addicks Reservoir Watershed. The reservoir was built in the 1940s to control the various creeks that all flow into Buffalo Bayou that traverses all of Houston. The park was built in 1965 and was designed with flooding in mind and has endured a long list of hurricanes, tropical storms, and floods over the years. However, the past few years of record breaking floods, and the most recent catastrophic Harvey flood has altered the landscape for sure. Harvey put much of the park under 15' of water. No matter how deep the flood, by the time the roads are open to the park, the water levels in the park are about the same. While flooding is surely killing trees and eroding the land, we can't forget that the record breaking, statewide drought of 2011 is responsible for killing millions of trees across Texas. 

This gallery showcases Bear Creek as a flood basin rather than a scenic park. I have photos from the Park in the Landscape gallery that explore other interesting aspects of the area, but this gallery either shows the waterlogged landscape or the obvious aftermath.

UPDATE 10/02/2023 Color photography may replace or add to the existing presentation as I redesign this website to showcase color work.