Texas Regions What region do you live in?

Panhandle Plains The northern most area of Texas is called the panhandle. It is straight and narrow like the handle of a pan with the broader area of the state below it, like the bottom of a pan.

Facts about the Panhandle Region This land has mostly flat, grassy lands or plains. This land is also called the Llano Estacado or “ Staked Plains”. The land is mostly treeless and is on a high flat plateau. The Red River, Pecos River, and the Brazos River are located in this region.

Big Bend Country                  West Texas has wide-open spaces with rugged plateaus (plat-toes) and desert mountains. The plateaus have short grasses and brush.

Facts About The Big Bend Country Big Bend Country is a region of extremes. The desert is dry and hot in the day and cool at night. The only mountains in Texas are found in Big Bend Country. The Rio Grande River runs along the southern part of the Big Bend Country. The Rio Grande is one of the longest rivers in North America. This region is called "Big Bend" because the Rio Grande River turns here in a big bend.

Hill Country                  The Hill Country of Texas was once considered a sacred (holy) place for the Native Americans that lived here long ago.

Facts About the Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is located in Central Texas. The land is rolling to hilly grassland. There are many springs and some steep canyons in this area. Central Texas was once a land of many springs. Human use and development has stopped the flow of many springs. In the central part of this region, there are large granite domes or uplifted areas. The most famous one is Enchanted Rock near Fredericksburg.

South Texas Plains                  Birdwatchers from across the world come to the South Texas Plains to view the many birds along the border and coastal areas.

Facts About South Texas Plains The South Texas plains and brush country stretches from the edges of the Hill Country into the subtropical regions of the Lower Rio Grande valley. Much of the area is dry and covered with grasses and thorny brush such as mesquite and prickly pear cacti. The Rio Grande is a very long river. Where it flows through South Texas is called the lower Rio Grande valley. Palms, subtropical woodlands and even citrus trees grow here.

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast stretches along the Gulf of Mexico for hundreds of miles.

Facts About the Gulf Coast Cities like Corpus Christi, Galveston, and Houston are in the Gulf Coast region. Near the gulf waters you can see marshes, barrier islands, estuaries (where salty sea water and fresh river water meet), and bays As you travel west, you can see prairies and grasslands. Here you can find barrier islands along the coast, salt grass marshes surrounding bays and estuaries, a few remaining patches of tall grass prairies, scattered along the coast and tall woodlands in the river bottomlands.

Pineywoods                  Swamps are common, particularly in the southern most area of the region which is called the “Big Thicket.”

Facts About the Piney Woods The East Texas region is primarily a thick forest of pines, hence the name Pineywoods! The terrain is rolling with lower, wetter bottomlands that grow hardwood trees such as elm, mesquite and ash. This region is home to a variety of plants and animals that like woodlands and shorelines. Among them are: cottonmouth snakes, squirrels, rabbits and opossums.

Prairies and Lakes                  Giant dinosaurs once roamed this region long, long ago. Fossils of 17 different dinosaurs have been found including Tyrannosaurus Rex!

Facts About Prairies and Lakes The Prairies and Lakes region is in north central and central Texas Patches of woodland running in a north and south direction are sprinkled throughout this grassland prairie. The land is gently rolling to hilly. This region is sometimes called “cross timbers” because these patches of treed areas cross strips of prairie grassland. The soil here is rich, fertile, and black. Part of this region is called Blackland Prairie because of this.

Bibliography http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/kids/about_texas/regions/index.phtml http://www.tourtexas.com/texasmap_regions.html