Help with parks, flowers, and walking trails in Northwest Houston...?

I am thinking of coming to Houston at the end of March. I am bringing my mom. She loves flowers and birds and walking trails. We will be west of the Bush Airport. I am afraid to drive downtown or any place that is really congested. But we will have some time on a Sunday explore a bit. Are there any botanical gardens or large parks in the north area? Also, any suggestions on places to eat? We don't want anything extravagant but something different might be fun.

Help with parks, flowers, and walking trails in Northwest Houston...?
Sonne, as I remember you're going to be in Temple, right? That is over a hundred miles from Houston (190 from Bush Intercontintal). Aside from flying through here, do you really want to drive all the way back to see flowers?





You might want to check out what is in Temple, since you said you were visiting there. Here's info from the Chamber of Commerce site





http://www.templetx.org/visit/index.htm





The only hiking trails are Memorial Park (inside loop 610 not far from the Arboretum.. and the high traffic areas I told you about) and Bayou Park (near downtown, also a high traffic area).





Here's a link to the Houston Park System, but you really won't be that impressed...





http://www.texasoutside.com/houston/Park...





The current "conventional wisdom" in Houston is DOG parks... places where you can take Rover so he can poo out in the great wide open... and you can get it on your shoes.





I do know of one small bird sanctuary that is on Houston's west side. It is the Edith Moore Nature Sanctuary, and it is about a mile from our condo. It isn't large (17 acres and change), but there are a lot of bird varieties there. Rummel Creek runs through it, and that leads to some interesting wildlife, considering that it is surrounded by 45 year old subdivisions. Rummel Creek runs to Buffalo Bayou, which eventually turns into the Houston Ship Channel, which runs into the Gulf of Mexico. The sanctuary is mostly piney woods. It is up to you whether you want to make the trip (it is also about 30 miles from Bush Intercontinental Airport).





Here's that web site:





http://www.houstonaudubon.org/index.cfm/...
Reply:Go to Mercer Atboretum in the center of Houston (free) for lots of walking trails or Armand Bayou Nature Center in Clear Lake for a wilder experience(nominal fee). I don't know of any public trails in North Houston, but you could look in the Woodlands. I'd call the River Oaks Garden Center for locations and ideas you can really count on.