Our stay in Rockport was supposed to be 2 weeks, so we decided to take it easy on tourist destinations.
Goose Island State Park
Our first stop was Goose Island State Park, a short 3.5 mile drive away from the RV park. Goose Island offers fishing, camping, and birding opportunities all year long. We just wanted to briefly check it out, so we drove through the camping areas for future stay ideas. Then we headed to the fishing pier for some scenic photo opportunities.
We didn’t bring the tripod on this initial visit, but there are some spectacular views to be had at the right time of day.
There were a lot of people fishing that day, so I didn’t get any of the pier length, but we will go back again.
The Big Tree
Part of Goose Island State Park, but located outside the park boundaries, the Big Tree is a coastal live oak tree.
Some information about the tree:
The Big Tree at Goose Island State Park was named the State Champion Coastal Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) in 1966. The San Bernard Oak on the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge dethroned it in 2003. The Big Tree is still one of the largest live oak trees in Texas and in the nation.
- Trunk circumference: 35 feet 1.75 inches or 10.71 meters
- Average trunk diameter: 11 feet 2.25 inches or 3.41 meters
- Crown spread: 89 feet or 27.1 meters
- Height: 44 feet or 13.4 meters
- Age: Exact age is unknown – but it is centuries old.
Around the Big Tree is a wooden fence.
Growing up around the fence were plenty of flowers that attracted butterflies, so I spent some time getting a few action shots of butterflies.
We definitely plan on checking out Goose Island State Park and the Big Tree again. Have you been there before?
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