Each of these parks offers a unique experience for all levels of hikers. The park has soccer fields, playgrounds, trails and a 10-acre lake. Dallas Trails Recreational biking, hiking, and skating info, including maps with descriptions of parks and trails and the Dallas Bike Plan. Cedar Hill State Park Cedar Hill State Park, in the shadow of downtown Dallas, boasts grills, campsites, showers, lighted fishing jetties, sand volleyball courts, playgrounds, a swimming beach, trails for hiking and biking, a marina, two four-lane boat ramps and 355 campsites. By day there is no cost to hike the seven miles of wooded trails, past a cattail pond, arriving at vistas and an observation tower with a surprisingly beautiful view of Dallas.
Hikes can take two to three hours.
Also look for the Mary Alice Bland butterfly garden and native plant nursery. This Garland, Texas park offers a 3.1-mile loop through a wooded area along Duck Creek with native plants such as redbud and plum trees. White Rock Lake Park White Rock Lake Park is the closest to nature you can get without leaving the Dallas City limits. It's not free, but it's a pretty 3.1 mile hike that winds around and about the banks of Walnut Creek and down to the shores of Joe Pool Lake. There are facilities forcamping, boating, picnicking and hunting, plus several trails for nature hikes, biking or horseback riding, and Meadowmere Park has a beach area set aside for swimming.