Buffalo Bayou bisects the area of Barker Reservoir as it places the lands of the Habermacher family to the south of the bayou and the lands of the Marks family to the north.

The Habermacher family was the most prominent family in the area from the 1830's to the 1880's. Thomas and his wife Marie brought their family from Germany to the area along the San Felipe Road. They were typical in many ways of the German settlers to the region during the 1830's, some of whom settled in the northern part of Harris County while others settled west of Houston in the area known, then and now, as Spring Branch. But, although many of the other Germans took up farming, the Habermachers seemed to focus on cattle, mules and wagons. They were teamsters hauling the cotton and other goods between the Brazos farmland and the shipping centers Houston and Harrisburg.

In the late 1840's Prince Solms-Braunfels mentions stopping at Habermacher's on his trips from Houston to New Braunfels. By the 1870's, Habermacher Settlement was a prominent station on the Texas Western Narrow Gauge Railroad that carried cotton from Pattison to Houston.

August T. Marks was a cowboy who rode in the cattle drives after the Civil War. By the 1870's, Marks was acquiring land in the area. The family still maintains a remnant of the formerly vast LH7 Ranch near I-10 and Barker-Clodine Road. Emil Marks took over the ranch from his father in 1891 and he made it one of the premier cattle ranches in the region. In the 1930's Marks helped found the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. He was one of the organizers of the Salt Grass Trail Ride.

This reach of Buffalo Bayou flows across the coastal prairie lands south of Katy and I-10. Historically, it was not much more than a large drainage ditch. In recent times, however, it has been channelized and widened into a retention basin to serve the drainage needs of the Cinco Ranch development. The greenbelt long the bayou from TX99 to Westheimer Parkway actually has become a welcome access point for hiking, biking and canoeing in the far southwestern reaches of the reservoir.

There is a small, unpaved parking area where the bayou crosses Westheimer Parkway. A county park extends south along the west bank. It is possible to put your canoe or kayak in at this point and paddle upstream to the junction of Buffalo Bayou and the Diversion Canal where a lake has been formed.

Upstream of the Westheimer Parkway bridge, however, the bayou is off limits to paddling due to Corps of Engineers regulations. But it is also worth noting that the bayou retains its native, wild and untamed character from this point until it reaches the gates of the reservoir spillway. The small narrow stream flows through a riparian forest that clogs and overhangs the streambed, often making it impassible by boat due to fallen trees and logjams.

The area along Westheimer Parkway and east of the bayou crossing is George Bush Park which is administered by Harris County. The Barker-Clodine Road has been converted into a hike and bike trail near the ruins of the Habermacher Settlement. This trail heads north across Buffalo Bayou to the headquarters of the LH7 ranch. Several other hiking trails penetrate deep into the forest and meadows of the reservoir.

Even in the midst of the heavily populated west side of Houston, Barker Reservoir offers a "remote" place of wild solitude. It provides a rare glimpse of the way the land was before the coming of the European settlers.