Austin County Crosses Two Texas Landscapes

Austin County changes landscape before it changes county. The north, west, and middle roll through Post Oak Savannah, while the southern end settles into nearly level Coastal Prairie. Elevation falls from about 460 feet in the northwest to 120 feet in the southeast.

The transition is not a straight line. A five-mile oak-hickory belt crosses the sandy middle of the county. Prairie and woods interlace north of it, and the southern grasslands carry fringes of oak and elm. TPWD describes the wider Oak-Prairie district as an ecologically diverse meeting of Post Oak Savannah and Coastal Prairie.

Water gives the change another outline. The Brazos forms the eastern edge, the San Bernard shapes much of the west, and Mill, Piney, and Allens creeks run southeast through timber toward the Brazos. One county map holds wooded slopes, creek bottoms, and open coastal grassland together.