W.G. Jones State Forest Brings a Working Forest Into the Suburbs

Hemmed in by Conroe, The Woodlands, and the rest of south Montgomery County, W.G. Jones State Forest is 1,722 acres of pine that the subdivisions never swallowed. It belongs to the Texas A&M Forest Service and started life under a plainer name, State Forest No. 2.

It's run as a working forest for resource education, research, and native plants and wildlife, not as a manicured city park, and people use it that way: hiking, biking, horseback riding, bird watching, picnics, and a fair amount of plain outdoor study. Nearly 17 miles of trails and pathways thread the property.

It's a big part of why south Montgomery County feels greener than its growth rate would suggest. Two things to plan around, though. Jones is open daylight hours only, and it's pack-in, pack-out, so whatever you carry in, including the trash, comes back out with you.