i-20 wildlife preserve

Little to close to I-20 to forget where you are but a really nice wilderness retreat. Couple walking paths to get a little exercise, could be a little better cared for by the park service.

This place is appropriately named. It is a wildlife preserve, and there is plenty of wildlife to see. But it is also RIGHT next to I-20 and you can hear the road noise from that interstate. Kind of a bummer. But once you get over that, it's a great place. We loved the long loop and our toddler especially enjoyed the look outs and the butterfly garden. Lots of capital improvements are noticeable and a chat with a board member on our walk indicated that more money and grants have been awarded and more improvements are to come.

Tucked away off the HWY in Midland TX is this little gem. We have enjoyed spending time here. There's a nice trail and beautiful scenery. I recommend you visit.

We spend quite a bit of time in Midland for my husbands job and are always looking for something to do. This was a nice oasis from the industrial desert look. A nice walk with boardwalks through the wetland preserves and lots of shady paths (I would still pick early morning in the summer months) Birds, rabbits, a road runner, tiny toads, lizards and a perfect little hummingbird perched on a branch, beautiful dragonflies and butterflies. Well done bird blinds to observe, we were okay with just a bottle of water on this day but I imagine bug spray is a good idea most of the time and wished we had brought our binocs. Very nice morning. Two hours all the way around stopping at all the blinds and the lookouts. Definitely worth a look if you crave a little nature.

Great place as far as the outdoors go. Don't drive any distance to see it as you might find the gate locked. Seems to be hit or miss, more miss lately. No way to check prior to arrival either as the website is poorly managed as well, e-mail section to contact them is non functional. Arrived last weekend at 8:45 A.M. to find gate just being opened, had I arrived 15 min earlier I would have been out of luck. Arrived this weekend at 9:15 gate locked. Facebook page said recent closure due to ice storm and danger to public until cleaned up, fine just let people know when your open and when your closed so they don't drive out expecting one thing and get another.

Great place and so much wildlife! Truly a must see! Nice walking trails and well kept. It is even prettier when there's water in the playa but beautiful still without it.

Facility has superb infrastructure of trails, boardwalks, blinds. Forest is 90 percent escaped exotic ornamental plants...in hypersuccession with lots of dead wood of shaded out plants. Excellent butterfly finding spot in season... Sometimes " good" birds are present, but mostly common urban species. Should plant many species to increase diversity and diversify bird and insect populations. Dead brush should be knocked down to speed up development of understory.waterways should be opened up to be used as trails when dry...

Well, except for the giant oil rig right next to the preserve. That's pretty loud. But seriously, this place is a great retreat from all the dust and concrete and flat out here. There are plenty of trees and when it rains the two water areas fill up and it's beautiful. There are bird blinds all around the area which offer a retreat from the sun and a place to watch the various wildlife, take pictures, etc. Definitely a good place to visit.

Went out there with my 13yr old girl and my 3 year old cause we were looking for something to do. I expected to be hot and miserable out there but little girl was like lets just go so i was like i guess lets go. The road getting there is unpaved if you are coming from business i 20 Texas from Odessa on midland dr. Don't think your on the wrong path on getting there you will see the big metal gates there toward the end of the road. Now for the review :). You can see that the people that take care of this park really want people to enjoy this. They give you warning( on a sign) about the wild life at the beginning of the trail there even a OFF spray to keep the bugs away this is a first for me. So we listened sprayed our self down and went on. There a lot of shaded spots but be sure to bring a hat and water.Nice wooden path to follow along with some paved path . If you love dragon fly this is a must see sight of west Texas cause there tons of them. Took a little over a hour and half to do and when your done there a board to write down what wild life you saw out there nice touch i would have to say. I have to say I'm coming back when it rains would love to see how it looks like after rain :)

This is a pretty nice place for a quiet walk. Went here in April. Again after a rain in June. Saw Turtles, Jack rabbit's , fish, red birds, some good photo ops. The people tryto take good care here. That is nice to see.. plenty of shelters if you go there and it happens to rain! And it did on my second visit! Enjoy this gem in west Texas.

Such a great little trail (besides the nearby drill) ... well shaded, TREES, greenery, and great walkways.

We have family in Midland we enjoy visiting, so we've begun to frequent the area and enjoy discovering new things to venture too. We came across this nature park which is a developing nature study preserve in the midst of oil country! And are we glad we did!There is a well established trail with several bird/creature watching stations positioned over a wetland area. Yeah, wetlands - in Midland! Unfortunately drought continues to hit the area so the water ways were rather dry, but they are there. Also not sure how "healthy" the water is for the wildlife exisiting there because it does appear this is built off of the highway drainage and the paths are asphault covered, but the wildlife and rather serene created environment makes this a wonderful and comforting walk to explore. We are very impressed with the center and expect to make it a regular stop in the times we return to visit family. Progress with the center grounds continues but they have really put some great features into the start of this preserve. The tall overlook is spectacular and a slow, meandering walk is deserved for what native animals, plants, insects and birds you will see. The park is open 8am-8pm, we didn't arrive until around 10:30am and were glad to see otehr people had discovered this park as well. It truly is a suprise in the midst of industry and it's great to see parents showing their kids something so wild and raw. We think coming as early as possible will produce much better sightings and perhaps reduced noise from the nearby highway. With the asphalt covered trailways it got a little heated in spots, but nothing most Texans aren't used to and if you enjoy Texas nature you'll come prepared with a hat, shades and bottled water. Entering the park it can seem a little daunting because the first, most visible thing is the sign warning of snakes who will defend themselves! yikes! No snake sightings this time, willing to bet when the water is higher in the wetland area they might be more visible. but we got a wonderful taste of the local nature spotting road runners, horny toad, jack rabbits, ducks, cardinals, doves and butterflys. The preserve encourages birds by placing strategic bird houses and sections with fruit covered branches & bird seed feeding stations and benches for quiet observation. The trail is easily followed but we loved how it wasn't restricted to step closer in on sections you wanted to get a closer look at a creature or plant life. We think this is where the caution about snakes could come in though.The entry has a sign in log, envelopes for providing donations (entry and time in the park is free!) and a board for noting the creatures, plants and other features visitors observe.Many people may be put off by the highway noise, the junk yards from the industry sourrounding, but peace can be found if you choose to immerse yourself in the beauty nature provides, even in the middle of Midland, TX and oil country!

Wonderful walk in nature, well preserved and well manicured;great place to get fresh air and exercise and see natural flora and fauna

Who knew there were wetlands in the Permian Basin? There are here. This place just opened, pursuant to a grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife. About 3 miles of trails, boardwalk, several bird-viewing blinds, and a hawk-observation tower. It's really pretty nice. Only two things mar. First, heavy traffic noise from the interstate, which rather spoils the peacefulness, at least on the southernmost portion of the trail. Second, another section of the trail abuts a really, ugly junkyard. But hey, nature situated it where it is, and somewhat was savvy enough to make an isolated spot into an unexpected, even unlikely community asset. NOTE--there are NO PETS, and no BIKES permitted. Walkers only. The trails appear handicap accessible.