Inaugural Voyage to Meet the Trails of Dallas

This Labor Day weekend my wife and I drove to a few new spots to enjoy the beautiful day. We needed something to do and we needed some photos of the trails on the website as we will not use someones photos unless they post them here.

Our first stop was Samuell Farm (South) in Dallas. The first thing you notice is the large old tractor at the entrance. This was a beautiful park that seemed great for a picnic. All the trails were gravel and it had several ponds for fishing. There were grills  and a playground for the kids. It struck me as a great place for a family picture and a nice stroll.

Since we were right around the corner, we headed north, to Samuell Farm North in Sunnyvale. This is the other half of the farm and is maintained by the city of Sunnyvale. Here the trail was paved and passed a pond. What I found interesting was their outdoor gym under a gazebo like shade structure. There is much more park here than there is trail, so hopefully there are some plans for other backwoods trails in the future, there certainly is room for it.

From here we made an unscheduled stop at Goat Island Preserve. We saw signs for it on the way to our stop in Wilmer. Goat Island Preserve is maintained by the county with the trails being maintained by DORBA. Given how quick grass can grow, I really appreciate the work of the county and trail volunteers to keep these trails. This trail has still not been listed on our site, but it will soon, especially since we have pictures now.

The next planned stop was at Cottonwood Creek in Wilmer Texas. This was our only real “disappointment” on the trip. The trail was in need of some TLC and to walk it you would have to walk through fallen limbs. Looks like it could still be some great fun. It was just not the gentle stroll many people seek. I will add this to a list to check up on later… maybe I will go with some clippers next time. It looked like to could be a great destination for the local community.

The last trail we were able to visit was Windmill Hill Preserve. This is a nature preserve nestled in the neighborhoods of Desoto, in fact, there was a neighborhood named after it with trail access. The trails were what I would call a spine and loop system in that there was a central trail going through the park with shorter loops coming off the main trail. I love these systems as they are easy for new hikers to navigate. You know when you hit the “spine” that it will lead you back to the parking lot.  I am sure that there is another name for the system, but that is what I will call it till someone who knows informs me of the agreed upon name.

We had planned other stops, but were already late meeting my mom for dinner, so those will have to wait. After listing a few more trails, our next trip will have to be in Fort Worth on another journey for photos to put up for our trail listings. If you have some photos that you would like us to use for a trail near you, please contact us… Even if the trail is not listed yet.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *