Watersong Wild Space, long known as the I-20 Wildlife Preserve, is Midland's best quick escape from asphalt and oil-field traffic. The preserve protects an urban playa wetland just north of Interstate 20, with boardwalks, bird blinds, butterfly gardens, teaching platforms, and a hawk observation tower arranged around short, flat trails.
It is not wilderness in the grand West Texas sense, but that is part of the appeal: within minutes of downtown you can be watching herons, ducks, dragonflies, and migrating birds using a wetland that would be easy to miss from the road. Go early or late in the day, bring binoculars if you have them, and expect seasonal water levels to change the mood of the place completely.