Finally made it back to check this cool plane spotting location. Brought my 14yo son and we spent at least 2 hours watching planes take off and land. I would recommend the flight radar 24 app. It makes it so much more fun to know what planes are coming in, where they came from, and where they are going. The live ATC radio traffic is also great to add to the experience. read more

Founders Plaza Observation Area - Parks Near Me - DFW Airport, Texas

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This place really is wicked cool! It's an easy find, as it's at the end a street. Just pull in and it takes you to a circle drive with parking spaces. It faces the western most runway. It has various plaques and such that speaks of the history and industry, there's even a small replica of a passenger plane. There are two sitting areas that have cover, there is a speaker in between that plays back the radio communication between the tower and the pilots. The planes land every few minutes, some of them one right on top of another. Sometimes there is a longer lull, tho it's very neat to watch. read more

Founders Plaza Observation Area - Parks Near Me - DFW Airport, Texas

At the Founder's Plaza there is a memorial plaque in honor of the 135 victims of Delta Flight 191 that crashed just outside DFW airport on August 2, 1985. It is a pathetic excuse for a memorial. I spent 20 mins looking for it before I could even find it. It's a small (12x15"?) measly plaque. Shame on DFW and Delta for not doing more to pay respect and honor those who died. I lost a childhood friend to the crash (he was 13 at the time). RIP Seth Katz. read more

Founders Plaza Observation Area - Flight 191 memorial - Parks Near Me - DFW Airport, Texas

Definitely a place you want to go to relax and enjoy watching planes land! Next time you need a break from people or want to imagine landing at your favorite destination, hop on over to this cool spot and relax. Bring your lawn chair or picnic blanket and lunch! read more

Awesome place for our boys, kids, dates, field trip , homeschooling etc. Beautiful and peaceful and amazingly awesome to see God's sky and planes up close, but also at a safe distance. Suggestions: B.Y.O.B : Bring your own blanket. Water/Juice Snacks Sanitizer to clean the binoculars. Photographers will have a field day ! Our sons are autistic, and they loved seeing the planes continued to come in and they were not overly stimulated and It was perfect.. read more

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Founder's Plaza DFW plane spotters paradise. You couldn't ask for a better view of different planes. read more

Founders Plaza Observation Area - Founder's Plaza DFW. - Parks Near Me - DFW Airport, Texas

If you're an avid aircraft photographer, or just a fan of commercial airplanes and love watching them, this is a superb place from which to view and photograph! Mornings can be rough for the photographer, as the aircraft are most definitely backlit...but after about 12-1pm, the light just gets better, regardless of which direction the air traffic is flowing. The views are unobstructed, and being as it is well off the main road, it's safe to bring your kids to enjoy it with you. A most excellent location! read more

Founder's Plaza is a great, free outing for friends, couples, kids, to meet and watch airplanes at DFW airport do their thing. They have a little informational area that's probably really fun for kids to explore. They have covered pavilions with picnic benches and plenty of space to stretch your legs. You're likely to find an aviation enthusiast during your visit, so you may hear radio chatter from the ATC tower. Sometimes people are super friendly and other times they're reserved, just depends on the crowd. I've never had a bad experience. My pictures and videos are all pre-ugly black fence, I'm not entirely sure why they put it up but I really don't like it and not sure what purpose it serves when people just walk around it to access the hill (which was a great place to lay a blanket down and watch). read more

Founders Plaza Observation Area - Parks Near Me - DFW Airport, Texas

Wow. Just wow. Not many big airports offer observation areas anymore, let alone a dedicated and well appointed spot like Founders Plaza. We showed up on a beautiful spring afternoon with arrivals coming in from the north. Got to see the typical plethora of American Airlines domestic operations as well as Lufthansa from Frankfurt, Qantas from Sydney and Eva air cargo heading off to Taiwan. The location has everything you need from parking to picnic tables and it was super cool to just hang out with other aviation enthusiasts enjoying themselves. Worth a visit. read more

Founders Plaza Observation Area - Qantas 787-9 - Parks Near Me - DFW Airport, Texas

It's cool. I have nothing else to say... it's very cool it is very cool when you go all the way out to the fence to go right under the planes. read more

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Founders Plaza is free and a winner for all ages of people who love to see big planes fly. With good proximity to the northwest DFW runway; you can park your car, sit inside it and watch OR get out and take a seat on a bench or at a shaded picnic table and enjoy the miracle of flight with surround sound. Built as a testimony to the vision and creative minds that brought one of our nation's busiest airports to life, Founders Plaza is aging a little. The fountain didn't appear to have worked for some time. The interactive displays didn't work, although it didn't stop kids from trying. Some of the speakers, which bring you the air traffic controllers radio communication as they direct aircraft on the ground and through controlled airspace at DFW Airport, also did not work. However, everyone and I do mean everyone was engaged on one level or another with what was happening in the skies and on the runways. We were there around 4:30 pm on a Sunday and DFW was hopping. American Airlines was cranking out the flights and getting them airborne as quickly as they were dropping from the skies and smoking to a landing. An enormous UPS cargo jet came in light as a feather and then taxied over to their hangar near us. It was like watching a cruise ship move up to the dock. It was a terrific experience! One viewer had an app that allowed him limited identification of incoming planes - where they were from and their size. I neglected to get the name of the app. I saw no alcohol, no boom boxes, no skate boards, no rowdy kids or problems of any kind. Not all parking spots are created equal, as far as being able to see, if you are thinking of sitting inside on a cold or drizzly day. The park closes before sunset (open 7A - 7P) in the summer so that excludes nighttime viewing. There are no restrooms, so if you take a picnic lunch with the kids, be prepared to leave if they have to "go!" read more

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Love this! My son enjoys commercial aircraft. Check out our photos. Free and always plenty of parking. Bring some binoculars for an even closer look! read more

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Wide open space to view the aircrafts. You can come across some random live streamers here lol.

I love golf to this area to watch planes land/take off. the only thing i wish for us that it would be a little cleaner. great place though!

I was running errands one day, so I decided to stop at the observation area to check it out. It was a pretty slow day, air traffic-wise, so all I saw were MD-80's taking off and landing. But hearing the air traffic controllers was definitely cool! I waited around for about 30 minutes, but didn't see the larger planes I was hoping to see. Luckily while waiting, I got to read up on the history of the airport and use the telescopes to check things out. I'll definitely have to make my way back, so I can see some 747's! read more

I guess I'm succumbing a bit to peer pressure, as I don't feel this is really 5-star worthy in the conventional sense, but a) There's nothing for me to compare it to, so it is very unique, b) I did enjoy it, but if this is your thing, it could be very cool. So while I'm tempted to go 4 stars, maybe 4.5, I'll go with the crowd and give this park the 5-star nod. It really is worth a visit. I had no idea this was a new location. I had been to the old location, and was not overly impressed. This new location did impress me (hence me being OK with 5 stars). So I took a wrong turn in Grapevine the other day and ended up at the north end of DFW in a little park called Founder's Plaza. It was a cool place to watch the planes come and go. There is covered seating, free binoculars, a PA system that lets you listen to traffic control and a plaque/map explaining what you are seeing. It was pretty cool. Though the Yelp map is off, it's at the south end of Texan Trail at the intersection of North Airfield Drive. If you are in Grapevine, this would be a very cool side excursion. If you are exiting via the airport's north exit, look for Airfield Dr. (see photos) and take it WEST to reach Founder's Plaza. PS. Here's a map link: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=texan+trail+and+north+airfield+drive,+grapevine,+tx&sll=33.008663,-97.083435&sspn=0.965043,2.318115&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Texan+Trail+Rd+%26+N+Airfield+Dr,+Grapevine,+Tarrant,+Texas+76051&ll=32.919277,-97.060089&spn=0.007997,0.01811&t=h&z=16 [update] Here's a 3-minute video with audio and a plane taking off: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfXg6zxp9FM read more

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This is a very nice place to do plane spotting! It has a close view of the runway. You see a lot of American Airlines from this area. read more

Founders Plaza Observation Area - American Airlines - Parks Near Me - DFW Airport, Texas

Amazing area to watch planes taking off and landing. My kid really loved it. It was not very crowded. Check out this complete video to plan your visit here: https://youtu.be/d987XOvJfTU read more

This area is small, simple, and a brilliant idea. The Founders Plaza is a small area north of the runways at DFW International Airport. The perfect place where you can come with someone, sit down at one of their many picnic tables and have lunch, or just sit and clear your head and watch the planes come and go overhead. The free observation area includes a few picnic tables, benches, binoculars, and some awesome sculptures of children who dream of taking flight one day. I think the part that I like the best is that they actually have a speaker with audio of the control tower operators that you can listen to while you watch the planes take off and land. If you have kids, this is a fun way to get them to see the planes come and go up close. It's a great view! One thing that was disappointing to me was the fact that it closes before it gets too dark. While I totally understand this and know that it's a good idea to do this, I think it would be awesome to see the planes come and go at nighttime! A nice homage to current and future aviators in the DFW area. read more

Founders Plaza Observation Area - Beautiful sculptures at the Founders Plaza Observation Area. - Parks Near Me - DFW Airport, Texas

Great place to take the kids but know that there are NO bathrooms. Summertime I would suggest go in the morning so it's not so hot. We really enjoyed our time here! read more

Founders Plaza is a great place to unwind, clear your head, have lunch, bring the kiddos, take out of towners... actually, I can't think of a reason not to visit Founders Plaza. But then I have loved LOVED loved watching planes (sheer magnitude and still bewildered they stay in the air) for as long as I can remember. The area is peaceful, can't explain it, but sitting in your car or at one of the picnic tables, there's a calm that comes with watching planes take off and land while taking in a pretty day. There are usually several families, photographers, and people having a bite.. and during the summer, youth groups meet regularly at sunrise and tours have stopped by late in the morning. Adds to the pleasant vibe. You get a heads-up via an Air Traffic Control broadcast when a plane is coming and there are stationed telescopes to get a closer look. There's also some historic info, a few statues and it has a large parking area. It's not equipped with any type of facilities like rest rooms. Purely for observation. The area is always clean, well lit and "officially" open year round 7a-7p. There's an officer keeping an eye on things, not sure where he chills but he magically appears when people walk down and around the fenced area. read more

Founders Plaza Observation Area - Crazy how they seem to float.. - Parks Near Me - DFW Airport, Texas

I loved bringing my kids here. My only complaint is all the tables should have shade I mean this is Texas lol. read more

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What an awesome place. This is the kind of place that every parent that wants their kids to see airplanes taking off and Landing should bring a picnic to. Well you are enjoying a picnic out at a picnic table in the closet area you can also listen to the air traffic controllers speak with the pilots on their approaches and ascensions. It bring back memories to me of when I was a kid and my dad would take me to watch the airplanes land. Except this one adds the extra flare of the cockpit, conversations. read more

If you ever find yourself with some free time around Americas fourth busiest airport, stop in for a couple of minutes. It's a nice place to wait for family and friends flying in. If you go to flight tracker you can follow the aircraft descent. Summer time they typically approach coming in from the north if wind is southerly. The site is located north end of runway, so you can wave like a lunatic from the ground and hope they see you. Then it's only about 5 minutes to the gate for pick up. Lots of parking. They have shade and tables, and you can listen to the ramblings of the traffic controllers over a loud speaker to soothe your nerves. read more

Founders Plaza Observation Area - Parks Near Me - DFW Airport, Texas

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This is such a fun experience! Watching airplanes fly in and take off is so interesting to me. You can hear the air traffic control conversations and they have binoculars to zoom in on the action. There are a good amount of picnic tables and space to spread out a blanket or run around with the kids. We brought a picnic dinner that was almost impossible to eat because it was so dang windy. Not sure if it's always windy up there, or just happened to be on the night we went, but it was not fun trying to secure everything the whole time. We will definitely be back. read more

I wish every major airport had something like this for all to enjoy! Park had way more people than I thought would be there and that is a great thing. Great spot to just relax, have lunch etc just watch and listen read more

Founders Plaza Observation Area - Parks Near Me - DFW Airport, Texas

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I love to come here. If you like so see take off and landing of airplane you will love this place. Nice wide area to see. You can always see UPS airplanes in the hangar. Kids will love to c read more

Founders Plaza Observation Area - Parks Near Me - DFW Airport, Texas

Nice calming spot, cool to hear the radio chatter. The shaded table was great for a lunch picnic. -1 star because none of the interactive stuff worked and the binoculars were unusable. read more

What an awesome way to spend a morning, on a clear sunny day! This is such a wonderful experience for all ages, particularly if you are an aviation enthusiast, which we are. Founders Plaza is on the North side of DFW Airport and offers great views of all types of aircraft landing and taking off. We observed MD80's, 737's, Eagle regional jets, and even the giant Korean Air 747 Cargo plane. Wow, that puppy is huge !!! There are speakers throughout the Plaza that broadcast live communications between the air traffic control center and aircraft. Very interesting to hear how so many aircraft are safely directed around the airport and in the skies. Makes one feel like you are in the middle of all the action! This observation area offers benches, picnic tables, telescopes, and grassy areas where you can just plop down and watch all the activity. It was just fascinating to see these big birds fly directly overhead and sail in for a smooth landing. So, looking for something different to do on a beautiful day? Pack a lunch and spend a morning or afternoon. Soooo much fun. If coming from Dallas, take the Texan Trail exit off Hwy 121, go South, which will take you right to the area. Have fun !! read more

In my grand girlfriendy efforts to surprise my boy I researched his favorite topic : Airplanes. A quick search helped to remind me of Founders Plaza. I had been there before at the old location, but this place is still a dream. Located now in the Northwest corner of DFW airport, it boasts a wide angle view of a huge section of the airport facing the northwest runway, loud speakers with air traffic control communications (which he thought was the coolest thing ever), picnic tables, sculptures/monument, telescopes, and a plaque with a brief history of the airport. When we visited, we weren't alone, as other picnicers and couples were visiting as well- but they were not loud or obnoxious, and everyone was very respectful of everyone else. We went late at night, so there wasn't much air traffic, though he did see enough pretty lights, and cars on the tarmac to hopefully be super impressed :) This location has my vote for one of the best date locations in the DFW area- especially if you bring a picnic basket and go a little earlier (perhaps 7 or 8PM-- we were there at 10PM), or in the morning. Oh- I think this would also be a great place to take children, for a semi-educational, fun, and free activity :) read more

I have been to the new location a few times and I must say the airport folks really did a great job with the layout of this place. There is lots of space for you to look, listen and observe just how everything works on a day to day basis at the airport. I thought it was really cool listening to the ATC bringing planes in. Founders plaza has picnic tables to use and large binoculars so you can see anything and everything that interests you. I really think the location helps this place also since it is so close to the freeway and its a great place to just hang out and unwind for awhile. read more

As others have said, this place is great. It's great for a picnic, either in the grass or on the tables, they have free telescopes to watch the airport traffic, or if you're patient enough, you can follow in a plane. My favorite part of Founders Plaza has to be the speakers playing the real-time Air Traffic talk between the planes and the ATC Tower. It's awesome seeing a plane approaching in the distance and to hear the pilot radioing into the control tower. It's a pretty gorgeous view of the airport. This is definitely the kind of place I will take my kids to one day. It's absolutely perfect. The little placards they have will teach you more about DFW International Airport than you'll ever want to know. Did you know DFW is the only airport with 3 air traffic control towers? Me neither! I could hang out here all day. It's a great trip for any aviation junkie, or for a fun weekend trip for kids. read more

Held a birthday party for my son and grandson here last week. They are both fascinated by planes so it just seemed like a perfect spot-and it was! Everyone really loved being so close to the runways and getting to watch the planes take off and land-even with out the aid of the free binoculars it was pretty damn awe inspiring! It was also great for the adults to listen to the air traffic control tower chatter(the kids liked it-but only for about 3 minutes). Add to the above listed greatness several nice sculptures, covered picnic tables, and a several wide open spaces(great for football as the boys proved)and you have a great park that aviation fans of all ages are sure to enjoy. One small suggestion-since this is a great place that many are sure to enjoy and spend a significant amount of time on their visits(we were there for 2.5 hours and many people who were there when we arrived were still there when we left) some kind of toilet situation would be awesome! Very well done DFW airport-very well done indeed! read more

We happened to find this when taking a short cut home one day from work. We picked up our 4 year old and decided to go back and check it out. It was very cool to hear the air traffic controllers over the loud speakers. The high powered telescopes allow you to watch take offs and landings and you can even watch fed ex workers loading and unloading their aircraft. Picnic tables are a great perk and we will definitely bring a picnic lunch or dinner one day to partake of the unusual scenery. read more

Living in Dallas for 13 years and I never knew this existed. If you enjoy nature, hearing and seeing the marvel of planes landing and taking off, it's a must. You can probably do BYOB but be aware police cars do drive through periodically. My gf and I had a blanket and just marveled at this free relaxing experience. You can see the stars at night given the clear skies. Worth trying read more

Five stars for this cool little park at the north end of DFW airport because there is nothing else like it, and it's very nicely done. It's a great place for a picnic or just to hang out for a while and watch plane take off and land. We checked it out today, June 2, and enjoyed a sunny, warm day with tons of wildflowers in view. There's really no other spot like this around! A speaker broadcasts the air control tower, there are some plaques and stuff to inform visitors of the history of the airport, there are also a handful of picnic tables -- some covered, some not -- and binoculars to check out the planes. One MAJOR drawback: No bathrooms. Your visit will be interesting, but not too long! I saw a lot of people pull up in their cars, watch for five or 10 minutes, and then go on their happy way. read more

One of the best kept secrets on Dallas/Fort Worth for a picnic! Found out about it just this year and we come all the time now. Kids love having a close up view of planes taking off and landing from DFW airport, and they pipe in air traffic communication to hear the pilots talk to the control tower. Great free spot to do something unique! read more

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I been coming here to see the whole airport not only that but I also like taking photo-shooting of plane a lot. Its really fun for kids to experience and also family. Also you can hear what Air traffic Controllers are saying live to the pilots. Its also fun hearing those roaring engines. Go out here and have fun. read more

This park is excellent. Although I work around aviation almost daily I still enjoy coming here on my motorcycle or my car and watch the planes land, taxi, and depart. The parking is good, park is well kept and the live ATC radio is really cool. Also military/veterans memorial of a model 767 aircraft with airport fire trucks that spray water over the airplane. Water fountains available as well along with picnic tables. read more

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A great place on the north side of DFW Airport to come watch the planes. The only thing I wish different is that is was located closer to the flight path. Maybe some swing sets for people to swing while they watched the show would be a welcome addition... It closes at 7pm, a little too early during daylight savings, but come out for a great picnic during the day! read more