Central texas/hill country vs East texas/piney woods (Austin: camp, estate)

[ctk0p7]

Originally Posted by Surcharles

Caddo Lake

a. is the largest natural lake in the South
b. is surrounded by the largest cypress forest in the world
c. is home to a prehistoric species of fish as well as ancient trees,

The Big Thicket has been called one of the most biodiverse corners of the globe.

What relevance does the Hill Country have on the world stage? This is a serious question by the way.

I'm not sure where you are getting your information, but Caddo lake is NOT the largest natural lake in the South, you may want to look up Lake Okeechobee. As far as being surrounded by the largest cypress forest in the world, who's world would you be talking about?? Have you driven across southern Louisiana and noticed the hundreds of miles of cypress forests, or the Okefenokee cypress forests in Georgia? Maybe for future posts you shouldn't rely on crap sources of information such as wikipedia.

[mrfoe]

Originally Posted by Surcharles

Except there are no mountains in Central Texas and East Texas isn't flat. The best way to describe both areas is impressive hills with scrubby to sparse vegetation and impressive vegetation with rolling terrain to decent hills, respectively. So yeah, looking at the total package, I'm not seeing the huge edge that the Hill Country is supposed to have.

If anything, as others have said, East Texas hills are mostly hidden by the trees and the area isn't nearly as flat as many here are making it out to be. I also believe that the area receives much less notoriety because it is so isolated from everything. The Hill Country sits adjacent to the state's capital city, so of course it is going to be more popular.

The hills in east texas are nowhere near as tall or wide as the hills in central texas. Tree coverage wouldn't matter. And austin being in hill country does not make it more popular. Have you even been to central texas? The largest city in texas isnt even in hill country.

[soletaire]

East texas absolutely does have comparable hills to the hill country. The height of its trees often does obscure the contrast in elevations...if we were talking about mountains as the ones in western TN, VA, or NC, and not hills, this wouldnt be as relevant...but in the elevations we're discussing trees will certainly change the optical effect that higher elevations have...

But that is why they call it the Brazos Valley...because if you look at whats happening on the grander scale as you move away from see level at the texas coast, heading north, rolling hills and higher elevations become more evident just before you hit the actual ozarks in arkansas and at ...anyone who drives from houston to texarkana or tyler would be able to notice this distinct change..likewise as you move further west away from sea level at the texas coast, hills become more abundant...and in between these 2 increases in elevations there exists a valley in the form of the Brazos Valley forged by the brazos river....but on either side if the brazos valley, there will be a noticeable change in undulation of the terrain. One side being the hill country, the other side being east texas.

[Surcharles]

Originally Posted by ctk0p7

I'm not sure where you are getting your information, but Caddo lake is NOT the largest natural lake in the South, you may want to look up Lake Okeechobee. As far as being surrounded by the largest cypress forest in the world, who's world would you be talking about?? Have you driven across southern Louisiana and noticed the hundreds of miles of cypress forests, or the Okefenokee cypress forests in Georgia? Maybe for future posts you shouldn't rely on crap sources of information such as wikipedia.

Actually I never used Wikipedia. In fact, if you do a simple search of "largest natural lake in the south" Caddo Lake is the topic of countless pages and I see no mention of Okeechobee. As it turns out though, you are correct and I should have performed a more thorough fact check. My best guess is that the people who came up with Caddo being the largest simply do not consider South Florida part of the south, which isn't exactly surprising.

As for the cypress forest, that would be a pretty bold claim to make without even being sure it's the largest in the US. And since there doesn't seem to be any proof against it I'll say it's true. I do know that Okeefenokee isn't purely cypress so perhaps that is why it isn't considered.

[ctk0p7]

Originally Posted by soletaire

East texas absolutely does have comparable hills to the hill country. The height of its trees often does obscure the contrast in elevations...if we were talking about mountains as the ones in western TN, VA, or NC, and not hills, this wouldnt be as relevant...but in the elevations we're discussing trees will certainly change the optical effect that higher elevations have...

But that is why they call it the Brazos Valley...because if you look at whats happening on the grander scale as you move away from see level at the texas coast, heading north, rolling hills and higher elevations become more evident just before you hit the actual ozarks in arkansas and at ...anyone who drives from houston to texarkana or tyler would be able to notice this distinct change..likewise as you move further west away from sea level at the texas coast, hills become more abundant...and in between these 2 increases in elevations there exists a valley in the form of the Brazos Valley forged by the brazos river....but on either side if the brazos valley, there will be a noticeable change in undulation of the terrain. One side being the hill country, the other side being east texas.

You do know that the hill country doesn't begin until west of I-35 right?? Not west of the "Brazos Valley". Maybe a lot of people in this forum are misunderstanding the difference between "Central Texas" and "The Hill Country".

[mrfoe]

Originally Posted by ctk0p7

You do know that the hill country doesn't begin until west of I-35 right?? Not west of the "Brazos Valley". Maybe a lot of people in this forum are misunderstanding the difference between "Central Texas" and "The Hill Country".

So true

[soletaire]

Originally Posted by ctk0p7

You do know that the hill country doesn't begin until west of I-35 right?? Not west of the "Brazos Valley". Maybe a lot of people in this forum are misunderstanding the difference between "Central Texas" and "The Hill Country".

Um, you do know I never said anything about central texas right?...you did notice that "right"? I specifically omitted the use of the words central texas so as not to conflate the 2, and then here you come along talking about some "you do know da da da."..and then go on to imply that I have misunderstood the meaning of hill country vs central tx. No...hill country is hill country and central texas just happens to encompass it. Just like the piney woods is only a part of east texas but not all of it...not sure what could be unclear about that.

[ctk0p7]

Originally Posted by soletaire

Um, you do know I never said anything about central texas right?...you did notice that "right"? I specifically omitted the use of the words central texas so as not to conflate the 2, and then here you come along talking about some "you do know da da da."..and then go on to imply that I have misunderstood the meaning of hill country vs central tx. No...hill country is hill country and central texas just happens to encompass it. Just like the piney woods is only a part of east texas but not all of it...not sure what could be unclear about that.

Let me know when you find some comparable hills in East Texas that are over 2000 ft.

[soletaire]

Originally Posted by ctk0p7

Let me know when you find some comparable hills in East Texas that are over 2000 ft.

Let me know when you find a tree over 10 feet in the hill country...and cactuses dont count...lol

[Surcharles]

Originally Posted by ctk0p7

Let me know when you find some comparable hills in East Texas that are over 2000 ft.

I'm guessing you're talking about elevation and not prominence. For anyone who is unaware, the latter term refers to how tall a hill or mountain looks from the ground level.