The smallest county is Rockwall in North Central Texas with 154 square miles. The state's surface ranges from sea level to rocky ramparts looming above a mile high in the mountainous Trans-Pecos region. The southern terminus of the table-flat Great Plains of the United States fills much of the Texas Panhandle. Nearly as flat are vast coastal plains along the entire arc of the Gulf of Mexico. Grassy, rolling prairies.
Deep forests blanket millions of East Texas acres.
In the Central Texas Hill Country, steep limestone hills enfold secluded valleys. There are sun-baked desert lands, rich, black farm lands, humid swamps where wild orchids grow, and dramatic volcanic intrusions of dark basalt and glistening granite. They extend over all or parts of 43 counties and include four national forests covering 634,912 acres. Since 1986, Texas has been harvesting more pine timber than it grows, leading to increased concern over reforestation. In 1990, the pine harvest was 12 percent higher than growth, while the hardwood harvest was 65 percent of growth.