Is it Colorado? No, but these are some of the best trails for a "hike" you will find close to…read moreDallas. It's a great place to go for a walk in the woods with some elevation change up hills (don't expect mountains) that will provide some challenge without being defeating for those of any ability level. There are some pretty views, and you get the feeling of being out in nature and more connected with the earth. It's pretty crowded; on a Sunday at 8, I had to wait in a line to get in. Go early to secure a parking spot. They let people in as others leave, so the whole time you're there expect to see plenty of others out on the trail. No issues with bugs on March day. I especially love Cedar Ridge for trail running because it's challenging and perfect for training without destroying your legs. This is a hot spot for trail runners for sure. Definitely a must see for nature lovers in the DFW area. Temper your expectations if you've hiked out of state, but just remember it's really nice relative to more limited opportunities to "get outside" (in the words of REI) we have in this region.

Came here with my boyfriend, since the weather's been so nice. We had to wait for a few minutes to…read moreenter the park, since they let the same amount of people go in as those exiting. It's so nice to be surrounded by nature and to see such great views. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes and maybe bring a hiking stick if you have an issue with balance, since there are lots of uneven paths and steps. Overall, it was a really nice park and we walked the entire area. Will definitely visit again!

How TF do you close the restrooms three weeks in a row on the only weekends with decent weather…read more There's a million people here and nobody has anywhere to take a piss. Poor operational management.

I have always enjoyed this park. The bike trail that extends for several miles through trees and…read morefields is a pretty ride. This park specifically has a large open area that the main drive circles around. The creek runs along the side. After 4 years, it surprises me they still haven't fixed the trail and the beginning of the trail head. Still fenced off with a gravel trail along the fence. It's a beautiful area.

Nice park situated on a small lake. My wife and I were up for the Ennis Bluebonnet trails and…read morecamped for 2 nights. We had a nice campsite near the edge of the lake. It was spring so not too bad with bugs. There was a huge thunderstorm the first night so the ground was really soggy the next day. Our tent did not leak but the next day when the sun was out we unpegged it and turned it over for the bottom and the ground beneath to dry out. We had our dog and she and I did several walks on trails. The park restrooms were fine, they do a great job of keeping them clean. About the only negative thing was the erosion next to where we parked our truck, almost a 10 inch drop off but I see this a lot at Texas state parks. I wish the Texas state government would put more into maintenance.

Purtis Creek State Park has great spots for fishing and hiking. I was hopeful to see a beaver by…read moretheir namesake trail but didn't. The Wolfpen Hike Trails weren't too challenging and I didn't see anyone on the paths.

Great shaded trail, plenty of parking. You can definitely get quite a bit of walking in or biking…read morein this park. Nice nature walk.

Love this park. Plenty of trails both concrete and off-road. Most everything along the river is…read morecovered in foliage so you stay cool even in the heat of the summer. Big play areas for kids and plenty of running areas.

The staff is very inviting and informative! Did you know you could book a room here for a baby…read moreshower or take wedding, prom photos ? Fall festivals every year! Spring break events are wonderful. The nature and views are so vibrant and beautiful. Calming and peaceful to experience this place. By the way, membership is the cheapest! Love this place and I know you will too!

The limited flower gardens for this Arboretum are nice. They could use some cleaning up lots of…read moreweeds. We went on the Hickory Trail and kind of got lost because the signs are not very clear. There are several places where the trail forks and there's no direction on whether to go right or left. It would really help if there were signs along the way to confirm that you are on the red Hickory Trail. And not the green one. It was nice to have benches along the way to rest on.

I love the time it's in the summer but about the bugs is kind of a bit annoyed about. It's not that…read morethey should remove it. I'm just saying that it's too concerned for me. Well, it is a creek trail so there has to be bugs right but anyways, they have so many trails But my grandpa and I don't take off course trails because we just don't want to. We don't have any reason for, but we just don't want to. But it's so good looking lots of different species. I've actually saw species type of bug there. It was so beautiful. I even had a butterfly land on me one time I didn't want to move or scare away because it was so pretty.

This is such a great nature area to walk or bike around. There are nice paved paths for walking or…read morebiking and some nature trails you can explore. We walked off the paved paths and ended up lost in the middle of the forest but it was fun being surrounded by nature. If you walk on the paved path, then it'll loop around the entire park. The nature trails had some dead ends which sucks because we were hoping it would connect back to the main path somehow. The only surprising thing is the limited parking spot available. There's only one small parking lot with 7 SPOTS available for the park, and they were all taken by others. We had to park our cars at Chick-fil-a and walked across the street just to get to the park.

Weather for a day hike? The sights. The sounds. This is your spot. It's smaller. So, lesser…read moretraveled/ packed. I think we cleared it in two hours. Mind the DORBA bikers. I actually discovered this spot care of a biker. Recent rain? Check the DORBA site for conditions for a few days. We used the AllTrails app to keep on task. There's signage, as ell. It's near a bunch of gas stations and fast food joints, when need be. Plenty of tables out in the front for pre/post workout grub up. Lots of mama nature to keep you company. I didn't notice a water fountain. Pack your water bottles. Parking out in front. Happy trails!

I joined a group for a morning hike. Enjoyed the sights, clean paths and fresh air. Plenty route…read moreoptions, great for groups, bikes and pets. Great for beginner hikers.

The park itself is huge! It sits along Joe Pool Lake. We rode our bikes around the first night -…read more6.6 miles and probably only saw half of it! There are lots of places to picnic, swim, launch your boat and more. As for the campsites themselves, they could really use some TLC. The pavement where you park is crumbling (saw this on all the sites), roads coming in are rough and bumpy so go slow. It looks like they haven't cut the grass in ages. For our site, the grass is mid-shin high and you have to "wade" through it to get to the picnic table. Our site is just wide enough and long enough for our 40' RV and Jeep. The sites are pretty private with trees in between each site.

Cedar Hill State Park turn out to be a great place to go for a day hike, however, they seem to have…read moremany campsites available as well if that is what you were looking for. Driving up to the ranger booth, there was a lot of room to weights similar to national parks where multiple lines could form to get into the park. It was easy to pay the admission fee and we were given a park map that showed us what hikes were available and where they were. On there, they also had annotations on what amenities were available, including a former homestead that they had preserved. We ended up hiking the Talala Trail, which was a little over 2 miles. There wasn't much parking available at the trailhead, about 8 to 10 parking spaces available. This particular trail gradually went down towards the lake and back up as a loop but there is no water access when we went, the leaves still had it formed on the trees and shrubs, so there was clear visibility to which direction we were going I would imagine that there would be a bit more shade during the summer months, though the shrubs didn't seem like they were very tall. We thought the views from the Talala Trail were okay, but the views from the day use areas were better. One picnic area seemed to have lake access but we couldn't be sure how shallow or deep the water was up against the shore since we didn't try to go in. We did see that they had three mountain biking trails and we saw many mountain bikers in the area. They also had some fishing docks along the lake. Unfortunately, though, all the water fountains were turned off when we were there so we weren't able to refill our water bottles. We did check out their gift shop, which wasn't very big, but they still had a decent selection of gifts to purchase. As with any other Texas State park, they have their own park stamp just like the national parks passport program which I personally enjoy collecting. All in all, we enjoyed our time here and we were able to get a good hike. This park is situated in a hilly area of the DFW metroplex which allows for scenic views and more variation to trail options.

This is an amazing place with amazing employees. I organized a small photo trip to the center. We…read morewere a group of nine women, all amateurs, wanting to capture the sunrise in a beautiful environment. The center did not disappoint us. Working with Jade, an employee of the center, was a breeze. She was eager to help us and even asked two of the centers photographers to guide us to the best spots and help us with camera settings. Don and Marty were experts in their field and were instrumental in the success of our adventure. If you haven't been to the center, it is a hidden gem.

The Wetland Center is located in the middle of the East Fork Wetland on the Trinity River basin…read morewhich primary purpose is to filter treated wastewater to supplement the water supply for 1.7 million people living in North Texas. It is then pumped to Lake Lavon to supply water to the residents of North Texas. Approximately 2,100 acres make up JBS. About 1,840 acres of that are actually just water being used by the North Texas Municipal Water District to clean and process water drawn from the adjacent East Fork of the Trinity River. The wetlands provide a habitat to migratory birds; grazing for livestock; and emergency fodder during periods of drought. The wetlands include shallow-water plants, shrub swamps, and flooded bottomland hardwood forests. I been coming to this place since 2010 and every visit is just as wonderful as the last one I had. I always been here during the summer months with my school kids on field trips and never had an issue booking a time for us to visit and get our kids into the learning classrooms. The kids get a small background intro about the wetlands and the important lessons on the ecosystem present there and how the water cycle works. They get to go down to the water and collect samples and then they run them back to the classroom and look at the water under the microscope and they love every minute of it!! This particular visit our busses ran late making us almost 40 minutes late from our start time with JBS but they great staff made it work and did not skimp on any of the activities the had planned for our group. They are great to work with when we bring our own lunch and eat it on the premises. They have a porch that overlooks the water and those rocking chairs make it so hard to leave. When I sit down on a rocking chair on that porch i forget about everything and just listen to the sounds of nature. It is a beautiful place to visit and I recommend going anytime. It is a bit of a drive so make sure you fill up on gas before exiting the highway.