The lengthening shadows of autumn and the cold crisp of the morning dawns are slowly ushering in the birds of the Canadian wilderness into the Trinity River Wetland Cells. The muted squawk calls of tropical storks and spoonbills are replaced by the cacophony alarm calls of ducks and cormorants.

Mallard Ducks Overflying Trinity River Wetlands Dawn October 27, 2012

These are the early arrivals. The Mallards, Wood Ducks, Teals, Coots and Cormorants who arrive in late September and leave around Easter. In larger numbers around Thanksgiving the Northern Shovelers, Ruddys and Canvasbacks will appear in great numbers if form follows the past several winters. Late October is a great time to get your bearings down here and the vegetation along the edges of the cells still provides great cover till the first frost.

Access to the Wetland Cells is easy. One can park at the Loop 12 Boat Ramp lot on Great Trinity Forest Way. Then walk up the embankment of the divided road, entering the Wetland Cells via the old Sleepy Hollow Country Club parking lot. Currently the gate is broken at the Sleepy Hollow entrance, the weld failed on the padlocking portion of the gate. In theory one could park on that old Sleepy Hollow parking lot but I'd discourage it if you follow the letter of the law.

The other parking option is in the Freedman's Town of Joppa, where Fellows Lane dead-ends at a bar gate 4900 Fellows Lane. Like the bar gate near Loop 12(Great Trinity Forest Way) this entrance has also been undermined to some degree. Though the gate is locked, one can navigate through the vacant lot to the west and then into the Wetland Cell 4x4 roads. This footprint of vacant lots will eventually become a gateway park for Joppa into the Wetland Cells. More about the interesting twists, turns and hurdles this park might face can be read about on the Dallas Observer website in an article To Build Joppa Gateway Park...

This is also one of the few areas currently accessible for horses. Using the workaround on Fellows Lane you can get into the wetland cells via horse without an issue. The old access roads are horse friendly and routinely ridden by locals that live in the area.








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If one wanted to see this with a group, next weekend, Saturday November 3rd the Corps of Engineers will host an informative hike at the Fellows Lane entrance. Their information for that event is below: Gather/park at the end of Fellows Lane in the historic Joppa neighborhood. Tour leaves about 8 a.m. through the gate to the nearby wetlands. Dr. Gary Dick, a research ecologist for the Corps of Engineers in Lewisville, will lead the tour of the Trinity wetlands. They were designed by the Corps for the city of Dallas to lower flood risk and create a quality grassland and aquatic habitat that provides food for both migratory and resident birds. Jane Ramberg, of Trinity Bird Count, will lead efforts to record what species can be spotted in this zone of the river basin in Dallas County to continue building an important historic record. Bring good hiking shoes and suitable outdoor apparel – and your binoculars. Contact: Jim Frisinger, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 817-901-9644 james.c.frisinger@usace.army.mil
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The ducks are not the half-wild birds of White Rock Lake looking for a sack full of Mrs Bairds. They are as wild as they come. The only way to get close and get a good look at them is to get to the Wetland Cells thirty minutes before the first crack of dawn -or- be in the Wetland Cells and stay put an hour before sunset. During these times the birds move around quite a bit and offer the best views as they awaken to start the day or preen themselves for the evening.

Ducks in Wetland Cell G, Trinity River Wetlands

Timing and patience is everything. Without treelines and brush to hide your approach, the sightlines of the wildlife can be 400 yards are more. Even at the limits of their sight, they will readily take flight at anything resembling a human form. The ducks above flew into the wetland cells from the east around 45 minutes prior to sunrise. Coming in staggered groups of six to eight they formed an impressive collection by the time the sun rose over the riverbottom.

 The Cormorant Roost

Ducks in flight over the Trinity River Wetlands Cormorant Roost Site

Cormorants on the river

This fall, Double Breasted Cormorants have taken roost in the large grove of cottonwood trees that line the banks of the Trinity River just downstream of the confluence of the river and White Rock Creek. The trees are 2000 feet due east of the Fellows Lane gate and 1000 feet due east of the large manmade "pyramid" mound that sits just north of Wetland Cell G.

I would estimate the current cormorant population here of 300-500 birds. They arose later in the morning than the ducks, right around sunrise. Taking off in flights of three dozen or more at a time to feed for the day. Less timid than their waterfowl counterparts the cormorants seem to be much more tolerant of a human observing from a distance.

Double Crested Cormorants at dawn forming up to leave for the day

The cormorants here seem to just roost in the trees and do most of their fishing on the actual river instead of the Wetland Cells. Last winter I saw a great number of cormorants fishing a large shoal where White Rock Creek feeds into the Trinity. The quarry species looked to be shad that day and I expect the cormorants feed mostly on that species in this part of the river.

The flock returns to the roost around an hour before sunset in groups of no more than four or five. The view on a clear evening of this ingress of cormorants is best viewed from atop the "pyramid" feature. From here one can spot the birds over half a mile away with Downtown Dallas as a backdrop.

Cormorants on evening roost at the Trinity River Wetland Cells

Cormorants consume a couple pounds of fish per day. Some parts of the country consider them a growing nuisance in the summer months when their roosting threatens to defoliate the trees they call home. Since these birds roost in Texas during the winter months the threat to trees in negligible. A large population such as this also puts a dent in the fish population to some extent. So little is known about fish populations in the main stem of the Trinity and since consumption of fish by humans is ill advised, the birds seem to have picked a great spot to be left alone.

Cormorant numbers have rebounded in the last 40 years. At one time the widespread use of DDT decimated their numbers due to weakened shells caused by the chemical. The rapid rebound of the species seems to be near exponential in the past ten years. Another large roosting group of cormorants overwinter on the northwest corner of White Rock Lake near the intersection of West Lawther and Mockingbird. Having seen both roost sites, the White Rock Lake site is very quiet compared to the loud and noisy Wetland Cell location.

Waxing Gibbous Moon and Egret at Wetland Cell F

Many of the other resident species found down here year round seem to keep their distance from the cormorants. The egrets that are usually found in Cell G have moved into Cell F further up the chain.

Cell F cascades into Cell G via a short dam, sluice and aqueduct that can be seen from the Fellows Lane entrance. Upstream one can walk/hike/bike as far as the I-45 bridge. The wetland cell here is known as Cell E and has a resident beaver population.

Wood Ducks

The Corps of Engineers has also built Wood Duck boxes along the Wetland Cells in various locations. Last year there was a breeding pair at Lemmon Lake and in Wetland Cell F. The birds at right were flying over that same Cell F area this fall.

American Kestrel at Wetland Cell F

I'm not much of a bird person so I'm sure that I have missed the dozen or more species of smaller birds that flyby and live in the brush. The larger ones catch my eye and this time of year a large number of hawks, eagles and vultures of all shapes move through following their food. Kestrels seem to be in abundance here where they pick over the short cut grass over the wetlands. The same can be said of the Kingfishers who make easy work of baitfish in the cells.

Trio of Kingfishers at Wetland Cell G near Honey Springs

The Ongoing Affair With Poaching

Wanna drink beer and shoot? Come to Joppa Nature Preserve!


One of these days, someone is going to get hurt down in the Great Trinity Forest by irresponsible individuals firing their weapons at anything that moves. These two were on a leisurely stroll on Saturday October 20th on the Great Trinity Forest paved path in Joppa Preserve. Shooting at ducks in Little Lemmon Lake from the powerline right of way, then shooting at birds perched on the powerlines and powerline towers that bisect the preserve between Little Lemmon Lake and Lemmon Lake.

This trail cost millions and millions of dollars to build. It sits unused to a degree because of the stigma attached to the neighborhoods that surround it, crime, unsavory people etc. Most of the negative news is overblown to a degree. The stink sticks though.

The trail is built to the same standard as the Katy Trail and White Rock Lake trails enjoyed by so many. Imagine seeing two men with guns shooting and drinking at the lake or in uptown. Imagine the trouble they would be in. The city ordinances and state laws broken would have them in jail all weekend. Not so down here.

The Dallas Police Department merely told these guys that they might not want to shoot down here anymore because someone complained. The police were kind enough to call me back after I got the hell out of there awaiting a response from calling 911. I could not believe they let them go. I could not believe there is not a zero tolerance policy for rifles of any kind, firing of any kind, hunting/killing of any kind in a city park. The laws are on the books but not enforced.

I have no problem with hunting, shooting, guns. Feel free to buy and shoot as much as you want. Not inside the city limits, not in a city park, not in a nature preserve, not when you are drinking beer and especially not shooting over someone's head that you can plainly see through your scope. It's not a joke, it's not funny. I have been trying the last ten days to see if I'm missing something here. If there is some loophole in the city code that allows for this kind of Walker Texas Ranger hobby down here.

Shooter at River Oaks Parking Lot Sunday October 21st

The problem is epidemic, it's not isolated. Even the next day, a Sunday, after the Cowboy game on October 21st another individual was down there shooting and drinking beer. I wonder how and why this all happened.

The Audubon Society has volunteered hundreds of hours down here to count birds, right in the very spot where these individuals were shooting. Counted in the morning, shot in the afternoon. The city will need to decide what they want this place to look like in five years. Do you want families using the trail or beer drinking man children on a faux hunting safari? It's an easy fix. Lock them up.

Newly Paved Trinity River Bike Path, November 1st, 2012

A planned multi-use path between the Trinity River Levees near Downtown Dallas took a step closer towards reality in the first week of November 2012. This first segment runs from I-35 to the Santa Fe Trestle Trail on the south side of the Trinity River in Oak Cliff. The brainchild of city council members Angela Hunt and Scott Griggs, this new paved path will connect four different city parks in Oak Cliff and provide off-street infrastructure down the Trinity River Corridor.

This trail is advertised to run from Sylvan Avenue to the Santa Fe Trestle Trail and run a little over 4 miles in length. Connecting various city parks, an overlook and future bridge crossings, the trail will be useable by many different neighborhoods on both sides of the river.

The trail was first announced in mid-August and construction was to be funded by 2012 bonds. Maybe that funding source changed and construction was able to proceed much sooner than thought. With a slated completion date of 2014, this first leg of a Trinity River trail is a welcome surprise.

Trinity River Trail meandering along south bank of Trinity River Dallas, Texas

Like many, I thought the all encompassing 1998 bond election for the Trinity River Project included recreational amenities like bike paths inside the Trinity River Floodway. Apparently this was not the case. For the last decade millions of eyeballs have glanced over guardrails of the freeway bridges hoping to spot something that resembles a park, a bike path or even a solar powered taxi. While many projects like the Audubon Center have been a great success, few others especially around Central Dallas have seen the light of day.

The frustration was shared by many and became the butt of many jokes. Thoughts turned sour when the Trinity River "parkway", which we all though was a way-to-the-park, was really East Coast Yankee lingo for a tollroad. Fooled us hayseeds!

Construction workers sawing expansion joints in the new Trinity Trail

The Post-Katrina Corps of Engineers

Hurricane Katrina exposed the soft under belly of the nation's aging levee system. The old levees that were over topped, undermined and failed in New Orleans were in many cases built to the same standards as the Dallas Levees. Dating back to the 1930s and built over a loose conglomerate of water permeable sand, the levees no longer met some of the flood protection guidelines set forth in a post-Katrina standard set by the Corps of Engineers. You could hear the money from the 1998 Bonds and the Trinity River Project just being sucked down the drain, tens of millions of dollars at a time with new requirements for flood protection. The money for fun stuff, the trails, parks and playgrounds evaporated.

Trinity River Trail looking west towards I-35

In addition to new flood protection standards, the Corps placed new requirements on construction in and around levee floodways. In Dallas, the floodway is designed to move water as efficiently as possible away from Central Dallas. Any new construction could not impede that. In order for the Corps of Engineers to approve a bike trail, it had to meet road standards, in this case 16 feet wide and thick enough for maintenance vehicles. The maintenance road aka multi use bike/hike trail is what we see under construction now.

I-35 and Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge as seen from the new bike trail

I know many would have liked to have seen a natural surface trail here constructed with decomposed granite or mulch. The reality is, that could never happen. The concrete here will serve as a spine or backbone to other dirt trails in the future. I could easily see a series of casual dirt trails that lead from the concrete down to the river. White Rock Lake has a whole host of these smaller no-named trails that lead off into interesting scenic spots and features. Maybe each neighborhood on the opposing side of the levee could develop their own little 300 yard natural surface trail looping off this new concrete.

Late season Mexican Hat Wildflowers as viewed from new Trinity River Trail

I would imagine for instance that with minimal effort a natural prairie could be installed here between I-35 and the Cedar Crest Bridge that would cost very little to maintain and provide a stunning backdrop for photographers, family photos or dog walkers. I was surprised to see so many wildflowers here this late in the season. Outside the heat island of Downtown, many areas of the Great Trinity Forest have already seen a first frost. As close as this area is to major vehicle arteries, it's really pretty quiet down here.

Corinth Street Viaduct and new Trinity Trail

There are thirty miles of dirt roads on and off the levees that are open to the public for non-motorized vehicles and foot traffic. Most are in great shape and easy to ride on a mountain bike or beach cruiser. There are few spots to access these trails and I would suggest just riding from Deep Ellum, Downtown or the Katy Trail.  The Santa Fe Trestle Trail can be easily accessed from Riverfront Blvd on the north side or an annex lot for the Corinth Street DART Station at 8th Street and Parkway Avenue

Quietly meandering from the heart of a downtown metropolis to the edge of the rural Texas countryside, the Trinity River Paddling Trail offers a unique look at a slice of Dallas few people will ever see. A float through The Great Trinity Forest.

The misinformed myths of the Trinity told by modern yarn weavers serve as more of an impediment to exploration than the physical barriers on the river itself. Seen as a blight by most, few realize that the navigable river mere blocks from their homes affords a simple inexpensive day adventure into some of the most remote and wild places in the state. It does not smell. There is little visible trash. Many of the stretches look like the Brazos, Colorado or Sabine. Snags are few and far between. Bad press and bad rumors have resulted in very little information about this stretch of river being posted online, in print or even by word of mouth.

This was a trip that I have wanted to take for some time. Many of the special places along the river cannot be accessed by land. Locked behind high fences of the industrial plants, behind railroad marshalling yards and impassable swamp. The places I could only view from afar or not at all. Floating the river gets you there. This particular trip follows the course of the Main Stem of the Trinity River from the Santa Fe Trestle Trail to McCommas Bluff. A ten mile route book ended by the Dallas Standing Wave and the Trinity River Navigation Company Lock and Dam #1.

Put in-Santa Fe Trestle Trail at the Trinity River

The real obstacle I had to wait on was the Trinity River Project itself. In order to legally put in canoes on the Trinity River, construction of the Santa Fe Trestle Trail had to be completed and open to the public. That happened in late October 2012. Launching canoes below the Standing Wave was the only real option with the Sylvan Avenue Boat Ramp closed until January of 2014.

Take out- McCommas Bluff Preserve

The idea was to transect the entirety of the Great Trinity Forest by canoe. Explore the mouths of larger creeks, bridges, rapids and obstructions that can only be seen by boat. The Dallas Trinity Paddling Trail is one of 38 Texas Paddling Trails that dot Texas. Half a dozen of which are in the Trinity River basin.

From the outset, the hardest part of the trip appeared to be getting the boats to the river itself. With a locked gate near the DART train station on 8th Street, the portage of carrying canoes down to the water would surely tax even the strongest of arms. Be prepared for the extra time and effort it takes to accomplish this. In addition, a number of news articles have been written about issues concerning the Standing Wave/Dallas Wave . One can easily avoid the soap opera surrounding all that by putting in just downstream.

Joppa Preserve on the Trinity River, November 2012

This trip would not have been possible without Charles Allen, owner of Trinity River Expeditions canoedallas.com based in Oak Cliff. He has thirty years experience guiding trips, the majority of those on the Trinity. While he did not accompany us on our trip, his knowledge of the Trinity is second to none. The shoals and obstructions he knows by memory, he can draw a precise map by hand and is easily the best Waterman in Dallas. If you are looking for a guide on the river here in DFW, he is your guy. Cost for a day on the river is very inexpensive, what many would pay for a trip to a movie or a happy hour bar tab. Charles is one of those special people that make Dallas worth living in. I wish the city would embrace him as an asset to the Trinity. They need him.

I'll also add, one last time, just to make it perfectly clear that we followed the letter of the law putting-in at the Santa Fe Trestle Trail. The park is now open to the public and construction is complete.

Once afloat it's easy to break this particular route up into three distinct sections of river.

-The early 20th Century industrial area in the shadow of Downtown Dallas
-The old trees, old ferry crossings and old Indian campsites near Miller's Bend
-The true wilderness of the Great Trinity Forest south of Loop 12

Each section of river has it's own feel. One section takes over where the other left off.

Trinity River Main Stem Dallas Wave to McCommas Bluff

10 mile route with mileage markers highlighted from Santa Fe Trestle Trail to McCommas Bluff

River Beta:
River height at Commerce Street Bridge: 15.2 feet
Flow: .355 kcfs
Length: 10 miles, 4.5 hours on river
Current Conditions :River gauge at Commerce Street Bridge
14-15 feet is a low flow height for the river. The sites we saw and some of the obstructions would not be visible if the water were a foot or two higher. Flow pushed the canoe along at a slow pedestrian 1-1.5mph through most sections.




Standing Wave to I-45 -- A look at the Industrialization of the Trinity River

1911 George Kessler Plan, Union Station seen at middle right

The founding fathers of Dallas always envisioned a grand inland port on the Trinity. Newcomers to Dallas might not know that the current Trinity River Project is not the first or second try at improving the river. It's version 3.0 or 4.0. If you are unfamiliar with the river's more recent past a great documentary exists on the subject.

The ten or so river miles floated from Downtown to the edge of the city limits allows one to see the three or four different attempts to tame the river. The first section is the most developed from the old Santa Fe Bridge to I-45. Running behind some of the old heavy industrial areas of Dallas.


Standing Wave/Dallas Wave 
32°45'9.26"N, 96°47'26.43"W

Standing Wave prior to submersion in December 2010

Constructed in 2010, the Trinity River Standing Wave serves as a Whitewater Park near Downtown Dallas. Part of the ambitious 1998 Trinity River Project the twin standing wave submerged dams create a hydraulic wave that can be ridden by specially designed whitewater kayaks. Canoe bypasses were built as part of the design on "river left", seen in the picture on the right side. The steel bridge in place here was built in 1904 and later elevated an additional few feet in the 1930s so that it would sit higher than the Trinity River levees just upstream. Thus making it flood proof.

Mouth of Cedar Creek
32°45'5.08"N,  96°47'17.34"W

Mouth of Cedar Creek, Moore Park

"To the memory of Colonel William G. Cooke and forty other members of the Regular Army, Republic of Texas, who camped in this vicinity in October, 1840 while locating the Central National Highway. The importance of this military road in the history of Dallas will not be forgotten. " Texas State Historical Marker 1936

Just downstream from the Standing Wave is the mouth of Cedar Creek. Most know it as the creek that flows through the Dallas Zoo. Where this creek meets the Trinity River a small fort once stood, built by the Army of The Republic of Texas during the expedition to scout a Military Road from Austin to the Red River. I-35 now follows that route.

Two maps, below, are courtesy of Mike Toyer a noted Dallas historian who accompanied us on the canoe trip. Cedar Creek is labeled "Houghton's Creek" in the maps, named for Captain M. B. Houghton. Both are very rare old maps that give a glimpse into the wilderness that was once Central Dallas. Both maps can be clicked on to enlarge.

Upshur's 1841 Map showing the Rio Trinidad, Cedar Springs and stockade on Cedar Creek, from Joseph Milton Nance's After San Jacinto: The Texas Mexican War 1836-1841

Colonel Cooke's Military Road and Campaign Map 1841

It's interesting to note that these 170 year old maps are still accurate in regards to navigating the Trinity River downstream of Cedar Creek. The creeks and unnamed sluices drawn on these old maps still reach the river today. An ice age bison, bison antiquus, that walked these banks 10-20,000 years ago was discovered here fairly recently testifying to the presence of the untouched stream channel in this area.


Old Forest Avenue Bridge
32°45'3.97"N,  96°47'10.74"W

Old Forest Avenue Swing Bridge

Downstream of Cedar Creek and just upstream of the new Cedar Crest Bridge sit the foundations of the old Forest Avenue Bridge. Designed as a "swing bridge", the circa 1917 structure was built to allow tall barge traffic to pass in the event the Trinity became navigable to large ships. This bridge was replaced with the newer Cedar Crest Bridge. In low water a shoal is just upstream of this feature. Keep river right to avoid.

River bend just past the Cedar Crest Bridge

MKT Trestle
32°45'0.06"N ,  96°46'38.94"W

MKT Railroad Trestle over the Trinity River, South Dallas

The old Katy bridge dates supposedly to 1905 and is one of the oldest railroad bridges still in operation over the Trinity River, if not the oldest. Few ever see this bridge. Tucked away behind a few bends in the river it stands a silent citadel to the river beyond. From this point on, save for a few freeway overpasses, the city that surrounds the river is silent. The river and the 4000 acres of trees that surround it soak up noise like a sponge.

Limestone Seeps
32°44'59.04"N,  96°46'36.47"W

Limestone seeps near the MKT Trestle - P&G Plant

Austin Chalk forms the backbone of the north(east for some) bank of the Trinity River from the MKT Katy bridge to the I-45 bridge. The geology here is simple. The Late Cretaceous age Austin Chalk and Taylor Marl were once part of a vast inland sea. This rock, known as the White Rock Escarpment, dips to the southwest at 15-40 feet per mile.

Ice Age gravel over Cretaceous Austin Chalk, Reverse Fault

Over the passage of time, the Trinity has cut into this old rock leaving behind the Trinity Terrace, the Ice Age reddish gravel seen in the photo above. Millions of years separate the ages of the two rock formations. No one knows what happened inbetween. The ice age gravels, are full of fossilized mammals from this era. Mammoths, camels, sloths that once walked here. The weather was a little cooler and wetter than it is today but not by much. Live Oaks, Osage(crabapple) and familiar grasslands were nearly the same as they look today.

Dripstone outcropping on the Trinity River

The porous nature of the loose gravel and the block sedimentary nature of the limestone create dripstone along this section of river. Much like the stalactite, water flowing across the rock has left behind minerals creating this unique rock formation.


Proctor & Gamble Pumphouse
32°44'55.95"N, 96°46'33.35"W

P&G Pumpstation circa 1919-1920

The Proctor and Gamble Pumphouse sits some 500 yards south of the Proctor and Gamble Plant on Lamar in South Dallas. Built in 1919, the plant was constructed at the vital crossroads of two major railway lines and in close proximity to the Trinity River. The two story structure here served the purpose of providing cooling water to coal fired boilers behind the plant and also non-potable water use not involved in the production process. By the time this pump was operational, new standards for sanitary disposal of wastewater were law. Pumphouses such as this can only lift water in feet height equal to the atmospheric pressure in water, 34 inches, which translates to 34 feet. Roughly the same height as this structure. This plant was modeled after a sister factory in Cincinnati on the Ohio River.



I-45 Bridge
32°44'16.29"N,  96°45'58.73"W

Negotiating the constricted narrowing channel at the I-45 Bridge (Bill Holston, Scott Hudson pictured)

The I-45 Bridge, built in 1971, was another bridge constructed with the belief that one day high profile barge traffic from the Gulf of Mexico might one day turn Dallas into an inland port. The constricting ballast on either side of the river speeds up the waterflow before entering Miller's Bend.

Sewage Treatment Plant Outflow
32°43'46.15"N, 96°45'48.27"W

Fisherman at the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant discharge site

Whatever floats your boat. The fisherman above said the discharge pipe area was a great fishing spot and his favorite on the river.


Miller's Ferry to Loop 12 -- Ancient Fossils, Ancient Indian Villages, Ancient Trees

Simple geography keeps this next section of the Trinity from ever being developed or molested by the hands of modern man. 

Prominently standing in the Yale Peabody Museum at the turn of the last century was a specimen of Elephas imperator recovered from an area near Loop 12 and the Trinity River. Seen in the photo(right), displayed at Yale with other fossils from the Pleistiocene era. Many of the other animals featured in the photo are part of the  O.C. Marsh collection. The great reserves of Ice Age fossils locked away here in the Trinity River are unknown to contemporary Dallasites. Over a dozen of these large animals were excavated from a small area here. I'm certain many more are still there, victims of an old quicksand flat.

Much of this area sits ignored. Which over the course of time has preserved much of it. Some bends of the river that still carry the names of the old pioneers are concentrated in history. Like Miller's Ferry and the 3000 years of history there. Much of that history never made it into a book, matter of fact it still sits on the bank today. Someday I hope that South Dallas realizes they have a place where the rich history of emancipation and freedom can be shown hands-on. It's one of the more powerful places on the river to experience.

Native Americans

Old cowboy westerns have seeded the idea that the Comancheria, the name given to the nation of Comanche once fearsomely lorded over what is now Dallas County. That might be true. But just for a brief moment of time. The Cotton Bowl might have been standing longer than the Comanche cavalry ran roughshod here. The real story is not the Cherokee either. It's the Caddo.

The Hasani are a populous nation of people, and so extensive that those who give detailed reports of them do not know where it ends. They live under an organized government, congregated in their pueblos and governed by a cacique who is named by the Great Lord, as they call the one who rules them all -- Bishop Of Guadalajara, 1676

The lost village of the ancients

Thousands of years ago some ancient race of people lived in the woods you see in the photo above. Their history is unwritten. Here in these woods, in this very spot a great ancient civilization flourished for centuries. Charcoal analysis from their cooking fires tell us the woods looked the same today as they did when this site was called home for those ancient forefathers of Dallas.

A civilization that were master hunters. Master craftsmen. Masters artisans. Master traders. They are a group of people to whom no current humans alive will claim as descended from. Wichita? Caddo? Proto-Caddo? Maybe some unknown race of Anasazi that vanished without a trace?

Often, great leaps of theory and conjecture accompany wild stories of the lives and old hunting tales of the Native Americans who called Texas home. Those stories are not needed here. Over two millennia of well preserved occupation exist here. The only Native American site on the river and maybe in Dallas, that has been suggested for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. In the spring of 2012 I found a stolen truck here and called the police to report it. A detective went to investigate. Speaking with him over the phone after seeing the site, he said two words " Holy S%#@".  Indeed. This is another one of the "hopefully someday _______" will preserve this place. It deserves recognition and preservation.


Miller's Ferry
32°43'39.49"N,  96°45'40.75"W

Miller's Ferry Site

Owned by pioneer William Miller, later owned by his freed slave Henry Critz Hines, founder of Joppa. Above Mike Toyer is looking at what is most likely the original landing spot for the hand pulled ferry that was fashioned from cottonwood logs. Unchanged in appearance since the turn of the last century. Site of the first railroad crossing in Dallas, first highway crossing. First. First. First. Too many to mention. Native American site. Confederate muster encampment site.


Old Central Expressway/Highway 310
 32°43'42.32"N,  96°45'29.19"W

Highway 310 Old Central Expressway Bridge

Buckeye Trail Overlook
32°43'40.55"N, 96°45'8.64"W

Paved Buckeye Overlook

The photo above was taken looking downstream towards the paved circular overlook for the Rochester Park/William Blair Buckeye Trail Overlook. The trail was paved a few years ago from the levee on Bexar Street to the Trinity River. Billed as an ADA compliant trail, it in theory affords access to those with special needs. No real river access to the bluff where the pavement starts. Visible in this stretch is an old rusted pipe folded over itself several times at 32°43'41.04"N, 96°45'11.16"W and can be seen "river right" as one approaches the overlook.

 Buckeye Grove Overlook
 32°43'31.46"N, 96°44'51.53"W

Buckeye Grove in Rochester Park

Further down the river sits the Texas Buckeye Grove. Easy to spot from a distance after seeing the large trees canopied over the invasive Chinese Privet. In the left side of the photo, one can see a small white bench marking an overlook for this natural surface trail.

Mouth of White Rock Creek
32°43'25.85"N,  96°44'2.16"W

Up a creek with a paddle, canoeing up the mouth of White Rock Creek

Mouth of White Rock Creek

Other than the Trinity, White Rock Creek is the best known waterway in Dallas. Criss crossing a dozen golf courses, countless neighborhoods and a lake that shares the name, you would think the mighty creek would have a large expansive mouth and grand entrance into the river. Nope. If you blink, you might miss it. A small shoal nearly blocks the entrance and numerous old cottonwood logs prevent access up the creek more than 100 yards. A great canoe camp sits on the east side of the mouth, among a grove of Cedar Elms and Ash trees. In the city, this is as far away from other people as one can get.

From the mouth of White Rock Creek, the river makes a quick turn to the south and a long straightaway stretch to Loop 12. Large cottonwoods line the bank here which serve as cormorant roosts in the fall and winter months. On a day with a strong south headwind, I imagine this would be a difficult stretch for some.


Joppa Preserve to McCommas Bluff -- Old Growth Forest and the River Wild

The Dallas 9's Otis Dozier's Gathering Pecans, 1941 WPA commissioned mural

Scenes painted in the waning days of the great depression still play out seventy years later along the Trinity River. We were greeted by a grandfather and his grandsons picking pecans south of Loop 12 with 5 gallon buckets half full of pecans. Excited to tell us about the four deer they had just seen in large pecan grove. It's that wild down here.

The tracks of the river otter, beaver and swimming pigs in their daily commute are evidenced by marks left here on the shore. The majority of photos featuring coyotes, weird tropical birds and deer come from this area. A place very few ever walk and fewer take to paddle.

Loop 12 Boat Ramp
32°42'25.65"N,  96°44'9.28"W
Like the other bridges on the Trinity in Dallas, the Loop 12 Bridge constricts the flow of the river. Charles Allen suggested running it straight down the middle of the channel, one boat at a time.

Loop 12 bridge, Loop 12 Boat Ramp on river right

Beyond this point the river slows some, the water feels deeper and the river is wider. I believe this is from the old remains of lock and dam number 1 at McCommas Bluff. While compromised, the obstruction backs up the river some distance above.

Lemmon Lake Dam Beach
 32°41'49.95"N,  96°43'26.36"W

Lemmon Lake Dam and Wood Stork Roosts

A focal point for so many migratory birds in the summer, the large cottonwoods seen above serve as the roost location for hundreds of Wood Storks. These old trees sit atop the river bank and a slightly improved levee/dam and floodway that dates back to when Lemmon Lake was a private hunting and fishing club.

Dallas Water Utilities Retaining Wall
32°41'46.97"N, 96°42'43.89"W

The Great Wall---Thousands of feet of retaining wall

A year behind schedule and much larger than originally planned, the monolith of a 2012 Dallas Water Utilities construction project commands the south bank of the Trinity River. The wall was built to protect a 72 inch water main that runs near the river. The glacial pace of construction at this site left the Trinity Trail between Simpson Stuart Road and the Audubon Center incomplete for a year and a half.

Demolished pecan grove 2009

Many large pecan trees were bulldozed to build the wall. Seen in the photo at left taken in 2009 before construction, a dozen large and mature trees were destroyed along the bank. The pecan grove down here has been known for generations by local residents. The pecans grow large and prolific. Feeding not only humans but the ever growing numbers of feral pigs who camp out under the trees in the fall for feeding frenzys.



Great Trinity Forest Trail Bike/Pedestrian Bridge
32°41'58.80"N, 96°42'7.35"W

Trinity River Trail Bridge

Built in 2011, the Trinity River Trail bridge spans the river southeast of the Trinity River Audubon Center to link up with the Trinity River Trail from Joppa Preserve. There is no suitable landing site of note to visit the Audubon Center or take out boats. The section of river from Loop 12 to McCommas Bluff has very limited spots suitable for on shore excursions.

Mouth of Elam Creek / Woodland Springs
 32°41'58.33"N,  96°41'57.06"W

Floating through the heart of McCommas Bluff Preserve on Elam Creek

Elam Creek is one of three larger creeks that drain Pleasant Grove. Just downstream of the Audubon Center, the creek mouth is much wider than White Rock Creek and easier to canoe up. Had the water in the river been higher, we could have paddled up to Schepps Parkway without difficulty. This creek is also fed by Woodland Springs, situated on the site of an old boy's camp run by the Salesmanship Club of Dallas. The camp has long since been bulldozed but the former spring area near Loop 12 still remains. This creek forms the western boundary of McCommas Bluff Preserve and gives the more determined paddler a chance to canoe into the woods.



The fish in this creek are large and numerous. Rough fish, some quite large like the Buffalofish were 2-2.5 feet in length through this creek area.



The trees here are true old growth forest. Rare in North Texas. They grow tall and strong, old trees that have stood the test of time.

McCommas Bluff Preserve Bluff takeout area
32°41'48.26"N, 96°41'27.60"W

McCommas Bluff Preserve Take-out

McCommas Bluff is one of only large rock outcroppings on the Trinity River. Anchoring an abrupt bend of the river, the bluffs serve as an out-of-place dramatic Hill Country postcard scene.  The same 72 water line project responsible for the Great Wall upstream, also knocked a large hole in the historic bluffs here in 2012. The permanent scar is pronounced and interrupts the long river vistas that made McCommas Bluff so special.


 The Texas Historical Marker for the bluffs reads

Since the founding of Dallas, many of the city's leaders have dreamed of navigation on the upper Trinity River, but none of their attempts achieved lasting success. Fluctuating water levels and massive snags in the river below Dallas hindered early navigation. In 1866 the Trinity River Slack Water Navigation Co. proposed dams and locks for the waterway. Capt. James H. McGarvey and Confederate hero Dick Dowling piloted "Job Boat No. 1" from Galveston to Dallas, but the trip took over a year. In 1868 the Dallas-built "Sallie Haynes" began to carry cargo southward. Rising railroad freight charges spurred new interest in river shipping in the 1890s. The Trinity River Navigation Co., formed in 1892, operated "Snag Puller Dallas" and the "H. A. Harvey, Jr.," which carried 150 passengers. The "Harvey" made daily runs to McCommas Bluff, 13 miles downstream from Dallas, where a dam, dance pavilion, and picnic grounds created a popular recreation spot. In 1900 - 1915 the U. S. Government spent $2 million on river improvements, including a series of dams and locks, before World War I halted work. A critical 1921 Corps of Engineers report ended further federal investment. Despite sporadic interest in later years, the dream of Dallas an an inland port remains unrealized.

McCommas Bluff

The fossil rich limestone here features shells the size of hubcaps that provide a look into the life of the old inland sea that once inundated much of the Central United States. The photo above, in the far background is the best location to disembark canoes. A fishermen's trail exists there which winds through the trees to the top of the bluff. From this point, the river reaches a point of no return where paddlers must commit to an hour long portage of the lock and dam. In addition, the next takeout location would be Dowdy Ferry some miles downstream. It was here we took our boats out of the river and began a loose scramble hike downstream to the historic lock features. Ropes and elbow grease are required to haul boats up the cliffs.

McCommas Bluff has two old navigation projects worth visiting. The crib work for an 1893 dam and Lock and Dam #1 further downstream.

1893 dam crib work

The remains of the 1893 dam are accessible only when the river is below 16 feet. Sitting on river left, the rock and cedar log structure is anchored into the riverbed with iron rods. The rectangular box like structure served as a partition between a spillway and river gates on the river.

1890s design for the dam

Same dam in the 1890s

The dam here stayed in place for some time. The lock was abandoned after navigation of the Trinity was deemed too difficult. The dam increased the depth of the Trinity some distance, all the way to the Commerce Street Bridge in Downtown Dallas. The added depth allowed day long sight seeing excursions on the Steamboat Harvey from Downtown to a picnic ground at McCommas Bluff.

McCommas Bluff Lock and Dam #1
32°41'35.58"N,  96°41'29.44"W

The 100 year old Lock and Dam #1 at McCommas Bluff

The federal government and private investors spent millions of dollars in the early part of the last century to turn the Trinity into a navigable waterway. The proof of that standing today is Lock and Dam #1. Log jammed, silted in and undermined the old lock shows the power that the river can exert on man's ideas to change it. The river wins every time. Featured in the photo are David Mimlitch and Chris Jackson. David's aerial photography of Trinity River engineering projects fill the pages of the city's municipal website and sometimes even the front page of the morning paper. Chris was particularly interested in the locks at McCommas Bluff after his recent visit to Lock and Dam #4 at Riverbend Preserve in Dallas County. If you were interested in crawling around on one of these structures #4 is your best bet.

A century old two story lock keeper's house sits on the bluff above Lock and Dam #1 and is a currently occupied private residence. Please respect their privacy.

This was an exceptional trip with exceptional people. A high value experience with deep rewards in seeing a side of Dallas few will ever lay eyes upon. It should be high on every Dallasite's checklist of life.

Handy links:
Trinity River Expeditions: http://canoedallas.com/
Dallas Downriver Club http://www.down-river.com/
Commerce Street River Gauge http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=fwd&gage=dalt2
DORBA Trail Conditions http://www.dorba.org/trails.php

Polished like a ripe apple of autumn the Piedmont Ridge, Oak Creek and Devon Anderson Red Oaks ooze a palette of red, yellow and orange unique to this part of Dallas. The frost red thickets perched fifty to one hundred feet above the Great Trinity Forest offers one of the better fall foliage viewing areas inside the city limits. On the clearest of clear days from these heights one can gaze in the far western distance Cedar Ridge which shares the same White Rock Escarpment topography, flora and geology as this part of East Dallas. Like most of the Great Trinity Forest the bluffs and promontory overlooks here have a deep history, spartan hard to follow trails and rewarding scenery for those willing to get off the beaten path.

Piedmont Ridge Trail Overlook, view towards Oak Cliff Bank Tower on horizon

The bottomlands beyond the escarpments lie relatively unwalked and unexplored for years at a time. The towering second growth trees sprinkled with old growth is one of the greatest places to explore in the city. A place that lacks roads, trails and the construction work of 21st century man. Beavers do the construction here ten feet of dam at a time. Here they are slowly transforming the once channelized and de-watered White Rock Creek for Grover Keeton Golf Course back into a permanent marsh. A quiet and near impossible place for humans to venture. The fingers of the Trinity River Project do not reach down here. Nor will they. Wet nine or more months out of the year this backwoods area will always remain as it looks today. Those with a degree of rare country sophistication would appreciate a place like this.

Bruton Bottoms in the Great Trinity Forest

Those looking for a quick hike covering lots of ground need to look elsewhere. Traveling here is a thinking man's game where arduous bramble thickets should be viewed as a place to slow your pace and drink in the scenery. It's a pleasure to walk down here looking for the few and far between bois d'arc fencelines left by post cutting pioneers. Duck canvas pants and a thick pair of work gloves will take one far here.

JJ Beeman Trailhead sign

Like much of the Great Trinity Forest this land was settled by the Beeman family. Granted 4th class headright by the Republic of Texas in November of 1842, exactly 170 years ago, James Jackson Beeman's 640 acres were roughly between what is now Scyene and Bruton near present day Jim Miller Road. A trail west of the Scyene Overlook bears his name that if were more frequently maintained would reach the Lawnview DART Station.

JJ Beeman is an important figure in North Texas history. On President Sam Houston's visit to White Rock Spring in the summer of 1843 it was JJ Beeman who guided Sam Houston's Treaty Party from their overnight camp at Big Spring up White Rock Creek to John Neely Bryan's cabin in what is now Downtown Dallas.

Sam Beeman, Mrs John Neely Bryan Sr, John N Bryan Jr

Many paths crossed on that Treaty Party trip. Whether the long lasting friendships were forged before this meeting I do not know. In the proceeding years many of these men would meet together again fighting under the stars of three different national flags. The Texas Lone Star, The 28 Star American Flag and the 7 star flag of the Confederacy. John H Reagan a member of that treaty party later became US congressman, Confederate Secretary of the Treasury and post-reconstruction US Senator. Reagan and Beeman had a mutual friend in Nathaniel Burford . After Beeman returned from the California gold fields as a '49er, he land swapped his White Rock Creek holdings for land in Parker County. Beeman built a fortified stockade out there called Beeman's Fort. Under a large oak on Beeman's property, Nathaniel Burford held the first district court session for Parker County. The tree, known as the District Court Oak still stands today.

He must have been a restless sort, holding the job titles now trademarked by every professional sports team in DFW. Texas Ranger, Dallas Cowboy, Maverick, Rough Rider. His constant travels across Texas and the West make him all but a minor blip in most Dallas histories but he deserves more credit for what he did here in Dallas.

Pioneers of the Trinity

Thunderhead over Beeman Cemetery

The old worn faces in the photo above represent many of the people I have mentioned in previous posts. The Beemans, Cochrans, Bryans, Hunnicutts, Fishers and others gathered at a pioneer reunion at Oak Lawn at the turn of the last century. Most of those pictured were born, lived and buried in what we now call the Great Trinity Forest. Mrs Margaret Beeman Bryan seen bottom row, second from right was married to Dallas founder John Neely Bryan and lived for many years at White Rock Spring now located down pasture from the Pemberton Farm. Her relatives, cousins and neighbors fill the photo.

Many of those folks now rub shoulders at the Beeman Cemetery just like they did in that old photo. I would hazard a guess that two-thirds of those in the photo now lie in repose there. Sitting on a hill, a stones throw from the upper limits of White Rock Creek's floodplain the old cemetery was chosen as a garden spot of a cemetery by John Beeman in the 1840s.


The Trails

The archaic and sun damaged topographical map I once pointed people towards at the Piedmont Ridge Trailhead kiosk no longer exists. Removed or taken I do not know where it walked off to. The trails here really don't lend themselves to a map since they become difficult to follow in some areas. At best all I can offer is the GPS data map overlay which gives somewhat vague reference points to the Lawnview DART Station(green), Renda/Laceywood Trailhead(top yellow), Grover Keeton(middle) and Devon Anderson(bottom). The ideal parking location is inside the Grover Keeton golf course lot, west of the DART tracks. This allows for an out-and-back hike from the safest parking area.

The Lawnview DART route now requires a heavy bushwhack and not recommended at this time.

Hutchins quadrangle annotated with Scyene, Laceywood and Piedmont Overlooks

Click to enlarge

I have included the USGS quad for Hutchins which gives topo beta for the trail and overlooks in the area. Access to the west side of the DART Green Line ROW can be made on foot or bicycle from a DART gravel road near Glover Pass, Grover Keeton Golf Course or a bridge underpass just south of Bruton Road. A parallel set of train tracks sits slightly off grade from the DART light rail. This seldom used rail line is rumored to serve the Dal-Tile plant on I-30 from time to time. It sits outside the DART fences and given the amount of excess ballast used in maintenance almost lends itself to a halfway rideable route on a mountain bike.

The marsh notations south of Bruton are "Bruton Bottoms". I would only attempt an excursion down there with a group, good GPS, a fresh roll of flagging tape and a good head on your shoulders.






Scyene Overlook

Scyene Overlook

The best known overlook in this trail system is Scyene. Roughly one hundred yards south of the road bearing the same name the overlook gives one a commanding view of the Great Trinity Forest to the south. Most days the VA Hospital, Wilmer/Hutchins water towers and the aerial towers on Cedar Hill are visible with the naked eye.

Scyene Overlook

This overlook is named for an old frontier town two miles east of the overlook named Scyene. The town center was at the present day intersection of Scyene and St Augustine . The name "Scyene" is a play on the ancient Egyptian town named Syene an old frontier outpost on the east bank of the Nile. Around 500 BC, the same time the Book of Ezekiel references the ancient Egyptian town of Syene (Aswan), some ancient Native American left behind a Gary dart point(arrowhead) here on the bluff.  Stories as old as the Old Testament were probably told here along what was an old Bison Trace which later became Scyene Road.

The millennium old natural bison path and hard bottomed ford of White Rock Creek made this a preferred ox pulled wagon route into Dallas prior to the railroads. The long haul interstate truckers of their time.

In the last month, historian MC Toyer and archeologist Tim Dalbey have been out on a field trip or two in this area checking into a possible gravesite of outlaw Belle Starr's family and an old post Civil War era cabin in the Parkdale neighborhood(a few blocks from the overlook) that has a contemporary veneer on the exterior but logs/planks underneath. Owned by a well known local artist it might be one of the oldest structures in Dallas still on the original foundation. Or not.


The pounded down rocky rat holes left behind by years of off road vehicle use at Scyene Overlook have made deciphering the old ATV trails from new hiking trails quite difficult. Looking at the eroded gullies one can imagine these were used in hill climbing contests for motorized dirt bikes and off road vehicles at one time. Gazing the topographic map above with trail overlay one finds it difficult to make sense of what route to take. The Groundwork Dallas trail is unmarked, unblazed and ripe with deadfall making for a puzzle of a walk. Follow your own line here and you'll be fine.

Orchids- There are five species of Hexalectrus orchids that are found in Texas out of seven species worldwide. Out of these five, four occur in Dallas County. In the most recent orchid census, Scyene Overlook had the third highest number of orchids in the county, all were the H. spicata spicata species. The orchids here are quite rare and rely on a specialized relationship with soil fungus to acquire their carbon rather than sunlight. These species cannot grow under artificial conditions or be propagated by humans.

At one time, the city wanted to pave Scyene Overlook's trail and place an observation tower on top of it so that visitors could view Downtown from a distance. One of the rubs is that visitors cannot see Downtown from this vantage point. To do that one need only cross the Renda Meadow to Laceywood Overlook.




Laceywood Overlook- The overlooked overlook

Tree covered Laceywood Bluff

A mere footnote to Scyene Overlook, the Laceywood Bluff is everything Scyene Overlook is not. Sitting at the same elevation as Scyene but oriented north to south and facing west, Laceywood Bluff offers a great view of Downtown Dallas few ever see from the east. The tawny colored facade of fall oaks hide the brilliant white outcropping beneath.

Cottonwoods along unnamed brook through the Renda meadow

A five acre, tall grass meadow stands between Scyene and Laceywood with a small intermittent dry wash peppered with cottonwoods and willows. Reaching the meadow is best done from Gateway Park on Jim Miller as no formal parking exists on Renda or Laceywood. Both of these trails would be great for dog hiking.

View of Downtown Dallas from Laceywood Bluff

Laceywood sits fifteen feet higher than Scyene and the afforded extra elevation barely clears the tops of the highest pecan trees in the creek bottom below. That lends itself to a great set of pocket views featuring Downtown Dallas as a reward from the top. Two or three very informal foot trails lead to the top. One starting at the Renda Meadow which is rather steep and the other a longer and more pedestrian route from the baseball fields in Gateway Park.

Sumac on Laceywood Bluff

Piedmont Overlook

The Piedmont Overlook sits east of Jim Miller and can be best accessed from Gateway Park on Jim Miller. Hop across Oak Creek and begin the climb from the south. The west facing slope resembles scree and far too loose to hike up. Kicking rocks loose in this area would end up on Jim Miller vehicle traffic below.

The elevation of this bluff is the same height as the Laceywood Bluff and therefore is blocked from a view of Downtown Dallas. No formal trail exists that I know of. This is an orphaned section of bluffs that extend along the east side of Jim Miller from Scyene to Bruton. The road cut for Jim Miller bisected the rock feature here and left the eastern sections cutoff from the rest. I have wandered around some south of Gateway Park on the east side of Jim Miller and have not found much of note.

Many of the larger trees along Oak Creek in a residential neighborhood that back up to Gateway Park pre-date pioneer settlement of Dallas County. A recent postmorteum was done on a felled oak tree in the 2200 block of Santa Cruz. The Post Oak was dated at 134 years old with a radius of 11.99 inches.

Piedmont Ridge

Piedmont Ridge Overlook

The most well established, easiest to follow and best maintained trail in this area is the Piedmont Ridge Trail that stretches from the Grover Keeton Golf Course entrance road, south to Bruton.


Climbing a short set of switchbacks puts one on a flat plateau of exposed remnant blackland prairie and lends itself to open sky views not afforded at other overlooks. Here you can usually see buzzards wheeling the sky, riding the warm thermals created by an ever present southerly breeze. The sweet smell of juniper on the hottest of days can transport one to the scrub of the Llano Estacado without ever leaving the city limits.
It's a place where the old settlers mule teamed plows found the rocky ground to thin to work and their cattle found too steep to venture. Left to their own devices the old growth red oaks in this section of trail are most likely antique in age living prolonged sheltered lives of bourgeois pride on the limestone.

Devon Anderson

Devon Anderson Park

The cryptic entrance to Devon Anderson's trail near Bruton Road has cut many a hike short through the frustration of not being able to find it. Roughly 50 solid paces east from the DART ROW fence along a Chinese Privet hedgerow, the opening can be tough to find. The trail climbs through matted privet and up short sets of switchbacks to tree canopied sets of ridges and steep gullies.

The Half Mile Overlook

Intertwined behind a couple modular looking cul-de-sac'ed neighborhoods the trail runs north to south from Bruton to Eastcliff. There are two or three vantage points in Devon Anderson where one can see Downtown Dallas. Steep and off camber in most areas the trail does not lean well towards someone on a bike. More pushing than riding eighty percent of the time it's best traversed on foot.

The wooded trail opens up into an open wildflower meadow near the trailhead junction of the overlook trail and Comanche Storytelling Place trail. The Devon Anderson Meadow is set afire from time to time by what are probably neighborhood youth. It burned down at least twice in 2012 that I know of. The coming spring will tell the tale of what ancient fire DNA lives in the seeds in the ground here.

Comanche Storytelling Place

The Comanche Storytelling place serves as a prominent anchor to the southern end of the trails here. Beyond are steep root strewn gullies that lead nowhere. The Storytelling Place is something of a conundrum. The Comanche people named this natural ampitheater as a holy place in the late 1990s after a brief visit to an Indian Marker Tree that once stood in Gateway Park. The Comanche had no written language and used parables told orally to explain their people's history. Parables like those of the seasons, the animals and planets all played a forefront role in Comanche lifestyle. The Storytelling Place combines a few of these elements including the cedar, limestone and elevation required for Comanche holy spot. Here under the fragrant decay of fresh fallen leaves one could imagine a small Comanche band retelling old animal stories before a fall hunt.

If you blinked, you might have missed it. A brief moment in time before a morning dawn when the hangers on of summer meet old man winter for the first and last time. Here the late season wildflowers in the pocket meadows dotting the Great Trinity Forest have eluded the brief frosts of November. Dodging frosts here and there these summertime plants have held out until....today. Rarely can you find nature punctuating the end of a growing season as much as a snow.

Ratibida columnifera Prairie Coneflower -- Mexican Hat in the Great Trinity Forest

Other than the rare occasion of a late spring snowstorm dusting bluebonnets, Texas just does not see summer fast forward into winter overnight. The well worn sayings of yesteryear parroted by tv weathermen "if you don't like the weather in Texas, just wait, it'll change" often ring hollow. Overused, when it does actually happen the event often goes unnoticed.


The Great Trinity Forest, one of the larger urban forested areas in the United States is so close to downtown that one can see the sights here for a brief half hour at dawn and not even be late for work. Such was the case this particular morning in mid December. Few realize that.

Centaurea cyanusCornflower

The light dusting of snow left with the first rays of morning sun. Gone faster than a morning frost I would say. For those brief few moments though, it was quite special.

Compositae Solidago altissima Goldenrod

Symphoricarpos orbiculatus Coralberry

Odocoileus virginianus White-tailed Deer

Leaving the way I came, my path crossed with a large mature whitetail buck. The cold snaps seem to invigorate the deer during their annual rut and this particular morning was no exception.

The deer has cleared out a small area on the forest floor about the size of a kitchen table where he marks his territory. The dance he does half resembles that of a Pamplona Bull and a prize fighter ghost sparring with his own shadow. The scent left behind is a calling card for does and for other bucks to tread lightly.


The buck was so pre-occupied that it had little time to even notice me. It was a Monday after all. A long week of work lay ahead for both of us. Few such places exist like this in Texas, where a couple Texas residents can look at each other with a nod on the way to work.

This is one of those special places. Where the post cutter's wagons never reached. Where the land was too soft for a bulldozer to clear cut. Too far from a paved road to build a house.

The winds of change rarely shift here. When they do it is always for a quick buck at the expense of the river itself. The post cutters, farmers, cattlemen, river bargemen, gravel men, golf course owners and landfill operators. They were here. Once. They came. They lost. They packed up. The river always wins. Always.

There was a time when the barbed wire hung here enclosed the finest Swiss milking cows in all of Texas. The native wild rye grasses produced perennial champions of best tasting milk contests twenty years in a row at the State Fair. The Bois d'Arc fenceposts are the only addition to the Great Trinity Forest that old dairy left behind. Standing as silent sentinels for over a century they have weathered every storm and flood Dallas as a city has seen. In the dust bin of history these needle in a haystack old fence lines on White Rock Creek serve as testament to a time when this wild land was briefly tamed for a different use. Given half a decade the river took it back.

For The Price Of One Hundred Million Dollars
In late 2012, talk has been of taming the bottoms here once again for new uses. Promised world class facilities sure to rival that anywhere else in the known universe.

Many millions of dollars were spent to remove the old world class facilities from our memory. In an age old folkloric motif modelled on the story of Shechem, past mistakes were seceded back to the river never to be used again. An effort that Roman general Scipio Aemilianus Africanus who is heralded as salting Carthage would be proud of. So complete in dismantlement than only random fossilized golf balls remain.

The social and economic headwinds blow strong through this part of Dallas. The payoff of big ticket revitalization projects in the last ten years have yet to trickle down to the most important beneficiaries. The residents. I hear their frustration. Some of it is heartbreaking.

The promise of a brighter future is all one can hope for in a place many have written off as hopeless. The razing of Turner Courts and the new replacement taking the same footprint are met with guarded caution. We'll see.

New Turner Courts Projects as viewed from the Buckeye Trailhead December 2012

For The Price Of A Roll Of Flagging Tape

Reflagging the Bois d'Arc Trail

The river not only reclaimed that 36 hole golf course near Joppa but also the trail on the opposing side of the river. Erased. The Bois d'Arc Trail through Rochester Park(newly named William Blair Park) roughly follows the path of these old fenceposts down the west bank of White Rock Creek. The roughly mile and a half long trail eventually terminates at the confluence of White Rock Creek and the Trinity River on a knife edge briar patched peninsula.

Eastern Wahoo Euonymus atropurpureus

The undulant course of White Rock Creek slowly fights it's way through the last mile of Trinity River Bottom, hesitant to give up it's own water to the larger river beyond. Following the bank along the creek here is a maddening chore even for the most dedicated hiker. The ever thickening greenbriar thickets block travel through many of the sharp turns and suggests traveling at a fifty yard distance beyond.

Bois d'Arc Trail(click to enlarge)

The river reclaimed this trail in 2012. A series of large flooding events in the early part of the year coupled with little human use vanished the trail. A previous visit nearly a year ago is chronicled in a previous post here: William Blair Park The Perimeter Trail The GPS data for that hike is still relevant and can be found on the Garmin website Perimeter Trail and Miller's Ferry. Coordinates 32.734445, -96.739459 Google Map for Trailhead

Complete trail map of known trails in Rochester Park/William Blair Park

The low frequency of trail traffic coupled with the flooding events have obliterated the eastern half of the trail system. It's not a bad thing. Nature took it back. In many cases neglected trails often fall into disrepair and erode. This leads to more problems. The Trinity River simply overgrew these trails. Hiking their shadow is still easy although the trailhead is now very hard to find.

Trailhead as it looked in August 2010

Finding the trailhead in 2012 is not as easy as it was in 2010 when the above photo was taken. The grasses have since reclaimed the trail and the flagging tape has long since faded.


Same spot in the woods as it looks in 2012. In an effort to make the hike more accessible I brought a roll of flagging tape along to remark this route. The route is not hard to follow keeping the creek to the east and within sight making ones way cross country in dry weather is a pleasant walk. Subject to flooding and prolonged drying periods this is a great trail in drier winter weather.

The fiberglass arrow post

Perhaps the only man made trail marker on this route is a fiberglass post, pointing towards the direction of White Rock Creek's mouth. If one were to make a left instead of a right, the route leads out on an omega shaped bend in the creek which can mislead some.  In the future, this easterly route might serve as a worthwhile link to White Rock Spring which lies some distance to the east from this spot.

The banks are very steep here and finding a crossing point has proven difficult. I'm sure there is a good ford crossing along the creek in this stretch but I have not pursued the goal of finding one.

Fresh beaver felled sapling on the high bank above White Rock Creek

The novelty of walking down White Rock Creek free of fences and flood debris is one that few experience. The walk is quite easy and would be an acceptable place to bring dogs and children along.

The peninsula at the mouth of White Rock Creek

Reaching the trail junction of the Bois d'Arc Trail and the Buckeye River Trail the less trodden path takes one out on a peninsula formed by the mouth of White Rock Creek joining the river. The greenbriar vines are quite thick here and sure footed steps are required to insure safety from the steep drop offs on either side. This was also trimmed back on the recent trip there and should now be more manageable.

Mouth of White Rock Creek looking downstream

The elevated view from the peninsula is worth the hike. A view few will ever see.


The trail from the mouth of White Rock Creek towards the Buckeye Grove does not meander far from the Trinity River. Passing some of the larger Bur Oaks, Pecans and Cedar Elms that were once used as shade trees by the milking cows of Metzger's Dairy.

Standing in the Buckeye Grove, Great Trinity Forest

The trail constricts as it approaches the Buckeye Grove. Surrounded by several acres of thick Chinese Privet the Buckeyes might be hard to spot this time of year unless one knows what to look for. The Buckeyes annually bloom in the middle of March and are often some of the first spring flowers on the Trinity. A must see.




This time of year, around Christmas, the Eastern Wahoo Tree makes it's own color on the river. Known as "The Burning Bush" the brilliantly colored leaves and seed pods offer some color in what is an otherwise muted winter setting. The tree of note is just north of the Buckeye Grove and can be easily seen from some distance through the woods.




The unpaved Buckeye Trail eventually links up in this area with a concrete trail built several years ago to accommodate those visitors needing ADA access. How someone with a wheelchair or hoverround rascal scooter can negotiate the climb over the levee to access the concrete trail beyond remains a mystery to me.

Buckeye Trail from 2003

Buckeye Trail as it looked ten years ago

Before being bulldozed and paved over, the old natural surface Buckeye Trail was a great hike. Gated by a grove of cedars at the entrance the trail opened up into a nice long walk peppered with trees to the river.

The paved Buckeye Trail

The once open and canopied view of the old Buckeye Trail is now somewhat blocked by Giant Ragweed that grew up on their side of the trail after bulldozers cleared a large swath of forest for a 6 foot wide path. The latest plans from the city envision a similar trail, called the AT&T Trail near a future planned golf course bearing a similar name. That trail if built using the same construction standards as the Buckeye, would remove over half a million square feet of virgin hardwoods. Unlike the former grazing areas reclaimed by the river, the AT&T Trail would run through an area never logged or farmed. Something to think about.

View from the end of the concrete trail at one of two Buckeye Trail overlooks.

For The Price Of A Cup Of Tea




Last season's corn cobs for fire starter. The historic June hailstorm's dead fall limbs for fuel. An old guitar. A box of tea. A slow to heat coffee pot that gives you enough time to stump chat about the land, the weather and next year's crop. The simple pleasures in life that have no price. 





Under a grove of pecans and walnut trees that have fed man and beast alike for centuries Billy Ray Pemberton sits with his bible, guitar and mug; strumming songs of yore and songs he wrote himself. Subjects range from the land, his friends and thoughts on the world that surrounds him. Soft spoken in conversation, his true storytelling is done through his guitar. The richest man in town.

Freedman's Town of Joppa -- The contrasting Christmas lights of a home on Fellows with the muted colors of the Great Trinity Forest beyond

Cold and austere, the post Christmas early morning light cast shadows on frozen ground so stiff it resembled old concrete. The previous evening's snow has muffled the urban noise of the city that has grown up around these bottoms. The primate populous of that same city that calls it home has retreated indoors to loaf, channeling a deep seed of cave man DNA not to venture into the cold. During these special times, the rarely seen predators of the woods come forth from their shadows.

There is no better time to see the large carnivorous animals of Texas than after a bone chilling freeze. It seems that the cold drives these animals to hunt and explore more than any other season. Following are some photos taken during that North Texas cold snap between Christmas and New Years. Some are common sights while others are exceptionally rare.

Red Shouldered Hawk taking flight from a pecan in the Renda meadow below Scyene Overlook

A certain fidelity exists among the animals here rarely seen by humans. Where we see simplicity, the reality is complexity. We might see it happen on a small scale out a kitchen window in the morning. Or in a carefully scripted fifty minute wildlife documentary on television. The real world life and death drama played out through window panes or a piece of LCD glass is no match for bearing witness in person.

The frozen climb up the north face of Scyene Overlook

Coyote in Gateway Park

The twenty degree overnight temperatures froze the ground solid here the night before. Locking rocks in place where they lay, turning the small scree slopes of the escarpment on which the trail lies into an easy to walk path.

In the far distance, a shy coyote makes a bolt across a fallow field for nearby Oak Creek. Coyotes are seldom seen, often heard and leave their scat everywhere. Weary hunters, they seem opportunistic in their forays around people. Fuller bodied than the swamp coyotes  a few miles to the south, this Gateway Park yote seems to make meals out of more than just the local fauna. Pet food or garbage left outside are likely culprits. It beat a hasty retreat towards the DART Green Line where it crossed under the tracks using a small culvert for an unnamed creek.

JJ Beeman Trail in the Great Trinity Forest

Red Shouldered Hawk hunting in the Renda Meadow

Red Shouldered Hawk beginning a hunting dive off a power pole in the Renda meadow

A sharp, descending "kerr-yeee" scream announces the presence of the Red-shouldered Hawk as one enters the meadow near Scyene Overlook. Getting to the meadow is a worthwhile hike and sits mere minutes from Downtown Dallas.

Red Shouldered Hawks (Buteo lineatus) seem to be the most efficient raptors in the Great Trinity Forest. Medium in size and quite agile they can thread themselves through floodplain woods and bramble thickets with ease.

Renda meadow raptor

Their diet consists of insects, lizards, snakes and smaller rodents. They will take down another bird from time to time but the bulk of their diet seems to be smaller ground dwelling animals. The Red Shouldered Hawk seen above was hunting field mice in the snow covered meadow. It appeared as though it was watching for movement under the snow then launching a dive to the target.

This past spring I was fortunate enough to see a pair of Red Shouldered Hawks build a nest on White Rock Creek. Checking in once every few weeks I could watch from some distance the different phases of hawk rearing from nest construction to the eventual hatching of hawklets. This particular nest hatched three and raised three to adulthood. I still here them from time to time calling to each other nearly a year later.




Hawks Over Piedmont Ridge


The gusting northwest winds blow strong updraft currents along the White Rock Escarpment. The abrupt hundred foot elevation differential creates an enticing loitering area for some of the largest winged predators in Dallas, the Red Tailed Hawk. Seen at left and below, the hawks pictured were riding the draft up in effortless concentric maneuver. Much like a spiral staircase, each rotation would take them an building story higher in the air.


Some of these hawks migrate in seasonally for the winter from the northern plains, others stay year round.  I imagine the hawks view this ridge of Trinity chert gravel topped limestone as an island of sorts. A place to survey many acres of prime hunting fields.

Snow covered Piedmont Ridge Overlook

The large population of hawks in this area might be the result of the easy to hunt areas on the Grover Keeton Golf Course. The large number of nut bearing pecans here attract squirrels and the cropped grass keeps a stable population of rabbits.

Hawks are too small to predate the largest four legged menace in these woods, the feral pig. Signaled with the installation of traps and a feeder within 50 yards of the Gateway Trail, feral pigs have made the move to Scyene. The DART Green Line fencing serves as an effective barricade against pig migration to some extent. From the looks of the recent tracks near the DART crossing at Glover Pass, some of the pigs are quite large. One can only hope that the widespread extermination of non-target species (deer, bobcats, coyotes and birds) as evidenced near the Audubon Center will not accompany the attempts to eradicate the feral pigs from the Scyene Overlook area.

Snow covered juniper stump along the Piedmont Ridge Trail

Devon Anderson Trail

Devon Anderson Trail south of Bruton Road

Red Tailed Hawk being harassed by a Mockingbird

Belonging more to the air than to the tree limbs on which it sits perched, hawks are often the subject of harassment by lesser birds. Like a monkey on his back, the mockingbird makes insulting remarks and curse statements at a bird fifty times in size. Annoyed, the hawk reluctantly takes flight moving to another tree nearby.

Footbridge over the dry gulch in Devon Anderson Park

The Great Horned Owls -- Master Hunters of the night


The fabric of Texas Lore is wound tight with the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). Modern day Texans are poorer for never having heard one. The booming voice of evening calls to attract a mate resonate louder than a man can yell.

The Native Americans saw the Great Horned Owl as a harbinger of death and bad luck. An owl near their camps while revered by their beliefs was a forboding sign.

The Spanish Conquistadors and missionaries that first colonized Tejas in the 17th Century blended the ancient Caddo stories of owls into their own. Es como los tecalotes; la viveza lo tiene en los ojos. He is like the owls; all his liveliness of wit is in his eyes.

Mexican bandits often thought the Great Horned Owl's call was "Refugio, Refugio, Refugio". Refuge. Refuge. Refuge. Hiding for a night under a tree used by an owl was a sure sign of a remote sanctuary. 

The old Texas pioneer rhyme that dates back to the mid 19th century has similar parallels to them all :A wise old owl lived in an oak, The more he saw the less he spoke,The less he spoke the more he heard. Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?


"Uncommon but widespread" is how many field guides list many winged predators. This applies to the Great Horned Owls especially. Owls are apex night hunters and the preferred technique for Great Horned Owls is to perch on a pole or cliff or other site with a view, watching and listening for prey. Spotting or hearing potential dinner, they launch off and dive in on silent wings to snatch the unlucky critter in incredibly strong and large talons. With two foot long bodies, five foot wingspans and talons with crushing power over 300 psi, Great Horned Owls are one of the few birds that can kill animals larger than themselves.


Hearing a great predator call in the moon lit air of sunset is a rare occasion inside the city limits of Dallas. Seeing one is quite unique given their nocturnal schedules. Getting some photographs of one is even harder to come by. For the intrepid willing to brave the cold, the chance to get some owl photos was a rare chance indeed. Below is some footage I shot of one Great Horned Owl. It was a cloudy and foggy evening after sunset.


Seeing the owl in the fork of a tree, I placed a camera and tripod some hundreds of feet away. Then left the area. Over the course of the next twenty minutes it made territorial calls a number of times, calling for a distant mate. Around the 1:50 mark or so the distant return calls of the second owl can be heard in the far background. Towards the end of the clip, the owl leaves to join the other. I have not seen many Great Horned Owl videos on the internet. Nearly all seem to be of owls in captivity. Quite entertaining to hear the owl hooting 500+ yards away knowing down in the woods your camera is catching it all.

Much of the groundwork for knowing about this particular pair of Great Horned Owls was done by Robert Bunch, a professional photographer of note based in the Dallas area. His willingness to share his find and donate personal time for chronicling birds in Dallas is exceptional. His website features some of his great wildlife photos Robert Bunch Photography. I had heard owls many times previous to this in the Great Trinity Forest and caught fleeting glimpses of them but never seen one so close. Joining Robert was another great photographer Geryl Mortensen of Birds Afield. He made waves last winter with his Texas Snowy Owl photos that caused quite a bit of buzz. Both those guys are outstanding photographers and seem like exceptional people to boot. A pleasure meeting them both. I'm a two bit idiot with a camera compared to what they bring. Really nice to meet ethical folks with an appreciation for keeping an unobtrusive distance to wildlife.



Urban Bobcats - The Bobcats Of White Rock Lake

Bobcat at White Rock Lake December 30, 2012

The bobcat (lynx rufus) is the most common wildcat in the United States. Their name comes from their short bobbed tail and is easy to spot from some distance. Varying in color and size, they can take on a gray milk color or a more exotic leopard pattern like the one seen in the photos here. With the magnified toolset of a house cat many times over, the bobcat is an apex predator across the North Texas landscape. Only an unfortunate run-in with a bullet or a car bumper stand in the way of their demise as adults.

Bobcat at Sunset Bay, White Rock Lake, Dallas, Texas near the CCC Statue

Roughly the size of a medium dog, this particular bobcat was seen at White Rock Lake about an hour before a cold cloudy sunset on the last weekend of 2012. Blending in well with the dormant grass it moved virtually unnoticed across a couple acres of open ground at Sunset Bay near walkers, runners and cyclists.

White Rock Lake bobcat marking scent on brush next to the Sunset Bay offices

Like many cats, this bobcat appeared to be on a daily patrol, marking territory with facial scrapes and urinating on brush. There is more than one bobcat in this immediate area and claiming territory of your own is an important job duty for any cat. Looking at the facial features and overall girth, this bobcat is most likely a younger individual maybe the result of litter last spring.

The bobcat like others I have seen at the lake have found a way to coexist with people in a non-threatening manner. Their prey diet consists of rodents, waterfowl and small game that live around White Rock Lake. Seeing a cat this size along the hedges here would give a dog owner a reflective pause before letting a pet run off leash. No need to worry. The cats seem to have a healthy respect for humans and their canine companions. They keep their distance and so should you.

Comparing a bobcat to a mountain lion ........


Poor light, long distances and excitement can often confuse your eyes into seeing something that is not there. The illustration above shows the main differences between the larger mountain lion and the bobcat. 3 feet long for a bobcat, 7-8 feet long for a mountain lion. Similar coat colors, similar markings.

Comparing cougar, coyote and bobcat tracks, Courtesy TPWD

Despite claims of mountain lions in the Dallas area, the tales of big cats are just that. Concoctions of rumors, third hand accounts and a healthy dose of misinformation. Even the prints of large dogs are misidentified as mountain lions all the time. The prints above illustrate the similarities and marked differences between the animals. It's unclear how someone could not tell the difference but it happens all the time.




It's a paradox to often find images such as these in the most violent and impoverished neighborhoods of Texas.  Places that many reading this will never visit for fear of the people who call it home. I wonder what it will take to change that.

Somewhere beyond the remains of an old brick factory and the town that carries the same name lies a unique corner of Dallas County where the Trinity River and tributaries engage in wholesale misanthropy against a population hellbent on controlling it. The give and take struggle, man vs nature, has yielded an out of sorts landscape primed for the largest hunters of the North American skies. Eagles.

The twilight evening moon setting behind an Osprey (fish eagle) in the floodplains of Dallas, Texas January 2013

The modest world of topographical study does not lend itself well to the open prairie of North Texas. Attempts at flattering comparisons to that of the Texas Trans-Pecos or rolling Hill Country fall flatter than the land itself. Most of what made this land so special to pioneers, why they settled here instead of the rough hewn rolling cedar hills further west is an answer lost to most. The grand prairie grass plains.

Restored Tall Grass Prairie in Southeast Dallas County near the mouth of Ten Mile Creek and the Trinity River

There was a time not long ago when settlers to North Texas would send letters back east proclaiming the vast shoulder high grasses that extended as far as the eye could see. The Indian, buffalo, grama, big and little bluestems, names forgotten to most. That epic carpet of grass, has long since been subdivided, housed and paved over. Remnants still exist. Patchwork quilted along old railroad sidings, vacant lots and forgotten farm family cemeteries. You don't get a feel for it though. The ocean of grass moving like waves on water. The aesthetics of a fast moving red lit sunset moving across a field so fast you cannot keep pace. Here, you can experience that. This panoramic view attracts more than the wandering human eye but also that of winged predators who feast on the rich fields of quarry that these fields invite.

Ten Mile Creek valley overlooking the South Creek Ranch's Red Angus herd with Riverbend Preserve in the far treeline beyond. Dallas County Texas.

In order to see such a sight, one of large tract native grass vistas, one needs to head into the farthest corner of Dallas County. It's a great place few know exist. It's not on the way to anywhere. It serves as no shortcut. The roads can become impassable after heavy rains. I offer this area as one of the best to see eagles this winter inside Dallas County.

While the eagles featured in this post were often photographed inside the city limits of Dallas and inside the confines of Loop 12, the more remote areas of Southeast Dallas County afford the best chance to see one. Parkinson and Wolf Springs Roads seem to be the best option if one wishes to keep your sightings a car bound affair. For the more adventure seeking, one of the least visited Dallas County nature preserves sits right in the middle of this eagle rich countryside. A few months ago, Chris Jackson made a detailed report of his trip to the preserve and Lock and Dam #4. He has spotted numerous bald eagles inside the metroplex this winter including some around the south side of the Lewisville Lake Dam.

Dallas/Ellis County line on Wolf Springs Road looking south into Ellis County. Dallas County portion is paved and abruptly ends at the county line. Trinity River is in treeline to the left, old Ten Mile Creek Channel is immediate right of photo

This area in Southeast Dallas County is literally a place where the pavement ends. This is one of the only places I know of in Dallas County where you can literally see a mile in any direction and literally sit in the middle of the road if the mood strikes without worry of being run over. The silence is deafening on windless visits here. Beyond lies the unkempt roads of rural Ellis County and roads aptly named after places they once served. Sawmill. Log Ranch. Trinity Basin. Ten Mile.

River bottoms such as these are prime real estate in the winter for large birds of prey, the largest seen in Texas are eagles.The Trinity is often overlooked for eagles. The Colorado and Brazos to the south steal the thunder of North Texas when it boils down to the grit.

Why Southeast Dallas County Attracts Eagles

Current Bird's Eye View of Ten Mile Creek where it enters the Trinity River north of Wolf Springs Road in Dallas County

1900 Map showing Ten Mile prior to channelization

For millennia a quiet war of wills has raged down here between the land and the river that cuts through it. From the north the river has hauled down tons of silt many times over and deposited them annually on these fields. The near biblical floods of pre-history have changed the course of the river and tributaries here often. The long forgotten riverbeds go by new names, Cottonwood Slough to the west and Parson's Slough to the east.

USGS India Quadrangle noting old Ten Mile Creek Streambed

Man has changed the streams here too. The rich flood prone land impeded farming in the early parts of the last century. Efforts were made around the First World War to reclaim some of this land and put it into production without worry of seasonal flooding.

2012 aerial view of Wolf Springs Road with old Ten Mile streambed visible

This was one of the earliest forays of Dallas County into rechanneling a stream. At top right the Dallas County Map of 1900 shows Ten Mile Creek headed south into Ellis County where it reached the Trinity some distance below the county line. The circa 1917-1920 public works project moved the mouth far to the north well inside Dallas County on an east-west path. A series of small levees were built in this area which contributed to flood protection.

It's worth noting this century old project because the wildlife still seem to congregate along the old creek channels. This shift of streams greatly plays an integral role in the sheer numbers of animals in the area.

Smaller tributaries such as Bear Creek were also moved as a result of this project and funneled south to join Red Oak Creek near it's mouth with the Trinity River.










The Crested Caracara --The Sacred Eagle of the Aztec

Crested Caracara beginning a gliding dive over Ten Mile Creek

Crested Caracara hunting over Ten Mile Creek near the Trinity River

Aztec Warriors as depicted in the Florentine Codex

Here among the patchworked squares of Ten Mile Creek bottom works one of the most revered and mythic eagles of North America, the Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway).

The Caracara has long been a sacred bird for the people of Mexico. Steeped in deep legends of the Aztecs of interior Mexico, the sighting of one had deep significance. The symbol of the Caracara is immortalized in the petroglyphs of Aztec pyramids across the region.

The most fearsome of Aztec shock troops the Eagle and Jaguar Warriors wore suits fashioned from the feathers of the Caracara. Called the cuāuhocēlōtl these soldiers were the most disciplined and during the Spanish Conquests of Mexico could fight the well armored Conquistadors on an even field.

Crested Caracara hunting a field near Ten Mile Creek

The Caracara is now represented on the national flag of Mexico. Some liberties have been taken with the coloration to reflect the appearance of a Golden Eagle. The story goes that the Aztecs in 1325 AD received a vision or a sign through one of their many gods that told them they would know where to build their central city, the empire  of Tenochtitlan when they saw what is today depicted on the Mexican Flag. They were told that when they saw an Eagle perched on a Nopal cactus with a serpent in its talon, located on an island, this is where they should begin to build their permanent city. They supposedly did encounter this on an island in the middle of a lake (Lake Anahuac) now known today as Mexico City.

Caracara with a snake in beak

I find this story relevant because the Caracara seen in Dallas County hunting over the sunny but cool fields of Ten Mile Creek came up with a snake as a late afternoon meal. Seen pictured at right. This is most likely one of a mated pair that loiters up and down the river in this area over the last few winters with regular frequency.

These birds have the body and span of an eagle but tend to forage more on a wide array of carrion if the opportunity presents itself. It would be fair to say that the have the body of an eagle and the mind of the most depraved vulture. I have seen Caracara as far north as the old Progreso Farm location on Pemberton Hill Road in 2009-2010. The area was strewn with discarded animal remains at the time from a slaughterhouse operation. As a result the area was thick with carrion loving birds.

Caracara are actually listed as a Threatened Species under the Endangered Species Act. Much like the Wood Stork that ranges through this Dallas countryside in the summer months, the habitat threatened Caracara is listed not for the ranging birds from Mexico but those residing in Florida. At some point in the past a vast extinction event took place along the Gulf Coast between Florida and Texas separating the populations into two distinct groups. The Endangered Species Act contradicts itself in a few areas regarding species protection. Rather than separate the population into subsets, the species as a whole is protected.


Caracara are a somewhat rare sight in Dallas County. They are most often seen around landfills in Irving, Dallas, Mansfield. North of the DFW metro area they are very seldom seen. Maybe in coming years as this species population improves more will be seen towards the Red River.



The Bald Eagle -- The Trinity River Duck Hunters

Ducks in flight over the Trinity River Wetland Cells

In a woodsy corner of Pleasant Grove the ducks stack up in mid-winter thicker than a traffic jam on Central. Safety in numbers from feathered foes loitering above waiting to pounce for an easy breakfast.

Juvenile Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the Great Trinity Forest near the confluence of White Rock Creek and the Trinity River, Pemberton Hill, Dallas Texas, January 19, 2013

I chalk up the drought of 2011 for a less than productive year of eagle sightings in the Great Trinity Forest. The scant food and dried pocket ponds caused many of the wintering waterfowl to head further south to the coast. With the ducks went many of the eagles who follow like lions stalking a wildebeest migration.

Bald Eagles are rather punctual as a breed. Give or take a week they always seem to show up about when expected. It was disappointing not to see them last winter. The ebb and flow of winged wildlife is only tied to food sources and weather. Both in short supply last winter. A near normal spring and summer yielded more food and shelter this winter holding the ducks here in Dallas for a longer period.

Adult Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) near the mouth of Ten Mile Creek and the Trinity River, Riverbend Preserve, Dallas County Texas, January 13, 2013

Inside the city limits of Dallas eagles are seen much less frequently. Casual documented observations have been made at White Rock Lake in years past but they are very infrequent and the birds seldom stay long. The photos above show two common adaptations of Bald Eagles. The juvenile Bald Eagle was seen in the Pemberton Hill area on January 19, 2013. As is customary these oddball sightings always seem to involve Bill Holston a Master Naturalist and all around master hiker to boot. I being armed with a camera and he armed with binoculars, we both scratched our heads about the odd looking juvenile bird. It was not until a look through the images post hike I was able to see it was a Bald Eagle. It might have fooled us humans but the ducks pecking away at morning breakfast in the pond ahead of us knew what it was...........

Ducks in a flooded Pleasant Grove field near the Trinity River, scattering at the sight of a juvenile Bald Eagle

....like a Chinese fire drill.

It can take years for a Bald Eagle to develop the hallmark white head. Seen in a photo above, that particular adult Bald Eagle was seen down near Ten Mile Creek, a healthy distance away over a grove of large trees. The great majority of the Bald Eagles in this area are merely transients and are not building nests in the Dallas area. The Great Trinity Forest has a very few scant trees that would even be capable of Bald Eagle nest habitat. The eagles seen in Dallas proper most likely commute from larger bodies of water like Ray Hubbard, Tawakoni and Richland Chambers where eagles reside in greater numbers during the winter.

Great Horned Owl

The Great Trinity Forest and White Rock Creek drainage does make for excellent owl habitat. Wearing a coat of natural bark camouflage Barred Owls and Great Horned Owls are a worthwhile pursuit within a half hour of sundown in the woods here. No special equipment is needed. Just a sharp set of eyes and the patience to find them.

Barred Owl near the Buckeye Grove

Osprey -- Fish Eagle of the floodplain

Osprey (Fish Eagle) feasting of a freshly caught carp in Dallas Texas under a rising moon

Fog rising among White Rock Creek's five story tall trees in the Great Trinity Forest, Rochester Park

The Osprey and owls are the only raptors whose outer toe is reversible, allowing them to grasp their prey with two toes in front and two behind. Known as fish eagles, sea hawks and fish hawks the Osprey(Pandion haliaetus) is one of the great winged aquatic hunters of North America. The special talons allow the osprey to firmly hold onto slippery fish which makes up the primary source of food in the diet.

This particular species of bird is often seen diving head first towards water then using razor sharp talons to deliver a devastating blow.

Widespread across the globe, these birds live on every continent but Antarctica.

Osprey clutching a carp on a cottonwood tree

Suffering a similar fate of the Bald Eagle, the widespread use of the pesticide DDT had negative impacts on the Osprey population in the last century. Due to the widespread geography of the Osprey the overall health of the species was maintained during the use of that chemical. The numbers are now up higher than before and the Osprey is becoming a more familiar sight far into the plains of Texas.

The Osprey in these photographs is an infrequent visitor along the White Rock Creek drainage. Being a unique bird to the area it's unknown whether or not similar sightings this past fall of an Osprey near the mouth of White Rock Creek are the same bird.







Much of the wildlife habitat in this thread exists not through preservation of habitat but rather private conservation efforts by places like the South Creek Ranch. Proper rural land stewardship and not overworking the land has provided not only for excellent grazing and agriculture. It has dramatically increased the diversity of species that were for all practical purposes once hunted or driven to extinction inside Dallas County.

It seems that without reservation that the Trinity River Project faces problems far greater than most people realize. The mismanagement of this resource across a broad scale is starting to impact the natural wildlife that is just starting to make a toe hold back into the woods. No amount of money can create some of the sights down there. But for a price, you can destroy it.

Bikerafting through the Trinity River Standing Wave Whitewater Upper Canoe Bypass in Dallas, Texas

Our specially crafted boats, by design, should have been somewhere north cutting a wake on the Arctic Sea Ice or carrying a field dressed moose across an Alaskan fjord. The weather was cold enough. The whitewater rapids strong. A pair of Bald Eagles, the distant noon howl of coyotes and Northern Shoveler ducks by the thousand to keep us company. An Alaskan adventure in every since of the word. I'm sure four months from now those same eagles and ducks will most likely be in the land of the Canadian midnight sun. But not this day. It was mid-February. In Texas. The only thing resembling ice was spelled out on the Katy Trail Ice House marquee where this trip started and finished.

Trinity River Standing Wave Sketch circa 1998 (City of Dallas)

Five years ago, the sights, sounds and place names in this post did not exist. They were blueprints, sketches and dreams of benchmarks yet to be realized. The foundations of the Trinity River Corridor now affords those with some creative outside-of-the-box ideas and a sense of adventure to do things really unique on a Saturday morning. Labeled boondock country by many, wrongfully mired in political debate, the true nature of the river becomes difficult to conceive as a whole.

The Trinity River Project could be seen as a blank slate yet to make a mark on the city that surrounds it. There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding about how many of these projects can be woven together into a twenty mile journey up and down the Trinity River. Limited only by your own imagination there are ample opprotunities for adventure. It's fun to see these renderings come to life, whether they are a signature bridge, a bike path, nature center or whitewater park.

Evan and Will of Big City Bike Rafts

Two such pioneers literally testing the waters of the Trinity River are Will and Evan, two Dallas residents who bike raft rivers around the Southwestern United States. Together they formed Big City Bike Rafts that will rent you an Alpacka raft for a modest fee. Will mentioned that they bought the rafts after a long search for a Trinity trip last summer. They had to source the raft rentals from Jackson Hole and Salt Lake City at great expense and trouble. Bitten by the bike rafting bug and not wanting to go through the expense of mail order renting they purchased a set of rafts. Will and Evan shot me an email earlier in the winter about a float/ride through the Great Trinity Forest and I jumped at the chance.


The Equipment

At first glance one might see inflatable boats as a mediocre way to travel on water. These are no ordinary boats. Built by Alpacka Raft in Mancos, CO, they are the preferred choice for many cross country adventure travelers. Weighing in at five pounds and rolling up to dimensions the size of a loaf of bread, they allow for real flexibility in travel. Jonathan Waterman, author of the book published by National Geographic Running Dry: A Journey From Source to Sea Down the Colorado River used an Alpacka on his 1450 mile journey from the source of the Colorado River on the snowpack in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park all the way through Arizona's Grand Canyon and down to Mexico's Baja. Impressive boats with a load capacity in excess of 350 pounds and good steering manners.

Will giving a demo on assembling the raft

They assemble and inflate in about five minutes using a unique pillowcase style bellow rather an a traditional pump. Simply grab some thin air then run your closed hand down the length of the blue bellow, pictured left at the Dallas Standing Wave Portage Ramp. Rated for Class III intermediate rapids, the finesse issue of the handling lies more in getting your load balanced and center of gravity low.

The boats don't carry through with as much of a gliding coast like a canoe but make up for it with added maneuverability and less draft it seems.


 The Route Downriver-- Katy Trail Ice House to the Audubon Center

There must be thousands of people who use the Katy Trail on a Saturday. Few venture far off it. The trail itself serves as a great avenue for reaching other parts of Dallas. The Arts District, the American Airlines Center, the Audubon Center! Originally the MKT railroad, the old line cuts a bee-line right to the old river channel.

Above is the Google Map Route for the trip down the river starting at the Katy Trail Icehouse and heading south across the Continental Street Viaduct. The return trip was similar and can be found further down in the post. For those that keep score with their GPS, I believe Will of Big City Bike Rafts holds the Strava KOM for the route.
Relevant benchmark mileage points:
5.5 miles from the Katy Trail Ice house to the Trinity River Standing Wave.
6.2 miles down river from Standing Wave to Loop 12. 11.8 total miles from Ice House to Loop 12
4.7 miles from loop 12 to the Audubon Center. 16.5 miles total from Ice House to Audubon Center.

On walls that once housed the Italian Restaurant Cremona are chalkboards that line the exterior. Entitled "Before I Die I Want To.." the chicken scratched scribble of strangers profess things they always plan on doing but might not get around to in this lifetime. We were set on ours.........


 ....and that's where our trip began on a cool, serene saturday morning. In stark contrast not twenty five minutes later we were wet and in a washing machine of Class II-Class III rated whitewater.



Getting to the river is a snap. Down Continental and across the bridge one can be on the levee perimeter road in mere minutes. Open year round to non-motorized traffic the levee road is slowly becoming known as a great training ground for off-road cyclists and running groups looking for softer surface training.

Trinity River Levee Perimeter Road with the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in the background

Currently the only paved stretch of trail is a short section of path from the east side of the I-35 bridge to the west side Santa Fe Trestle Trail on the Oak Cliff bank of the Trinity.

Assembling rafts and disassembling bikes

29er mountain bikes are quickly gaining in popularity and outselling traditional smaller wheeled 26 inch mountain bikes in many stores. For this trip we all rode 29ers which suit themselves well to North Texas trails. Disassembling the bikes and mounting the larger wheeled bikes on the rafts was a snap. The boats have straps and attachment points similar to the old clipped pedal cages of pre-SPD style pedals. By design the teeth of the clasps hold strong even when wet and the webbed material will not stretch.

The Dallas Wave -- Running the Trinity River Project's Standing Wave

Launching from the Portage Ramp and approaching the Standing Wave

The scrawny meandering wooded stream known to many as the Trinity River does not exist in the first one hundred yards downstream of the Santa Fe Trestle Trail. Here a canoe portage ramp exists serving as a bookend of where the Trinity River levee floodway ends and the untamed wild river begins. Whitewater.
Video summary of the trip, including negotiating the Standing Wave

June 2010

Construction began on the Standing Wave in the summer of 2010. Using a diversion channel the Trinity River was temporarily moved to the north allowing for foundation work in the riverbed.

August 2010

By Christmas of 2010 the Standing Wave was complete. Below is how the Standing Wave looked just prior to the Trinity River being placed back into the original channel.

December 2010

Taking the purpose built canoe bypass on the Standing Wave Project

The approach to the Standing Wave is uneventful the roar of the rapids beyond cannot be heard until reaching the lip of the feature itself. We decided to take the River Left canoe bypasses, a pair of which allow for a somewhat calmer traverse of the whitewater.

Upper Wave slackwater area of the Trinity River Standing Wave

Above is the slack water Upper Wave play area. The hydraulics of the water seem to move counterclockwise in the upper pool, gently swirling around.

Negotiating the Lower Canoe Bypass

The Lower Canoe Bypass has a considerable drop to it, much more than the Upper Bypass. Seen above, the water has a faster speed, longer drop and more run out. I recall that attempts have been made to fix this problematic spot, placing a large boulder near the lip of the bypass to curtail the flow, reworking some of the funnel. Where the Upper Bypass is a piece of cake, I think that a larger boat like a canoe might think twice about negotiating the Lower Bypass. Portaging might be a better option.

Lower Standing Wave looking upstream Corinth Street Viaduct in far background

The Lower Standing Wave is an easier piece of water to dabble in. This particular day the water was a modest 700 CFS which would be considered an average flow year round. In the summer it drops off to 450-500 CFS during dry spells.

Beyond is the scenery of which Dallas can now boast, the sort of natural areas that people just don't see on their way down I-45 to Houston.

The Journey Downriver

Approaching the Cedar Crest Bridge

The Cedar Crest Bridge is the first bridge on the float one reaches about 1/3 of a mile downstream of the Santa Fe Trestle Trail. Soon, the Corps of Engineers will radically alter the woods here, removing most of the trees to build wetland cells. It has already begun to some extent with the removal of a forested area on the southwest side of the bridge. Hope they know what they are doing!

MKT Trestle circa 1905

Hey, it's the Katy again. The next bridge up is rumored to be one of the oldest railroad bridges still in use that spans the Trinity, the MKT railroad bridge. Hidden from any street view one can only see it from the river. Interesting old bridge, the random train horns from locomotives crossing here keep South Dallas residents up at night.

Some of the more detailed history and backstory of this stretch of river can be found in a previous post from November on a canoe trip with a historian, wildlife expert, two master naturalists and a pig blood drone pilot Exploring the Trinity By Canoe.

Beyond the railroad trestle, the river exhibits a cross section of the sediments that underlie the Blackland Prairie plains, an apron of gravel debris laid down anciently by immense rivers coursing out of the mountain west when those peaks were young and high. Behind the old Procter and Gamble Plant the gravels here point to a much older time.

Miller's Ferry

Historic Miller's Ferry Site

William B. Miller

 Miller's Ferry has been used for centuries by man as a way station on the Trinity River. This trip we used it to stretch our legs as the halfway point of our float. Nestled between the elevated I-45 and Highway 310 bridges it serves a great rest stop. Despite the heavy rains of the previous week, the ground was slippery but firm.

The namesake of the crossing is William B. Miller an early Dallas pioneer who made a lasting mark on much of Dallas as a whole. An enterprising businessman on the south bank of the Trinity, he needed a ferry crossing to reach Dallas. In turn, Dallas needed a reliable ferry crossing to reach Hutchins, Corsicana and points south. Miller's Ferry road still exists today in southern Dallas County and served as the piggybacked route for the first railroad, first highway and first interstate into Dallas.

The debris and scree today at Miller's Ferry look like a standard mess of old rusted construction but in reality are the remains of bridges and crossings past. In the photo above, the concrete casements, iron shrouded piling and cable pieces are legacies of old times gone by. The first ferry was hand pulled, similar to the one seen inset left. During low water, the cottonwood built ferry sat in the mud and served as a low bridge. During high water the bridge was pulled via rope and braided cables. It's believed that the "cut" in the bank(where we parked our boats in the photo) at Miller's Ferry, shown as a historical feature most likely was part of that old site.

Millermore Mansion in Old City Park

Miller's antebellum style mansion, Millermore was moved to Old City Park near Downtown Dallas where it stands today. There is much more history to the ferry site which can be found in more detail in a previous post 3000 years of history at Miller's Ferry .

 Through Rochester Park and up White Rock Creek

Navigating the mouth of White Rock Creek, looking upstream

Remote canoeists camp on White Rock Creek

 A distant howling chorus of coyotes greeted us as we floated past the Buckeye Grove in Rochester Park now known as William Blair Park. Eerily calling a noon howl from afar the true wilderness of the river made it's mark. Below the Buckeye Grove sits the mouth of White Rock Creek which is usually hard to travel due to snags. This day the flow and level of the creek was higher allowing for further travel upstream.

The sheltered creek mouth here makes for an excellent stop and makes for an excellent overnight canoe camp spot on the river, high and away from the bank.

Downstream to the east of the river we floated past what will soon become the Trinity Forest Golf Course. The tall pecans, walnuts and oaks that line the banks here will most likely hide the course from the river. Once an old gravel mining area, this parcel of land yields some of the finest fossilized animals in the United States. The old gravels mentioned earlier in this post served as a vast sandy marsh when mammoths roamed Dallas. The new Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas features a mammoth pulled from this very spot, soon to be a golf course.









Take Out at Loop 12
We took out at the Loop 12 Boat Ramp where the Trinity River Trailhead begins and travels through Joppa Preserve on a 4 mile paved path that loops around to the Trinity River Audubon Center. From here it's all bikes. Dismantling and packing boats and assembling bikes on a jaunt down the river to the Audubon Center.

Trinity River Trail Bike Path Bridge Over The Trinity River

The multi-million dollar bridge here has been completed for at least a year. Final completion of the trail was held up due to a Water Utilities project of riverbank stabilization. The trail skirts the Audubon property with a new solar powered trailhead near the Audubon Center entrance.

Trinity Trailhead on the Audubon Center entrance way

This lot as well as the Audubon Center itself will serve as a great jumping off point to exploring the Great Trinity Forest in the future. I think there are still some wrinkles to be ironed out in regards to using this particular trailhead when the Audubon Center is not open. I had a conversation with Don Burns, the Trinity River Project Manager last week who explained that new interior gates were in place for the Audubon Center drive to accommodate trail users.

Speaking of the Audubon Center, we were met by Ben Jones the director of the Audubon Center and a staff member in the center's breezeway.  Will and Evan's photo made the Audubon Center's blog:
http://trinityriveraudubon.tumblr.com/post/43272339659/great-backyard-bird-count-2013-over-30-unique

Ben Jones mentioned that this day in particular was a peak day for the annual hawk migration and it clicked with us since we had seen so many hawks while on the river. The final count of hawks for our party was in the ballpark of two dozen hawks and two Bald Eagles, one mature adult and one juvenile.

Red-Tailed Hawk near Miller's Ferry on the Trinity River

The hawks we saw that day were moving through just like we were. On the way to somewhere else. Most had rather inquisitive eyes and allowed us to get quite close and in many cases just stayed on perch rather than take flight.








Return Route

Google Map Route Return Route Above is the return route used in the trip. Utilizing the Trinity River Trail from the Audubon Center to Loop 12. The next section follows the crude doubletrack of the Wetland Cells abutting the Freedman's community of Joppa to Highway 310 at Miller's Ferry. Crossing the bridge and taking South Lamar through the Bon-Ton, Cedars and eventually Downtown Dallas back to the Katy Trail.

14 miles, one way. If someone wished to ride mountain bikes, a cyclocross bike or even a beach cruiser from Uptown or Downtown to the Audubon Center this is the very best route to take. We took this route back to make it as clear and concise as possible for anyone else wishing to replicate the route. Naturally, there are many other side routes, detours and trails one can take off this route. I think one will find that the generosity, friendliness, in its width and scope among the people there is unique to Dallas. It is good-people country.

Wetland Cells

Evan riding the Wetland Cells approaching Highway 310/Lamar

Riding back was quite simple. Up the bike path towards Loop 12, then across Loop 12 to the Wetland Cells. Here we followed a simple set of doubletrack dirt road that loosely follows the chain of wetland cells up towards I-45. One can ride as far as I-45 at Overton. Since we were on bikes, we vacated the river at 310@Overton. Here the highway bridge affords a wide shoulder and low vehicle traffic. Often crossed on foot, bike and horse by area residents, it's a good bridge to cross for our purposes.

Lamar Street under the Dallas Convention Center

Up South Lamar and only minutes later we are riding into Downtown Dallas. On the ride back, people become part of the landscape. The liquor store lot Day Drinkers along South Lamar. The vagabonds pushing shopping carts full of things others have built, destroyed or thrown away. The newly minted parolees stepping out of the Greyhound Bus Station. The tourists of the West End wearing sweatshirts of distant colleges unknown in these parts. Ten minutes is all it takes on Lamar to go from the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich. An interesting slice of humanity.

Lamar has become newly marked in late 2012 and early 2013 with shared bike lane symbols from the Convention Center to the Katy Trail. We used the marked lanes on our ride past John Neely Bryan's cabin site in the distance and through Victory Park back to the Katy Trail. Great adventure. One you can take too.

Seems that much of this kind of thing is new to Dallas and still lacks an anchor point for exploring down the river. The next few months are the very best time to visit the Great Trinity Forest. 

New projects like Dallas County's Gateway Park seen below at Dowdy Ferry and I-20 will open up river access to the far reaches of Dallas this spring. The large fishing piers, horse trailer parking and trails will open up a large part of the Great Trinity Forest that few have ever seen. Gateway Park will connect with the Trinity Trail near Audubon Center within the next year.

For those seeking high adventure, rolling your own way and no hand holding, the Great Trinity Forest and the Trinity River itself serve as a great venue to really push your limits. It continues to amaze me that more people do not get down here and explore. On this fine Saturday,  other than the sole fisherman who drowns worms at the wastewater treatment plant outlet and a guy with a stuck 4x4 in the Wetland Cells, we saw ZERO people. Amazing.

Dallas County Gateway Park at Dowdy Ferry and I-20

A special thanks once again to Will and Evan. Best of luck on their new venture and new adventures exploring rivers abroad!

Trout Lily (Erythronium albidum) pollinated by bee, Gateway Park, Great Trinity Forest in Dallas, Texas

The metamorphosis of the winter woods to that of spring begins on the smallest of scale. For a very short period of time every year, a blink of an eye, the old patchwork of a now forgotten and paved over ecosystem comes to life. Before the Wild Plum or even the Red Bud, the isolated Trout Lily colonies hallmark a fitting beginning to a new season in the Texas woods.

Bobcat (Lynx rufus) hunting the open prairie in Dallas, Texas

Fossil embedded limestone hillsides of Dallas hide few secrets and bare their souls for the world to see. Terrace or slope might be a better descriptor for poor land that would scarcely feed a solitary goat. Soil to thin to plow for cotton or pasture for livestock, many of these wood breaked slopes remained free from development until the post war housing boom of the 1950s.

Here, free from flood and good shallow bedrock, Dallas built her residential subdivisions in the middle of century last. Just high enough to dodge the largest of floods but close enough to bottomland trees to enjoy filtered shade. The once worthless land became the high valued creek-lot backyards of the well heeled. With the homes came lot scraping construction, removing what was most likely near continuous colonies of trout lilies up and down the Trinity River drainage.

White Trout Lily, Dallas County, Texas

Like humans, the Trout Lily Erythronium albidum enjoys this transition zone too. The organically rich leaf strewn soils just inside the sun dappled treelines for a short few days become home to one of Texas most unique natural blooms.

7 Years To Produce A Flower

Known colonies of White Trout Lilies in Texas, 2010, USDA  http://plants.usda.gov/java/county?state_name=Texas&statefips=48&symbol=ERAL9

White Trout Lily Flower

 Only 90 known colonies of White Trout Lilies are known to exist in the State of Texas in 15 counties. Trout Lilies, also called Dog-Tooth Violets or Adder's Tongues are a spring flowering woodland native to Texas. The flowers have 6 white tepals (inverted petals), 6 stamens and bright yellow anthers that hang downwards forming an inverted shape. Each plant is about 6 inches tall and roughly the diameter of a dinner plate. It takes 6 long growing seasons before a Trout Lily will produce a flower in year 7.


The "trout" namesake for the flower comes from the mottled appearance of the leaves which resemble the sides of a trout. The plants themselves make abrupt growth in winter, appearing almost overnight in some cases. Triggered by winter rains and warming soil, they begin their quest for reproduction in the latter half of February here in Texas.

Trout Lily in the Great Trinity Forest

The flowering cycle for the Trout Lily begins and ends very quickly, only a few days at most. The flowers are usually closed in the morning and open by mid-afternoon. The early bird does not get the worm if looking to photograph these colonies. Better to wait late in the day or towards sunset to see them fully open.

Trout Lily patch on Lower White Rock Creek, Great Trinity Forest, Dallas, Texas

The Trout Lily is unique in more ways that one. Pollinated by members of the bee family the seeds are scattered not by birds or wind but primarily by ants. Ants can carry the seeds some distance and will eat the husk at their antpile leaving the seed behind. 

Trout Lily pollination at Spring Creek Forest Preserve

The absence of nectar bearing flowers elsewhere makes the Trout Lily colonies a great place to see pollen laden bees in the winter. All bees appeared to be carrying their own body weight in Trout Lily Pollen.

At the Trout Lily Grove, White Rock Lake, Dallas, Texas

Bee collecting nectar from Trout Lily, Great Trinity Forest

The race from bulb to flower to seed completes in a ten weeks. Short by any measure. Shorter still is the actual flowering period that when given the length of time flowers are actually open, can be measure in hours. Rare and special to see.

Trout lilies take so many years to mature, so difficult for seed to spread, so hard to see in other times of the year that they have become a splintered subset of colonies here in the Dallas area. Separated by great distances in geography and existing in ecological isolation, TWU is conducting DNA sampling in the various colonies in Texas to determine their genetic structure.

Scientists note there are two main threats to the trout lily colonies here in the Dallas area. Threat of habitat loss by humans and the spread of the invasive Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata). I would add especially in the Great Trinity Forest, the invasive Chinese Privet which is capable or choking out all beneath it. Visiting a few of these colonies most seem to be clear of encroaching invasive species, the exception being White Rock Lake where privet and honeysuckle are slowly making their move.

3D photo of a bee on a Trout Lily, Spring Creek Forest Preserve (3d glasses required)

If you stick around until the sun sets................

Star trail time exposure in the Great Trinity Forest, Dallas, Texas, Winter 2013

These open prairie fields are often interrupted by timber breaks and transition zones between open bare caliche and the floodplain timber below. The timber here is often rich in animal life far beyond what many expect. Were one to never visit or see it themselves they would never know.

With short days and long nights the woods down here along the White Rock Creek drainage give one great early evening foliage free viewing of the night predators.

Under the ghostly shadows of a February moon, the owls of these bottomlands come out to hunt prey as large as themselves.



In a rare comparison, the Trout Lily and Great Horned Owl share a common bond. Being first. The Great Horned Owl is one of the first birds to nest and rear young in the new year. Paired up and mating by New Year's Day, they bring young into the world earlier than others. Here, in these photos the male is actively hunting at night more than ever before in late February.

Male Great Horned Owl Dallas, Texas

Owl Jumping Sequence

Cat vs Bird

Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) dismembering domestic house cat (Felis catus) backlit by the moon

Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) Dallas, TX

Great Horned Owls will eat anything that does not kill them first. It has been rather impressive to see the sheer magnitude of animals that a Great Horned Owl is capable of taking down, in this case, a house cat.

The Great Horned Owl has no known natural enemies, is rumored to be immune to rabies and a whole host of diseases that vermin are known to carry. A true beast of a bird.

Barred Owl (Strix varia) Dallas, TX

The smaller native owl to this area is the Barred Owl, seen at right. Weighing in at a pound or two, they are smaller than a Great Horned Owl. They make up for it in the vocal department with blood curdling calls that fill the woods in the evenings around sunset.

Barred Owls are viciously territorial against other Barred Owls and make their presence known wherever they are.

Calls of the Great Horned Owl and Barred Owl, a comparison




A special thanks to some special people who shared their information on trout lilies in Dallas County with me, including some of their closely guarded secret spots: Tom Frey, Landscape Architect for the City of Garland; Bill Holston, Master Naturalist; Hal and Ted Barker, preservation advocates for White Rock Lake; Jim Flood, Master Naturalist.

Note: Jim Flood is hosting a series of Buckeye Trail hikes in the coming weeks listed on his website: http://www.texasbuckeyetrail.org/hikes2013.html

Great Trinity Forest Trout Lilies, Dallas, Texas

The Trinity River Buckeye Grove bathed in sunset overlooking the Trinity River, Dallas, Texas March 2013

One of the largest native flowering trees in Texas, the Texas Buckeye Tree Aesculus glabra var. arguta makes for one of the earliest and best shows of color in the state. The Great Trinity Forest holds prime examples of these species many in a special grove inside Rochester Park. Coinciding with the annual bloom of these trees is a free walking tour hosted by Master Naturalist Jim Flood. His website http://www.texasbuckeyetrail.org/ has details on guided hikes the second and third weekends of March 2013. Jim Flood's 2013 Buckeye Hike Schedule.
The Annual 2013 Buckeye Walks: 
Saturday March 9, 9am and 12 noon 
Sunday March 10, 9am and 12 noon 
Saturday March 16, 9am and 12 noon 
Sunday March 17, 9am and 12 noon 
Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday March 10 (spring forward) Scheduled Hikes dependent upon weather conditions.

These hikes in particular are really the only formal scheduled guided hikes inside the Great Trinity Forest that I'm aware of and only occur once a year. For those interested in learning more about the Trinity River, Great Trinity Forest and background on the area, this is the hike to take.

Location of trailhead:
Google Street map 6900 Bexar Street Dallas, Texas

Texas Buckeye Trail carpeted with flowering False Garlic Nothoscordum bivalve March 2013

Trail sign noting the Buckeye Grove Loop

Trail Beta: Bexar Street dead ends at the Rochester Park Levee, a small pavillion and trailhead kiosk are there. Cross a small ditch, up and over the levee, a decomposed granite trail surface leads to a concrete ADA compliant trail beyond. On the concrete trail, there are a series of round plaza areas with sandstone rock benches. Plexiglass/wood signs note the trail intersection to the natural paved path to the Buckeye Trail. The distance from the parking area to the Buckeye Grove is about 1/2 a mile one-way and makes for a 1 mile roundtrip. Trail is easy to walk, flat and other than a couple small tree trunks on the trail is easy to walk. What is called an 8 to 80 trail, anyone 8 years to 80 years could walk it alone.

The Path Less Traveled
Other less formal undefined trails (not part of the Buckeye Trail tour) lead away from the Buckeye Trail. One in particular that loosely follows the Trinity River to the mouth of White Rock Creek. Most recently written up in a post back in December the Bois d' Arc Trail. Below is the most complete map I have of trails in this area. Based on my own GPS data.

William Blair Park Trails

The Texas Buckeye

Texas Buckeye Aesculus glabra var. arguta

From the Texas Native Plants Database: Texas Buckeye has palmately compound leaves with seven to nine (sometimes eleven) leaflets, vs. the five leaflets of red buckeye. The flowers are creamy white to light yellow, appearing in terminal clusters after the leaves appear. The fruit, a leathery capsule with blunt spines, has one to three large shiny seeds. The seeds are known to be poisonous, and it is possible that all parts of the plant are as well. It tends to prematurely drop leaves in hot, droughty situations, due to leaf scorch and fungal diseases. Usually a small shrub or small tree, Texas buckeye reaches its largest size (more than 40 feet) in the hard limestone of the central Edwards Plateau, although it also occurs in the northern Blacklands, Cross Timbers and Prairies, Pineywoods, and Post Oak Savannah.

Texas Buckeye leaf

Flowering stages of a Texas Buckeye

Individual trees flower at different rates. Visiting the Buckeye Grove early in the process, the stages of flowering are readily evident as seen below.

Texas Buckeye in full bloom March 2013

A little background
Much of the land where Rochester Park/William Blair Park now sits was once a dairy farm.  Joseph Metzger, a Swiss immigrant and the founder of Metzger's Dairy, crossed into Texas holding his only possessions in a pack above his head while the Red River was at flood stage in 1875.Metzger proceeded to Dallas where he tried farming in the community of New Hope(Mesquite/Sunnyvale) in Dallas County. Not experiencing much success in that endeavor, he later worked for Chris Moser, one of the Southwest's first dairymen. In 1889 her rented a farm in the vicinity of North Carroll, Haskell and Ross Avenues where he began his own dairy with the purchase of 40 cows and a horse drawn milk wagon.   In 1893 Metzger began purchasing land within the old John M Crockett survey for the purposes of relocating his dairy. At that time 64 acres were purchased less 1.8 acres which were to be used as the county road known as Miller's Ferry Road. Thus began a succession of street names(later Holmes Street and Hutchins Road) for the street now known as Lamar Street. A deed dated February 28, 1893 and filed the same day describes the land as extending from west of the railroad to the river. Metzger continued to acquire parcels of land until 1904. After all purchases were made, the farm which became the home of Metzger's Dairy contained 159.6 acres

Metzger's dairy flourished and by 1909 was purchased by Joseph Metzger's sons Carl and David. In 1922 it was listed in the Dallas Directory as Metzger Brothers Sanitary Jersey Dairy. At the time the dairy was considered the largest and most modern in Texas. The first Dallas dairy to use glass bottles. Following World War II, the rapid expansion of Dallas led to an expansion of the facilities. The Metzger family involvement ended in 1984 with the sale of Metzger Dairy of Dallas to Borden.  This area is more recently noted for the large cache of Indian artifacts and Indian burials on the site. Seven sets of Indian remains have been found here. There are an estimated 34,000 Indian artifacts still at the site spanning thousands of years of human occupation. It has been nominated by a team of professional archeologists for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.


Ned Fritz
The late Ned Fritz is the man who deserves the credit for saving what we have left of the Trinity and was a champion at saving the Texas Buckeye Grove at William Blair Park in Dallas. He made his lasting mark on the Trinity with his efforts to keep the government from channelizing the Trinity from Dallas to the Gulf of Mexico in 1973. What he saw back then was a patchwork collection of old remnants of Trinity River bottom land when roughly cobbled together formed one of the largest urban parkland areas in the United States.

Turkey Vulture leaving pre-dawn roost at Post Oak Preserve

Awaiting the sunrise at Post Oak Preserve's lake

It's the last weekend of a Texas winter. In these parts we call it Windter. An extraordinary breezy time of year punctuated by the last throws of Arctic cold blue northers and strong southerly warm breezes off the Gulf.

Spring has sprung by now, slowly but surely. The lack of heavy winter rains has not left behind large stands of clover and early spring grasses on which many ranchers here in Southeast Dallas County rely on for livestock forage. It's a muted slow moving spring this year. The woods are thirsty.

With the pre-dawn skyline view of Dallas rapidly fading in the rear view mirror down 175 the goal is Post Oak Preserve south of Seagoville. A five to ten minute drive from the highway loops that ring Dallas, down into the old Post Oak Savannah that straddles the Main Fork and East Fork of the Trinity River.

Location: 1600 Bowers Road Seagoville Texas
Directions: From Dallas, take US175 south to the Seagoville Road/Kaufman Street exit. Make a right turn(south) on Environmental Way which turns into Bowers. The public parking for Post Oak Preserve is across the street from the DISD Environmental Learning Center.

Opened in 1993 the Post Oak Preserve is one of the largest Dallas County Preserves at 334 acres in size and features a 12 acre man made lake situated in the center of the property. The rolling terrain is punctuated by a small unnamed creek that bisects the preserve and feeds the lake.

Trails: Formal paved asphalt trails, formal dirt hiking trails and informal dirt hiking trails exist inside the preserve.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5857734


Points of interest are at the 1, 2 and 3 mile marks on the map. The route constitutes a matrix of all three trail types mentioned previously including moderate bushwhacking between mile 2 and 3.

Mile 1-top of dam
Mile 2-open native prairie
Mile 3-Trout Lilies

Background on the DISD Environmental Learning Center
The story behind the creation of the DISD Environmental Center is an interesting one. The center began in the 1970s, housed in a set of old buildings and barns which served as an outdoor interactive science lab for DISD students. The new facilities replacing the old were built in the mid-1990s as the result of a somewhat anonymous six million dollar donation stemming from an illegal dumping verdict.

A record fine was imposed by the Texas Water Commission in 1991 against Dal-Tile for a dozen years of dumping hazardous, lead-contaminated waste into two gravel pits in far southeastern Dallas County. The fine was the largest ever levied for environmental dumping by the state commission.

Dal-Tile, which used compounds containing lead to manufacture glazed ceramic tiles, was required by law to send contaminated wastes from the manufacturing process to special landfills but, according to the state investigation, dumped the material for 12 years, 1975-87, in pits that were not specially licensed for such purpose. State investigators also found that Dal-Tile used waste oils on nearby farmland for dust abatement, failed to notify the state it had discharged industrial solid wastes into water, and failed to keep records of the waste and file annual reports.  

Wee Folks' Trail

Dal-Tile the company was not the only entity held responsible, a federal grand jury indicted Robert Brittingham, Jr., and company president John Lomonaco on 17 criminal counts, including conspiracy to dump hazardous waste. Brittingham was found guilty in 1993, fined $4 million, and sentenced to five years' probation, which he began fulfilling with 15 hours a week in community service by financing and operating a $6 million lead-abatement program for Dallas. The total cost of the fines and dumpsite cleanup came to $16.5 million.

The DISD center at Post Oak Preserve was born/funded from that unfortunate episode. The new campus replaced the old dilapidated and cramped buildings that once sat on the site.

Soil and Conservation Lake #6

Post Oak Preserve's Lake from inlet of creek looking south towards Parson's Slough

 A large 12 acre lake serves as the centerpiece of Post Oak Preserve. This particular lake was build in the 1960s using federal and state money for soil and water conservation. The 1950s weather in North Texas was punctuated by a decade long drought cycle that left Dallas County in desperate need of water. Long term plans for increasing water supply, reservoirs and conservation led to a series of public works projects, one such being this lake.

Creek feeding the lake, lake just beyond the willow trees in foreground

This creek eventually feeds into Parson's Slough. The slough is one of the largest oxbows on the entire Trinity River. At one point in the past, within the last thousand or maybe even five hundred years ago, the Trinity ran within a couple thousand feet of Post Oak Preserve. Whether it was a large flood or log jam, the river jogged from it's traditional more easterly course to one much further to the west. The rich bottom lands and gravels left behind have served nature and man alike for centuries. Great fishing and hunting to be had in this area.




Fisherman's detritus along the shoreline suggests there are fish in the lake. The water is remarkably clear for a DFW area impoundment most likely the result of the sandy soil, high water table and lack of flooding from the nearby Trinity River.





The formal Lake Shore Trail is a little over 1/4 mile in length and begins at a picnic area on a small bluff overlooking the lake. It runs the west side of the lake before double backing upon itself to the asphalt trail. This short trail affords access to informal trails that stretch along the east side of the lake dominated by a high earthen dam.

The dam has a sloping backside to it and has seen heavy recent rooting by feral pigs. On this particular trip one feral hog in the 150 pound range was seen northeast of the lake.

Mallard duck shaking off water droplets as it takes flight

The lake serves as a great magnet for waterfowl. It appears that they spend their nights somewhere else and move into the lake at daybreak to feed.

Hunting is not allowed on the preserve and rules are strictly enforced.

The southeastern part of Dallas County barely skirts the flyway for migrating waterfowl rarely seen to the west. Snow Geese and Canada Geese flocks often make brief layovers in the old gravel quarry ponds that dot the landscape.













Trout Lilies -- The Western Part of the Preserve

Post Oak Preserve is most well known for the large population of Trout Lilies and Coralroot Orchids that bloom along a small creek just upstream from the inlet with the 12 acre lake.

Hundreds of thousands of Trout Lilies at Post Oak Preserve

The western half of the preserve is forested along a creek and is easy to reach using the asphalt trail and the Wee Folks' dirt trail that branches from it. Here the understory thins out in contrast to the greenbriar thicketed shoreline of the lake just out of view. Oak, cedar, ash and pecan dominate this lowland area.

Trout Lily at Post Oak Preserve

It should be noted that the trout lilies have a very short flowering and growing cycle, only ten weeks in length. A mid-march visit left only a few blooms to see. Many of the trout lilies in Post Oak Preserve have yet to reach full maturity, which takes seven growing seasons. In the coming years the number of flowering plants should increase many fold as a result. Veer left from the asphalt trail 1/4 mile to see the trout lilies.

Forest floor carpeted with trout lilies

Wildlife viewing blind

A series of wildlife viewing blinds have been built along the creek here, roughly 3 feet high and 20 feet in diameter. They give commanding views of the woods up and down the draw in which the small creek runs. Large amounts of deer scat in this area suggest a healthy Whitetail population forages in the woods here.











Native Grass Prairie and Post Oak Savannah --The Eastern Part of the Preserve

Native grasses at Post Oak Preserve

Moving east of the lake the formalized trails are non-existent and the preserve opens up into an open prairie environment dominated by stands of native prairie, cedar and cactus. Only the first hundred yards from the lake or the trout lily area are dominated by greenbriar(thorn thickets) before opening into more open ground.


Once out in the open the namesake of the preserve, the Post Oak Savannah become apparent. The post oaks form brakes and meadows inbetween over sandy soil that is rare for Dallas County. The Post Oak Savannah once stretched from East Texas into East Dallas. Very few examples are left, this is one.

If you have the eyes for it, a wanderer can pick up the faint trace of an old dirt road which leads up to a ranch gate on Seago Road.

Ranch gate on Seago Road

Seago was the original name for Seagoville, name taken from the town's founder T.K. Seago(1836-1904). He platted and developed the town just up the road from here on 200 acres at Kaufman Street and Old Seagoville Road now called US 175. The old highway was once called Kickapoo Trace, used by Native Americans, pioneers and eventually settlers moving from East Texas into the Three Forks of the Trinity area, now called DFW.

King's Fort Site, Republic of Texas, overlooking Trinity Riverbottoms

Matter of fact, if you drive just five minutes further down the road and claw up out of the river bottoms to a bluff, you'll find the old site of King's Fort, built when Texas was her own country. A commanding view of the Trinity Riverbottoms below it sits up high enough to see Downtown Dallas on a clear day.

It was from here that many of the famous surveys of Dallas County began in 1840 only to be turned back by fierce Indian encounters.

Travels from here have been well documented by men like Warren Ferris as told in Land is the Cry, Warren Angus Ferris, Pioneer Texas Surveyor and Founder of Dallas County and Edward Parkinson's accounts of travel with President Sam Houston and his Treaty Party Expedition to Dallas in 1843.

A worthwhile stop if you find yourself headed to First Monday.


Getting back to the preserve......

Painted Lady Butterfly on Mexican (Black) Cherry Tree, Post Oak Preserve

Some of the trees along the old dirt road here were most likely dumped, planted or volunteered themselves before the old gate blocking access was secured to the preserve. A couple examples of non-native trees like the cherry tree above and some Bradford Pear testify to that effect.

Texas Redbud at Post Oak Preserve

The dominant flowering tree here at Post Oak Preserve is the Texas Redbud Cercis canadensis var. texensis. A harbinger of spring, many old timers use the blooming of the redbud as a signal to plant crops or grab a fishing rod during the Sand Bass runs up area creeks.

Golden eye lichen (Teloschistes chrysophthalmus)

Fruticose (spore-producing) and Foliose (leafy)lichens on  a branch of a tree in the Post Oak Preserve. Lichens consist of a photosynthetic and fungus partner, either an alga or cyanobacteria, and can live in harsh environments where neither partner could survive or reproduce alone. This is a Golden eye lichen (Teloschistes chrysophthalmus).

Adult male Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus; initiating a high speed 100+ mph hunting dive into the John Bunker Sands Wetlands

Want to see some Bald Eagles? Read on. It all began began with the premise of turning a cattle pasture into a wetland. The periodic floods of the Trinity combined with pancake flat landscape created brief wetland environments that transformed the pasture into a bird magnet overnight. Twenty years ago, a man named John Bunker Sands had a vision of turning that cattle pasture into one of the largest created wetlands in the United States.

Now it's a place where nature and state-of-the-art science collide on the Trinity River. Where the only crop grown is water. The byproduct is a unique habitat for wildlife rarely seen in North Texas. Home to eagles, bobcats, otters and hawks the spectacular vistas of the public-private partnership are a real gift to North Texans.

John Bunker Sands Wetlands at sunset under a rising full moon, March 2013

The late John Bunker Sands was the son of Loyd Bowmer Sands and Caroline Rose Hunt. Coming from a family of Texas outdoors enthusiasts, John Bunker Sands enjoyed spending time on the five ranches in his family's holdings. His original idea was to take waste water from surrounding municipalities and funnel it through a wetland biofilter before it entered the river. At the time it seemed pretty far fetched but quickly gained traction. The North Texas Municipal Water District jumped onboard and the resulting public/private partnership formed the John Bunker Sands Wetlands we see today.

Catwalk above the Wetland Cells

JBS Bald Eagle

Directions: US 175 south to FM 1389, head south two miles to Martin Lane, entrance is on left off 1389
John Bunker Sands Website: www.wetlandcenter.com
East Fork Raw Water Project: http://www.ntmwd.com/re-use_info.html

Open first and third saturdays of the month, $5 admission 9am-4pm, open other times by appointment. A visitor center with displays, restrooms, classrooms and meeting room sits at the headquarters with a commanding hilltop view of the wetlands. Rocking chairs are free.

Bald Eagle nest is on far south end of property along a utility right of way. Directions to the nest can be found further down in this post.

Known mostly by Dallasites as the part of DFW where people congregate to buy fireworks for the 4th it makes for an interesting drive from Dallas. One can head back to Big D as an alternate route using Malloy Bridge or other old country roads that head back towards Wilmer and Ferris. The landscape is full of nameless odd little communities down that way. Peppered with front yards featuring long forgotten front yard plastic nativity shepherds, wind flapping textiles and old half taken apart motorcycles. Worth a look.

Looking out over the wetlands from the visitor center

How it works

The wetland processes 40-90 million gallons of water per day. The water is a mix of treated wastewater and water from the Trinity River discharged below Lake Ray Hubbard. Pumped in by a trio of 300 horsepower pumps from the river to the head of the wetlands. From there it's all nature and gravity at work inside the wetlands.
As seen above(click to enlarge) a series of sedimentation ponds north of US 175 settle out the solids and silt to a large degree over the process of a day or so. From there the water travels south only by gravity, where the natural processes, sun, wind and over 20 million aquatic plants filter out phosphorous, nitrogen and ammonia from the water.

The whole process, start to finish takes 7-10 days. At the end of that time period, the water is so clean that it can be pumped back up into Lake Lavon for human consumption. Which is exactly what happens. Three, 3,000 horsepower pumps take the water out of the wetlands and pump the water up the Trinity in 43 miles of pipeline back to Lake Lavon where it can be reused for municipal water use. The amount of water cleaned in the Wetlands everyday is equal to the amount of water pumped out of Lake Lavon by the North Texas Municipal Water District.

Hawk hunting the wetland cells

Walking the property is easy. A boardwalk leads from the Wetland Center across a couple of the cells. From there one can walk the levee top roads that separate the individual ponds. Cover and concealment is not readily available for watching wildlife here. The distances to see wildlife are at somewhat great distance and binoculars or a long spotting scope are recommended. The Wetland Center has loaner pairs of binoculars available.

Master Naturalist Bill Holston left, Scott Hudson right, with wildlife viewing blind in background

Dotted among the levees are wildlife viewing blinds which would afford more stealthy viewing of wildlife if one chooses. There were so many birds around that day that sitting in a static location was not tempting in the least.


The Wildlife

Male Bald Eagle at John Bunker Sands

It would be interesting enough to see the water filtration process in action. There is much more. Interesting birds by the thousands call this place home. Most are of a migratory persuasion and spend a day or a week here before heading yonder to points unknown. Canada in the spring. Mexico in the fall. During the summers birds of the southern hemisphere come here during their winter. On the edge of the Flyway, the wetlands attract the occasional flock of geese not seen further west.



This particular trip was in March 2013 when many of the birds of the polar north, land of the Midnight Sun were still in Texas.

Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata

Birds like the Northern Shoveler seen above.  Their summer range extends from Alaska through western and central Canada south to the mountain regions of the Rockies. Nicknamed the spoonbill duck, the Northern Shoveler has the largest bill of any duck in North America. The bill is this bird's most prominent feature, and is longer than its head.

Male Northern Shoveler

Pelicans

American White Pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

One of America's largest birds the American White Pelican has a wingspan of nine feet and is easy to identify by a unique black band running down the wings. Many think these are birds of the sea but in actuality are inland birds. Banded individuals in this flock suggest they summer in the far reaches of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana in the Yellowstone, Madison, Snake and Columbia drainages.

Flight of pelicans over the John Bunker Sands

The pelicans here make regular commutes between John Bunker Sands, the McCommas Bluff Swale Lake Ray Hubbard and White Rock Lake. Able to glide vast distances using thermals and wind the near effortless rise of a flock spiraling upward is a sight to see.

Pelicans fishing at John Bunker Sands

Many of the birds pack into the ten foot tall grasses and marshes that divide the wetland cells. Here the familiar American Coot (Fulica americana) and Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) not similar in appearance but both dabblers feed together in mixed company.

American Coots and Blue-Winged Teal

American Coot Fulica americana

Coots which resemble ovalized waterborne chickens tend to make bee lines for marsh cover when approached rather than the ducks which always take flight.

Coots communicate distress to each other by exposing their under tail coverts or displaying a swollen shield when alarmed by potential dangers such as hawks, airplanes, or predatory mammals. Similarly, aggressive displays are not restricted to avian intruders.

Blue-winged Teal Anas discors taking flight

Great Egret  Ardea alba

Many other common wetland birds reside here from egrets, cormorants, herons to red winged blackbirds.

Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus

Combined as a whole, they create a unique footprint into what was once a cattle pasture. I imagine most people turn around about this point of the wetlands, filled with the typical wetland sights and sounds one would be expected to see. If you head further though, down on to the south end of the property things start to get interesting...........

Northern Harrier (right foreground) jumping a pond of ducks, coots, cormorants

The available food supply in the cells serves as a grocery store for raptors. Hawks, Harriers and two species of Eagles work the ponds here with great precision. Unrestricted by trees and obstruction they start lengthy hunts at high altitude and then dive out of the sun at their quarry below. In the case of the Northern Harrier above, his true prey was something with four legs down in the marsh grass not the ducks that took flight at the sight.

Below, a White Faced Ibis flies over the wetlands, a rare sight for early spring the birds are more numerous in the summer months. Habitat loss in Texas has dwindled the numbers of this ibis species and is now afforded protection as a Threatened Species.

White Faced Ibis Plegadis chihi listed as a Threatened Species, flies over the John Bunker Sands Wetlands

Flushed Northern Shovelers landing in a pond of lotus

With the hundreds of different plant species thriving in the various cells each pond has a different look. I cannot recall an area lake or impoundment with lotus.

Eagles of John Bunker Sands

Male Bald Eagle over John Bunker Sands

Cutting your eyes to the right from the rocking chairs on the back porch of the visitor center one can see it. A half ton pile of branches the size of a dinner table one hundred feet in the air. Sitting at the far southern end of the property beyond a set of fences and a cattle pasture. The nest of the Bald Eagles. More of a crucible of sorts used to forge a new generation of Bald Eagles that will one day repopulate North Texas.

There is something all together unique about seeing a Texas Bald Eagle. The aesthetics of the birds in flight, speed and resolute prowess tap into the human spirit that few other species can duplicate. If you have never seen wild Bald Eagles, this is your chance.

Bald Eagles are not hard to find they are just spread few and far between in North Texas. Knowing where to look and eyes peeled to the sky one can find them without much trouble. With wingspans of 7 feet they standout on a sky landscape like no other bird. Below is a map with aggregated sightings of Bald Eagles in and around Dallas County. The blue hot spots note 3 to 5 sightings and the orange hot spots note a dozen or more.  Eagles frequent with regularity the tail races of Lewisville Lake and Lake Tawakoni during the winter months. The annotated map is from data compiled via http://ebird.org which is a great resource for sightings based on specific birds based on date and geographic area.

Combined Bald Eagle Sightings in the Dallas County area Fall 2012-Spring 2013

The Bald Eagle sightings around the Wetland Cells and Audubon Center are a group of three eagles and most often a juvenile bald eagle with brown head and tail is seen the most. Moving between the Wetland Cells north of Loop 12 and the McCommas Bluff Swale to the south, sightings are frequent.

The Sand Branch Bald Eagles feed near the Wastewater Treatment Plant off Beltline Road near the impromptu community of Sand Branch. High fences and a somewhat chilled response of area residents dictates that a search for Bald Eagles in this area is best done with an organized group.

The easiest, most reliable and with near 100% certainty of sighting a Bald Eagle is at John Bunker Sands. A pair of binoculars and some eyeballs are all that is required. Asking around, checking and doing some homework, the only other Bald Eagle nest known in the Greater Dallas area is one on private land near Ennis. That nest is not accessible to the public and from what I understand is hard to see.

Nest location:
Google Maps link to site-
John Bunker Sands Eagle Nest Site

The nest is located at the far southern end of the John Bunker Sands property in a high power transmission tower. A series of fences and cattle pasture off-limits to the public keeps a healthy buffer between guests and the tower. 500 feet or so. That's about as close as one can get.

There are two ways to see the nest:

1. Visit the John Bunker Sands Wetland Center on the first or third Saturday of the month. Ask about the nest site and a staff member will tell you where to go. The southern perimeter fence is electrified in nature, most likely to keep cows from straying into the ponds.

2. Head south down 1389 and pull off the side of the road about 1/2 mile south of Martin Lane. You should be able to see the nest and female with babies especially late in the day as the sun will be at your back. There is a subdivision with new homes a little further to the south that gets fairly close to the tower but trees obscure the nest and 2/3 of the tower. If the male is on top of the tower it can afford a 400 foot vantage point.

I have done both. The nice hike on the John Bunker Sands Wetlands is very rewarding and a must do. If time is a limiting factor then the second option is a distant second. Usually I would not post the location of a nest site like this until long after the offspring have left the nest. In this case, the private property boundaries, fencing and location offer great restricted viewing without disrupting the nest site.

Female on nest with baby eagles as viewed from the John Bunker Sands Wetland Center property line

Crested Caracara

The nest is very easy to see and the female is more than likely always at her nest guarding her newborns and tending to domestic duties around the site. The male is often seen hunting or perched on one of the nearby transmission towers or tall trees in the area.

The abundance of other raptors in the area can make it hard at first glance to sort out which large bird is the Bald Eagle. The bird at right, a Crested Caracara was seen not 50 yards from the Bald Eagle nest site flying around. Known as the Mexican Eagle and featured on the flag of Mexico at a distance bears a striking resemblance to that of the Bald Eagle.

The Bald Eagle gained unofficial recognition as the American National bird in 1782 on the US seal. Since then it has become a defacto symbol of the United States.

Male Bald Eagle over the wetlands screaming a cry

The John Bunker Sands eagles have been nesting in this area off and on for the last several years. Previous nest sites included a large tree closer to US 175 and a different transmission tower in the same line as the current nest. These are Southern Bald Eagles and vary slightly from the more numerous Northern Bald Eagles.

As a general rule, Northern Bald Eagles will migrate down south for the winter months following their prey species as they go. Northern Bald Eagles rarely nest below the 40th parallel and as a result just visit here in Texas rather than mate. The Southern Bald Eagles live and breed below the 40th parallel with concentrations in the Gulf States, particularly close to open bodies of water.

Male landing on transmission tower

The windy days of early spring made for difficult video capture. Even with image stabilization and a sturdy tripod the winds over 30mph proved too much. Below is what one can see from a few different vantage points:


The high winds allowed for ground speeds of the male Bald Eagle to exceed over 100 mph. Much closer to 150 mph by my calculations.

Hunting for lunch
Naturally, the most exciting part of seeing a Bald Eagle is watching them hunt for food. Most of their diet consists of fish, ducks and small animals in that order. The abundance of all three in the area provide a solid foundation for success of a nest.

It was a rare treat to watch the male Bald Eagle begin a series of high arching dives and wheeling turns directly overhead. Rare is a day when I gasp in awe at a bird doing something. Rarer still when a group of what I would consider seasoned outdoorsmen all gasp in collective agreement. That happened.
This was the moment that it happened. A 125-150mph dive right at us with a monster braking pull up right above our heads. I have never seen any bird pull off something like that. You can see the bird's face straining through the pull using the tailwind behind it and speed to regain altitude.

For one such series of dives, I swung around and took a photo of Master Naturalist Bill Holston watching that Bald Eagle hunt for all it was worth. The look on his face is priceless.


And not even five minutes later, lunch is served........

Photographed at some distance, the male is seen carrying a large catfish back to the nest. This catfish was caught by the eagle closer to US 175 and then hauled back directly to the nest. He dropped it off without taking any for himself.
This is the female feeding her young inside the nest after the male has dropped off the sushi.

After a few minutes of perching on a nearby tower, cleaning his bill, talons and adjusting flight feathers he take fight again. Screaming his song of victory. Frankly, it was flying around so much directly overhead that I put the camera down after awhile and just kicked back in the grass, watching it work the cells up and down at 100 mph. This is what qualifies as a high quality experience on par with what one would see on African safari or Pacific whale watching. Just as rare, unique and satisfying.

The haunting rhythmic monkey like cries of the woods announce one thing, you are in Barred Owl country. The cool evening air of the Texas spring woods is often punctuated with these haunting hoots one of the most vocal of all native birds in the State of Texas. Heard at a distance but rarely seen the Barred Owls of the lower White Rock Creek drainage give an interesting look into a world that few see.

Adult Barred Owl Strix varia in a Cedar Elm Tree, Dallas, Texas

The Barred Owl Strix varia is a non-migratory year round resident of Texas. Often called the Hoot Owl by many or misidentified as a Barn Owl, the Barred Owl is named for dark vertical stripes/bars contrasting on a white chest. At close distance, another signature marking are the dark brown eyes. The Barred Owl is the only North American owl without a yellowish eye.

Most active after sunset, the Barred Owl is considered nocturnal but can also be seen and heard during the day during mating season. The birds feed on a variety of small animals including mice, rats and squirrels.

Distributed widely in the Eastern half of Texas they prefer large mature woodlands, marshes and stands of old growth trees. The larger trees are important to the Barred Owl as the old voids in the trunks provide nesting sites for their offspring. This habitat is similar to that of the Red Shouldered Hawk and the Barred Owl will often take over old Red Shouldered Hawk nests as their own.

Male Great Horned Owl, White Rock Drainage, Dallas, Texas

Classified as a large owl the Barred Owl is a little larger than a Mallard Duck.  Smaller than the Great Horned Owl they do not view each other as threats but rather ignore each other. The Great Horned Owl seen inset right is at least twice the size of a Barred Owl and I would gather 5x stronger.

Territorial in nature, if one were to come up with a common dog breed similar to the Barred Owl, a good comparison would be a strong willed Jack Russell Terrier. Loud, compact, ferocious and an intense burning pride of territorial defense are hallmarks of this bird. Most of the photos in this post feature Barred Owls in deep seeded territorial defense of their nesting and feeding areas bounded by a heavily wooded creek and some open terrain.

Female Barred Owl in deep woods, Dallas, Texas

The deep and loud hoots the birds exhibit mean different things.
Typical Hoot- A series of 6 to 8 "Who Cooks For You" calls noting the bird's location to other Barred Owls in the area. These are often casual calls similar to a rooster calling at sunrise. If challenged with a reply, the owl will make more punctuated gestures with their calls, puffing feathers and moving their head around.
Woo-haaahs - These are response calls to the typical owl call above and seem to serve as a brief response to another owl that begins the initial calling. Seems that they are just checking in on each other around sunset to find each others roost locations.
Greeting Calls- These are the monkey calls and deep cackle calls that make the Barred Owls so special. Very deep resonating calls that are often loud.

Interesting that some researchers say that Barred Owls in the Southern United States carry a Southern Drawl with their vocalizations, a Rebel Yell of sorts vastly different from that of Northern birds.

Hey, with all this carrying on how about a baby?

Barred Owls displaying courtship behavior

Male Owl flying towards the sound of foreign Barred Owls

In the gray hour around sunset the owls come to life. Their quiet snoozing slowly turns into loud cat calls and monkey business directed towards another set of owls so distant that no human can here. Often the calls are sufficient to ward off further reply.

When that does not happen, when the calls from owls in another territory continue calls or even invade some invisible Maginot Line, the birds take to the air to defend their ground. Castle Doctrine time.

Invader Barred Owl

The Barred Owl pair has an adversarial foe some 1/3 mile distant. From the evening quarrels they seem to value the deepest portion of the creek bottoms as prime hunting habitat and will often vocally spar for rights over the creek that bisects the area. At right is one of the Barred Owls that has trespassed into the nesting couple's territory.

Driving out the invading owl with a punctuated drop out of roost

The bright eyes and what appears to be smiles across the face of owls defending territory makes them seem almost relishing the excitement. Unlike other birds, owls are completely silent in flight and do not resort to wing flapping and threats of violence to run off others. They seem to defend against other owls with boisterous calls and head posturing. That seems to solve matters quickly.

How to tell when an owl is angry

The blank look of frozen expression in birds most likely contributes to their use as table fare across the planet. I have never seen a happy or sad chicken. A bird that shows compassion for others etc. Personally, I have never seen it till looking through my photos of the owls. Below is a great example of how the male owl, seen below can change the entire look of it's body from that of a doe eye doll into some Boba Fett bounty hunter.

Happy Owl

Angry Owl

Same owl, totally different look. That is the look of a nervous and angry owl. One rarely seen. I think in this situation it was worried about a squirrel circling the base of a tree containing what was most likely the owl's nest. Interesting seeing the look on their faces and being able to distinguish their moods from happy to angry, tired to excited, in love or at war.

Courtship of the Barred Owls

In the video clip above, the two Barred Owls are displaying the textbook behavior of Barred Owl courting. Shoulder to shoulder, preening, grooming and mutual feeding. It almost appears as though they are French Kissing.

Courtship behavior of Barred Owls, Dallas, Texas

The tree selected for the nest was a good one. A large mature Texas Red Oak. Large diameter, tall and robust with a crook in the trunk where the branches forked some 25 feet up in the air. With a good pair of binoculars one can make out a small void, maybe at one time cleaned out by a woodpecker and then occupied as a nest by these owls. The male Barred Owl is seen in the left side of the photo. A little smaller but more vocal. The female is to the right. More alert, more cautious and a softer voice.




Things were always pretty quiet on occasional visits to the nest until one evening very recently when what should appear high in the treetops.......

The Baby Barred Owl

The Female Adult Barred Owl

Uncanny family resemblance to the mated pair.

Owls can only stay in nest cavities so long. They must fledge the nest earlier than other bird species in a process called "branching". This involves a precarious number of days where the owl sits out, literally on a branch being tended to by the adults.













In the fading evening sunset light when the last fading rays of the sun hit the wet oak leaves just right, the fuzzy ball of plush downy feather show the inner soul of a future varmit terminator. The fire burns bright in the eyes.

Testing out a quickly growing pair of wings and feathers

Discovering claws and practicing hand-eye coordination grabbing things

Above is an brief overview of the baby owl and parents that roost in nearby trees. Territorial calls by the parents, the baby looking at the world around it for the first time, the baby even passes a pellet or partially digested mouse of some kind.

A curious baby Barred Owl watching the woodland floor below

At first glance the young owl would seem all alone to fend for itself. Not the case. The parents watch the baby for nearby trees all the time. Eye contact between the baby and parents rarely breaks. It almost seems as though the calls are directed more towards the young one at this point than the other owls that call the woods home.





Interesting to watch. Many areas of DFW that have wooded tracts are home to Barred Owls. A keen sense of hearing coupled with some patience over a series of evenings can usually winnow down the territory of Barred Owls. The owls exist in a near unbroken chain over overlapping territories on White Rock Creek from Lake Highlands to the mouth of White Rock Creek in the Great Trinity Forest. 

Climbing high in the tree tops of a century old Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) stand, Dogwood Canyon, Dallas County, Texas

Master Naturalist Bill Holston climbing a ladder into the Dogwoods

It sits three canyons, four creek crossings, two saddles, five hills and one pocket canyon away from the start of the hike. The refugium of dogwood trees hidden away for over a century. In an obscure canyon rarely visited, a place with no logical explanation of why these trees grow there we set our sights in the early pre-dawn light.

The pioneers that first settled this land called it the Cedar Mountains. A 100 million year old escarpment of limestone sitting on top of the Eagle Ford Shale running through Dallas County. This part of Texas is traditionally known as flat Blackland Prairie. A somewhat treeless native landscape with tall grasses and wildflowers. It attracted early settlers for the rich soils perfect for growing cotton and grain. The cedar ridges of southwest Dallas County are a stark contrast to that. Rolling limestone hills, steep ravines and cedar trees by the hundreds of thousands.

Cedar Ridge Preserve in the pre-dawn light of a Texas spring sunrise in the Black-capped Vireo Habitat Management Area

The following covers a traverse of three different parks along the cedar ridges here. Cedar Ridge Preserve, Cedar Mountain Preserve and Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center. A hike this distance is not for most. I think many would likely get their fill of the ups and downs in just one of these spots. Hiking all of them in the same morning is a real unique experience. Walking the headwaters of different creeks that eventually feed into Mountain Creek, noting the differing vegetation from one hill to the next all at once gives one a comprehensive look at what makes these hills tick.

Locations and addresses:
Cedar Ridge Preserve 7171 Mountain Creek Parkway
Website:Cedar Ridge Preserve
Trail Map: Cedar Ridge Preserve Trail Map

Cedar Mountain Preserve1300 W. FM 1382
Website: Dallas County Cedar Mountain
Trail Map:  No official map available

Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center 1206 W FM 1382
Website:Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center
Trail Map: Dogwood Canyon Trail Map

No horses or mountain bikes allowed on those properties. Options for mountain biking in this area include the DORBA trail at Cedar Hill State Park and Big Cedar Wilderness. All five of these locations virtually interconnect in some way with trails. There should be roughly fifty miles of trails here across the five properties. Cedar Hill State Park and Dogwood Canyon both require an admission fee. Big Cedar is on private property and requires signed waivers.

Cedar Ridge Preserve -- The Old Dallas Nature Center

Cedar Ridge Preserve's pond in the early morning light

Some might know this spot as the Dallas Nature Center. Started by the generous donation of Dave Fox of Fox & Jacobs, this land was purchased in 1975 by Mr Fox for the Greenhills Experimental Center. The previous owner, the US ambassador to Japan, Clayton Wyman ran it as a small getaway ranch. One of the preserve's founders, Geoffrey Stanford lived on the property for a number of years.

In 1978 the foundation running the Greenhills Experimental Center changed the name to the Dallas Nature Center. It ran for a number of years on small budgets and was eventually consolidated into the Dallas County Open Space Program.

The Dallas Audubon Society has managed the now renamed Cedar Ridge Preserve since 2003. If you have not been there in awhile I think you will be pleased with the improvements to the property. Sitting on one of the highest points in Dallas at over 750 feet and with 600 some odd acres of terrain it has become a favorite spot of trail runners due to the looping trails and array of hills. Well made trails that flow with the contours make for good stabilized routes not prone to erosion.

Spring fed limestone creek where Austin Chalk meets the Eagle Ford Shale

From the highest of overlooks to the lowest of water crossings Cedar Ridge Preserve is an interesting place unto itself. One unique spot known for a small drop off water feature might catch the eye of those with a geology background (seen above). Here the limestone of the Austin Chalk meets the shale of the Eagle Ford formation that sits below it. This picturesque spot is a great place to explain the White Rock Escarpment. The uplift here is a north to south feature beginning in Dallas County near the Trinity River and following the western edge of the Austin Chalk. The shale erodes at a faster rate than the overlying limestone creating the eroded hills, creek ravines and as we'll see later remote hidden pockets of Texas few rarely see.

View from the observation platform at Cedar Ridge Preserve looking west. Joe Pool Lake in the far distance.

One of the high promontory points of Cedar Ridge features a two story observation deck with a commanding view of western Dallas County. From here on a clear day one can make out Joe Pool Lake, Six Flags Over Texas, Cowboys Stadium and Downtown Fort Worth.

Observation platform at Cedar Ridge Preserve

Yucca pallida  and Snake warning sign

From this vantage point one can see Cedar Hill State Park and over to the far left the ridges that comprise Cedar Mountain Preserve and Dogwood Canyon.

Hiking from the ridges down to the Cattail pond on the property one crosses a number of ecological zones that house a variety of plants. Juniper, cactus and yucca dominate the high ridges. A little further down one sees the Mexican Buckeye, Mexican Plum, Sugar Hackberry and a variety of oaks including the Shin Oak.

Bluebonnets in full bloom at Cedar Ridge Preserve

Leaving your vehicle behind at Cedar Ridge and crossing FM 1382 is pretty straightforward. An unlocked swing gate sits on the west side of the Cattail Pond fence line, a small gate designed for pedestrian traffic. Heading west by south crossing the ample median. Here Signal Hill in Cedar Hill comes into view. The tallest tower there is 1635 feet in height one of the tallest man made structures in the world. Native wildflowers carpet the hills here in the spring and make for a pleasant walk.

Hiking from Cedar Ridge Preserve to Cedar Mountain Preserve

Cedar Mountain Preserve Trail head

Cedar Mountain Preserve sits south of Cedar Hill State Park and North of Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center. Smaller that it's neighbors with a single trail that loops up to an overlook for a commanding view of the area. The flat low area near the trail head was once the site of a rental home most likely inhabited by 19th century sharecroppers. Archeology digs conducted here in the last several years point to 1860s-1900 when the home was occupied.

There was a parking lot for Cedar Mountain up until last year. In 2012 that parking lot access was combined into that of the Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center. Cedar Mountain is free to visit and unlike other nearby venues is open sunrise to sunset most of the year. If you want to see the sunset, this is the place to do it.


Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center

Under a canopy of dogwoods

If one were visiting Texas for the first time or hosting house guests from afar wanting to see a Texas landscape, this is the place to go. Something strange happened up in the hidden canyons of this place. An ecological crossroads of sorts where all the different parts of the Lone Star State meet. The three hundred acres of scrabble canyons well represent Texas. From East Texas the dogwoods. From the north come the Trout Lilies and prairie flowers. From the West come the yucca and cactus. From the south the buckeye and junipers. From all points of the compass birds converge including the Black Capped Vireo, an endangered species.

Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center

Just off FM1382 the visitor center for Dogwood Canyon sits on the site of an old transmission tower footprint that is incorporated into the new building site. Opened in September of 2011 the visitor center serves as an education building and information center.

Trail junction behind the Visitor Center

Couple of options in regards to the trails here. A lower trail, the Canyon Floor Trail sticks to a small tributary of Penn Creek that runs west to east through the canyon and out towards FM 1382. The ADA compliant trail affords easy access for those looking for something flat and without obstacles.

The other trail, the one of most interest to those reading this will be the West Loop/ West Rim Trail. This trail gradually climbs away from the canyon floor up a series of switchbacks to the canyon rim then follows that rim around to the west and north affording great views of Joe Pool Lake and points west in Tarrant County.

The forested canyon floor of Dogwood Canyon near the visitor center

The creek running through here is named Penn Creek. Named for the original pioneer to first settle this area John Anderson Penn. He arrived in Dallas County in the mid 1850s with a wife and two sons. It's believed he was first drawn to the area from Illinois by word of his California Gold Rush 49er friend Crawford Trees who owned large acreage in Dallas County. One of Penn's sons, John Wesley Penn built his farm here, with 1859 as the founding date of the farm according to Texas Parks and Wildlife. The farm is still intact inside Cedar Hill State Park and serves as an outdoor museum to a time gone by. Many of the barns, homes and out buildings are still there.

John Wesley Penn had a thriving farm here for decades on Mountain Creek and the creek tributaries bearing his own name. He grew various crops in the lower areas, cut the meadows for hay and grazed cattle on the slopes to some extent. Mr Penn died at the hands of a rattlesnake, per the obituary below:

An Old Settler Dies From the Poisonous Effects of a Rattlesnake Bite.  

Mr. John W. Penn, an old resident and respected farmer living on the mountain near Cedar Hill, in Dallas county, was bit by a rattle snake last Friday evening, from the effects of which, he died early Saturday morning. The fangs of the reptile were buried deep on the back of the hand, and as soon as he was bit, Mr. Penn declared he would never survive. His prediction was gradually verified as he poison settled deeper in his system and about midnight, he lost consciousness and became a raving maniac, four holding him in bed until death relieved his terrible suffering early Saturday morning. The snake struck the unfortunate man while he was in his field stooping over to pick up a rake from a rank growth of weeds. Mr. Penn had been living on the place twenty-five years, and he stated after he was bit that it was the largest snake he ever saw. He called to his son who was plowing in another portion of the field, who conveyed his father home. Stimulants and every remedy available were administered without effect. After its deadly work, the snake escaped in the high weeds.   - June 25, 1888, Dallas Daily Herald

The rattlesnakes still grow large here. Sightings of very large rattlesnakes on the DORBA Trail at Cedar Hill State Park are very common. One of the more infamous photos that circulate the internet of a rattlesnake among bluebonnets was taken at Cedar Hill.

When Penn started his farm here, the hills were probably more of an open grass environment that kept trees and understory in check through infrequent wildfires.  While it's hard to say or call anything here man made, the large number of trees here now are a climax ecosystem due to lack of fire.

Switchback up the canyon

Climbing up the canyon here, one can start to see things those old wildfires never touched. Maybe the fanning flames of wildfire never made it inside this canyon. Hard to tell. In the spring, with the canyon in full bloom you start seeing trees that belong much further south, like the Mexican Buckeye.

Mexican Buckeye Ungnadia speciosa on the West Rim Trail

It would be fair to say that other nearby hills and canyons have Mexican Buckeye. Dogwood Canyon just has much more of it. That's the theme here. More of everything. Not just variety but a profusion of population.

Trout Lily Erythronium albidum on the canyon floor

Trout lilies are in great numbers here, some places they carpet the undulating terrain as if they were sown like winter wheat.  This visit was too early for the hexalectris orchids that appear in May, they are here too. The trout lily and the hexalectris orchid are two plant species in the Dallas area for which man had no hand in planting. They also serve as telltales of land that has never seen a plow or development. The further back in the canyon you go the better it gets.

Man has been up here. Who knows when. Maybe half a century ago, most likely much longer than that, someone built a ramshackle cabin of a place way up on the slopes of the ridge. Far away from the world. This was long before any road or highway existed in the area, just a little country road to Cedar Hill.

The Old Cabin

The old cabin sits just off the main trail overlooking the upper reaches of Dogwood Canyon. Built of cedar and corrugated metal siding the untouched building here is a great look into the past. Unapologetically out of fashion, a building in such state takes on a life of it's own.

View of the canyon near the cabin

Interior of the "Old Cabin" at Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center

The remote nature of the cabin, the rustic looks of something only time can wear on a structure and the unique construction make this one cool little place worth visiting. The interior suggests the current structure is a rebuild of a previous building. The joints, eaves and framing suggest a similar building once sat nearby and reconstituted into what we see today. Turn of the last century with additions maybe in the Depression era and post World War II. An old school desk, oil drum stove and a sleeping loft dominate the interior. It would be interesting to learn who used this. A retreat and escape of some kind for sure. Lacking the hallmarks of a tack shed, feed storage room or rental house this was a home away from it all for some lucky soul. Fortress of solitude, getaway, take your pick.

The Hurt Family

David Hurt at Dogwood Canyon April 2013

This would be a good point to mention the family whose donation served as the nucleus for Dogwood Canyon, David and Kim Hurt. They purchased a tract of the canyon here with intentions of building a dream home nestled in the high canyon. In 1999 on a hike in the canyon, David Hurt discovered a number of the special qualities of the woods here, including the special dogwood grove.

Through their special donation, the land here was preserved and additional tracts purchased to mushroom into 200+ acres. Parcel by parcel the jigsaw pieces of land gel together to form a great sanctuary.

It would be hard to find fault in someone who wanted to keep a place like this to themselves. Sharing it with the public and working towards preserving it is really an exceptional note of altruism.

Finding The Dogwoods

I have no idea how David Hurt found the dogwoods. They are not on a trail. Not up the bank of a creek. They sit in some mysterious place that is hard to describe.

Leaving the marked trail even Master Naturalist Bill Holston had some reservation about finding the spot. He had been there before but the route to get there involves a great bit of sleuthing.

Ecologists call the place we are head a Refugium. A quirk of the natural world where time and history bypass a place leaving old stands of plants and animals to live in a micro environment. A location of an isolated or relict population of a once widespread animal or plant species. Great Texas examples are the Lost Maples in the Hill Country and Texas Blind Salamanders in San Marcos.

Heading down slope and into the canyon the dramatic difference in the plants becomes apparent. Mushrooms, thick mosses and trout lilies abound.

Penn Creek tributary high in the canyon

Headed down a couple draws and finally reaching a small chalk creek the bright morning sun barely penetrates down here. Up two more box draws and a number of blown down juniper one second guesses if they are on the right path. Then you see them. The trees for which the canyon gets the name.

Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)

The Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) is best known for the white petal-like flat bracts that give the appearance of a single large flower. The real flower of the dogwood are the yellowish green compacted clusters in the center.

Flowering dogwoods are small trees usually growing to 15-30 feet in height and are known as an understory tree in most Southern forests. The trees in Dogwood Canyon fit that bill. The stand of trees sit on somewhat flat ground at the head of a box canyon draw of sorts growing among leafy detritus of nearby oaks.

The odd bedfellow to the mix are the alkaline loving juniper that grow side by side along the dogwoods. Really strange to see as the two typically prefer different soils in which to thrive.

Difficult to explain how the trees came to thrive in such an area. Some say these trees are over a century old. Deep in a far away canyon with no buildings or farms existing in the nearby vicinity during any time in the past one wonders if humans or a true marooned plant species exist here. Lots of good questions but no good answers pointing any direction. Shrug your shoulders and just accept what you are seeing is unique. There is no other place like it.

The closest native stand of Flowering Dogwoods sit some distance east in Van Zandt county. A traditional understory tree of acidic soils the head scratching commences wondering how the trees not only came to be here but seem to thrive in an alkaline soil.


The best way to see these large dogwoods is to climb up into their canopy. Using a large ladder supported on the trunk of a juniper tree we climbed high into the branches.

The view from above is exceptional. Looking down at the forest below and the far horizon in the distance one gains a new perspective for the size of the trees here.

Looking down on the forest floor far below

Most of the photos here were taken up in the canopy 15-20 feet or so climbing the ladder







A real under the radar gem of a place. I would have a hard time finding it again as no trail exists to the spot. I think plans are in the works to open up some kind of more formal trail to the spot. If that never happens I think that would be a cool thing.

West Rim Trail view of Joe Pool Lake

Hummingbird in a Shin Oak at Dogwood Canyon

 Few places combine so many species of birds and plants like the cedar ridges down in Southern Dallas. Hard pressed to find something with more.

Our hike back saw more birds than the walk in. Hummingbirds fresh from Mexico, honeybees abuzz among the bluebonnets and buckeyes. A real eye opener to a place so many people have never been.

Cedar Ridge Preserve for miles of hiking trails, Cedar Mountain for great free sunsets and Dogwood Canyon for an overdose on what Texas is all about.

The pure crystal clear aquifer water of Historic Big Spring as it freely flows in Dallas, Texas

Well, is it time to start worrying about the fate of Big Spring and the land around it? It's looking that way. So rare is it to find a place like this in Dallas. A perfect balance of natural beauty and deep history all rolled into one. One of the only natural springs in Dallas,  Big Spring flows at a steady 68-70 degrees year round with crystal clear and clean water. The land surrounding it features centuries old trees and a large Native American archeological site known as 41DL72. Many are worried for the place. Nearby development for the Trinity River Project threatens the spring and Native American sites in more ways than one. Despite assurances by the city that the area will be protected, many people are becoming very concerned that the city does not have the best interests of this jewel of a place in mind. I'm worried. You should be too. 

I preface the post here with a link that Ted Barker has been kind enough to setup:

https://www.facebook.com/SavePembertonsBigSpring

A number of very fine researchers should be periodically updating information on what they find in regards to future design and plans. I think that Facebook page would serve as a great reference point to keep abreast of the ongoing effort. 

I have met the future Horse Park tenants face to face and they all seem like nice people. I think it would be fair to say they are pillars of our community and hope to make the Texas Horse Park an asset to the community. In no way is any of this directed towards them. I made a point of telling everyone involved in this that the Horse Park folks all seem like nice people. I value handshakes and straight talk and if they are being truthful with me than I support them 100%.

Raising Awareness
You might think, Ted Barker the Save Winfrey Point at White Rock Lake guy? Yes. Saving the spring site and the ancient archeological site around it has brought together the very best Dallas has to offer in natural preservation. For decades there has been like minded private citizens working to preserve the Trinity River and other like minded folks working to preserve White Rock Lake. They knew each other loosely by name, articles in the paper or by professional association. Few have ever met. That changed in late April. Separated by only a few miles up and down White Rock Creek I have wondered why a meeting of the minds has not happened sooner.

Big names. A bunch of well respected, well liked, well spoken and scientific type folks in their approach to all this. You'd recognize many names if you subscribe to the morning paper or own a television. Good folks. No t-shirts. No weird agenda. Just concerned citizens. I think that on their own, each one of those nice people could probably command an audience to hear their ideas. Having them together in one place was just fascinating to see. I'm very grateful to each one that attended.
Underwater video of the spring showing the wide diversity of Mosquitofish and Crayfish that live in the spring. 

It's important to get the word out about this place. There is only one site like it in Texas. The obscurity of the spring and surrounding area has kept it from being developed and protected it. Now that obscurity is working against it as some are unaware of the immense cultural value a place like this affords.

Big Spring in the Great Trinity Forest, May 2013

Preservation Of An Endangered Resource -- A 171 Year Family Legacy
The faint breeze of change rarely blows across some parts of Dallas.  In a city that prides itself on innovation, reinvention and development the history of the land upon which Dallas was built is mostly forgotten. It was the generations of our forefathers that carved out the land, tamed the river and paved the roads. In their twilight years I think many looked back on the old times before all that happened, longing for that simpler time. If they had to do it again, standing at the fork in the road, they would have done it different. Just to see the entirety of it all. As a whole. Horizon to horizon. In so many of those cases what has been done cannot be undone.

Mrs John Neely Bryan at her home at Big Spring circa 1867-77

We tell ourselves that it's not our fault as present day Dallasites. We tell ourselves that in this day and age it could not happen. Who would dare. Are we at a fork in our own road with the Trinity River Project? Headed the right direction? Where are we headed anyway?

Sam Beeman, Mrs John Neely Bryan Sr, John N Bryan Jr

That ravaging of the land never happened here at Big Spring. The pioneers that settled on White Rock saw the spring and land down here as an invaluable resource. Like much of the Great Trinity Forest this land was settled by the Beeman family. Granted 4th class headright by the Republic of Texas in November of 1842 and settled in April of 1842. John Neely Bryan, founder of Dallas, Texas married Margaret Beeman and later inherited the "Spring Tract" on which they lived for a number of years.

 


Margaret Beeman Bryan(Mrs John Neely Bryan) sold the land in 1880 to Edward Case Pemberton. That land was kept in the family until just recently when it was sold to the City of Dallas for parkland. The background of the historic Pemberton Farm are in a couple previous posts from 2011 and 2012 Where the red fern looking stuff grows and Hiking in the Footsteps of Sam Houston and Billy Ray. There is so much more to the histories of the Beeman, Bryan and Pemberton families than I could ever describe here on the internet. The family stories handed down through the generations are epic, the hard won fight to build a life out of nothing but rough hewn frontier. They did it. Right there.

Grandsons of the pioneers: Grandson of EC Pemberton, Bill Pemberton(left); Great Grandson of John Beeman, MC Toyer(right)

Descendants of those families both have a great interest in seeing Big Spring and their old family sites preserved. It's an honor to be on a first name basis with both Mr Pemberton and Mr Toyer, both of whom represent two families and 171 years of family heritage on White Rock Creek. At Big Spring itself. Mr Toyer is a real asset to the city. As a noted historian, he has done a tremendous amount of research on Dallas history including the deep history of the pioneer families who settled Dallas County. He has all the documentation needed to pursue a pair of Texas Historical Markers and the last time I spoke with him plans were to get the documentation submitted for at least one, in the 2014 selection process.


Accountability
Strange and unexplained things are afoot. Compounded by a worry that a rare piece of natural Dallas, a unique piece of Texas history might be lost forever. The past few months, exploratory drilling and surveying has been done above the Big Spring site. The type of activity that signals future construction. The strange part of it all is that the City of Dallas has assured many that no construction is planned there as they recognize it as a historic site and a registered Caddo Pre-historic site. The site is registered with the Texas Historical Commission and is noted on published archeological maps, surveys and in printed peer reviewed material. The map to the right is from a published 2009 survey noting the vast expanse of area where archeological artifacts were found. The black dots indicate positive finds. There is so much more there that has yet to be discovered.

Archeologist Tim Dalbey discussing the Caddo artifacts at our feet

Core Drilling at one of the Caddo sites

As a snapshot example of what is being seen, the recent January 2013 core drilling around a known portion of an archeological site. Total mystery why it would be done there. Unless of course you plan on constructing a building. That crew ended up spilling a bunch of fuel or hydraulic fluid out there killing the winter grass. Oops!

Hey Look, Dallas Own Little Temporary Llano Estacado!

Public Works and Transportation employees with a fancy GPS tool, planting stakes

Fast forward to April staking by the Dallas Public Works and Transportation Department with a series of stakes marked "barn" and "arena". Strange how that happened. I was shocked to see the stakes. After assurances that no buildings would go up in this area. I did an Open Records Request for more information.

Survey stake labeled "Arena Corner" placed by Dallas Public Works and Transportation Department Survey Crew, April 2013 near the head of Big Spring

"Our survey party was performing a survey in support of the Great Trinity Forest Planned Development District.  That PD covers an area from the Trinity, to the South, up to Highway 175, to the North, and West from Pemberton Hill Road to encompass the old Sleepy Hollow Golf Course.  It consists of approximately 2,200 acres, and will be sorted into seven (7) very large addition plats." 

Barn corner

I called the number provided the next day and spoke to the Survey Manager who sent that response. He said that the stakes were placed in error and that his professional surveyors were off 800-1000 feet in their location. Going further, he said it was a consultant who gave the city the coordinates which were extrapolated wrong from a map. I thought, wow in this day and age of GPS equipment how can professional surveyors working as employees for the City of Dallas goof so bad? Hmmm.

The staking by the city happened just a couple days before a pre-bidding "walkaround" by interested construction contractors looking to bid on the Texas Horse Park. I obtained the Meeting Minutes from that meeting and half guessed the staking had something to do with the show-and-tell. After looking through some of the older plans for the Horse Park online, the only alignment I can find that has a similar footprint would be that of a "collegiate equestrian facility". See attached.  Looking at the lay of the land there, the amount of dirt needed to level that into a flat space would be enormous, many hundreds of truckloads of soil.

Old, old map, no longer relevant showing "Collegiate Equestrian" facilities on the Spring Pasture

Like I said, I was assured by the city that the staking and all the hard work labeling those stakes was in complete error and some "consultant" was the one who told them the coordinates. That's a little spooky! During my phone conversation, the manager told me his employees were back out there to pick up the stakes as we spoke. I still wonder how they knew the route back there, working back behind and through an old barbed wire fence gate that would really be unknown if you were that lost in your bearings. They knew where the obscure gate was. Weird.

The "spring pasture" as it looked in Fall 2011, Big Spring in background right

Originally, way back in December 2012, the city wanted to build a fuel dump on the spring pasture site and a parking lot on top of a large Caddo Site. See below. Big Spring is labeled "Sam Houston Springs" and following the contours you can see a large equipment garage and space for (2) 1,000 gallon fuel storage tanks. That's not good. 

Larger version noting the spring and building locations

Staked area(just a guess)

 The plans have changed many times since December. It was clear that when looking at the December 2012 plans that whomever was in charge of the design for this place either was unaware of the history of the place and the Native American site or simply did not care. Jury is still out on that one. Your guess is as good as mine. Big Spring is also unique in that it's a perched aquifer. Shallow and drawing on water only 40-80 feet deep in the strata. Horizontal in nature, the spring is really fragile in regards to surface pollution and runoff. That seems to me either unknown to the design firm or misunderstood. More on Big Spring and the lay of the land there is in a post from last summer. Hey, don't mess with the Spring! That guy, the one who messed with the spring last summer is still trying to unwind all the trouble he is in. Let that be a cautionary tale.

Most Current Map I Have With Overlay

Horse Park Overlay on Google Earth Map Credit: MC Toyer

Confused yet? Above is the most current Horse Park plans available that I'm aware of. These were the plans that the city put out in an RFP Bid Packet for the Texas Horse Park. It does not show any buildings north of a powerline right-of-way. Thanks to MC Toyer for putting that together.

David Mimlitch, a well known award winning aerial photographer was kind enough to provide aerial photos of the area in question, his photos taken April 27, 2013 can be found here:
David Mimlitch Aerial Photos of Big Spring
 
Hard to make sense of it all, really. I realize the plans have changed numerous times that have supposedly shifted the footprint of the Texas Horse Park further south. Assurances that people are unaware of any plans to build anything here are rather unsettling and ring somewhat hollow as if another Winfrey Point is in the works. Let's hope that's not true!

It's hoped that there is not a second set of plans squirreled away like the Arboretum plans for Winfrey Point. That would just be earth shattering if true. The facts on the ground point one way, words out of the mouths of city employees say the opposite. Who do you trust?

The Caddo Site 41DL72 -- Hold Your Horses, Indian Graveyard Ahead?

Tim Dalbey among the trees of a large Caddo site explaining how Native Americans made tools here almost 1000 years ago

Who better to explain the Caddo site known as 41DL72 than Tim Dalbey. I would guess he knows more about the Trinity River and the archeology there than anyone else. His knowledge is profound and deep on the subject. One site that he took particular interest in was even named in his honor, The Dalbey Site. Too modest to admit it, he really is the world expert on this stuff. Dude needs a medal for his work.

I don't talk much about Native American sites here because they are so fragile and in many cases would be looted if their location made public. The sites on the Trinity are profound and awe inspiring to even those with little interest in such things. Dating back thousands of years these sites are a mystery waiting to be solved. Locked in the dirt beneath our feet. 41DL72 as it is called is one such site. 

Roughly the size of a football field, the occupation layers here are reported to be under the surface a few feet where a hard pan layer of soil exists. Dr Dalbey assisted in some of the excavation work on the site in early 2013 and told a few folks about what they found. Pottery shards, tools, points. Some in exquisite shape noting maybe a ceremonial use. Who knows. They excavated a few 1 meter square test holes there and recovered over one hundred artifacts out of those few areas. Imagine what else lies underneath.  I have seen photos of what they found with explanations on the dates, 1250-1300 AD or so. No one alive knows what else lies beneath the ground there. If construction ruins the site we may never know. 

Dr Dalbey made an interesting observation that this site would be the best chance to understand the Caddo in a scientific manner in the Great Trinity Forest. A complete study that has never been done before and quite likely the only place to do a proper scientific excavation.

What Lies Ahead

Hikers exploring the Back 40 pastures of the Old Pemberton and Beeman Farm between Bryan's Slough and White Rock Creek

Not much I can really do to keep the city developers at bay here. On a personal level it has been a tireless amount of work to run off the thieves, crooks and criminals down here in the Great Trinity Forest. Wish I could explain what all has been going on with that. 


The city has been a great partner for me in dealing with problems as things crop up. Listening and acting on many of the issues I encounter in the very obscure corners of a very obscure part of town. I can only hope that some voice of reason will reach those planning something unfortunate here. Midnight bulldozing,  mistaken ground clearing by sub-sub-contractors and the like should not be in the cards here. 

For many thousands of years man has lived at Big Spring. In those tens of centuries no one dared to put a fence around it, build on it or tamper one of the most special places in Texas. Let's keep it that way.

Cycling hero Michael McNair on his first bike ride back into the Great Trinity Forest, near Freedman's Town of Joppa, Dallas, Texas April 28, 2013

The face of courage, victory and overcoming impossible odds. If there was one cool picture that I find remarkable more than any other I have taken on the Trinity River, this one was it. I could print that photo off and take copies to the ICU wing at Baylor Hospital, without caption and make jaws hit the floor. He made it. Back. That's what a champion looks like folks. I'd made the mistake of assuming this day would never come.

There are a rare few weeks in a North Texas spring when the sun shines brighter, the wildflowers taller and the sky bluer than any other place on Earth. Then there are those few special days inside those weeks. The ones where everything is just as perfect as it gets. I'd like to think that the weather is what made a trip down to the river special. It was just a minor footnote to what was probably one of the great human resurrections of all time. Michael McNair. It could have rained, snowed and hurricaned that fine April day and I don't think that could put a damper on what was witnessed.
 

Michael McNair leading the way through knee high wildflowers in the Trinity River Wetlands

His story over the last year has filled the airwaves, been printed in the newspaper and in print magazines. Take time to read his remarkable story and the story of his remarkable family who in the face of incredible challenges, just keep on cranking:

Tim Rogers December 2012 article in D Magazine about Michael:
 http://www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_Magazine/2012/December/Why_Does_Dallas_Hate_Cyclists.aspx
You know you are in trouble if John McCaa leads off the evening news with your name:
 http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Cycling-advocate-recovering-after-being-struck-by-car-151959175.html
Dallas Morning News puts you in ink usually means you are in the hospital, jail or dead:
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/dallas/headlines/20120518-dallas-bike-advocate-mike-mcnair-seriously-injured-by-car.ece

About a year ago, May 15, 2012, Michael was struck down by a motorist while riding his bike. Critically injuring him in ways that few people ever recover. Lungs, compound fractured ribs, broken hip, pelvis, back, neck, skull, internal injuries of vital organs like his spleen. The medical staff at Baylor put his chances of recovery at a low 15%. Grim. Things only got worse from there as infections racked across his weakened body. In a coma, living off breathing machines in the ICU wing. It was around Memorial Day when I thought to myself that his days of riding were very much over. No way would he make it back. Just improbable. His wife Heather was by his side everyday at the hospital, she never gave up. She knew that someday he would pop back up and get back to riding.

All too often I get to know folks who are far to modest about their accomplishments. He had to learn to walk again. A continuing road to recovery that is full of obstacles and a mile high. He was still walking with a cane the last time I saw him. He is fearless. Tougher than you. Tougher than me.

Michael has been tapped to serve as the lead rider at the Ride of Silence on May 15, 2013 at White Rock Lake: http://www.rideofsilence.org/main.php
One year to the day that he was hit by a car. It's just a sheer miracle that he is still with us.

Also, if you know them, give Matt Malone and Mike Freiberger an attaboy slap on the back the next time you see them. Matt and Mike are some real unsung badasses in helping the McNair family the past year. Those guys lived at Baylor all last summer, did home renovations to make the McNair home wheelchair accessible and much more. A big thank you to them and all the others who helped in a time of great need.


Riding the Great Trinity Forest -- From White Rock Lake -- Whoa how do you do that?

The route for this trip started at the White Rock Lake Spillway at the corner of Winsted and Garland Road. Plenty of ways to get down to the riverbottoms from here, straightforward to complex. Using a combination of bike paths and streets one can get down to the river in short order. I think in the last few weekends I have taken around thirty people riding down here. No flats, no mechanical break downs, no ambulance rides. A mix of younger, older, male, female, very experienced and somewhat novice riders.

Ray Porter background and his wife Gina holding Scooter Pemberton

It was a pleasure to have along some bike clinic instructors, cycling advocates, bike shop employees and superstar cyclists like Ray Porter (seen above). Ray has raced all over creation. Including a mountain bike race from the Canada to Mexico along the spine of the continent, the Continental Divide. Hereand Here. Great guy and interesting that on the Trinity River ride rode a locally fabricated bike from right here in Dallas built by David Cheakas at his shop in the Bluffview neighborhood.

Ride Data
Logan a DORBA Board Member was nice enough to share his Strava data for the trip which can be found here and interesting that he rode a cyclocross bike to boot:
Exploring the Trinity River from White Rock Lake He was also able to get some great photos on our trip featuring some of the wild donkeys of the Great Trinity Forest.
Gary another member of the group has provided very detailed GPS data and step-by-step instructions on the route at Everytrail:
Great Trinity Forest at Everytrail. He also has a good mapped route from the Swiss Avenue Area to the Audubon Center using the cobbled together route we took: Everytrail link from Swiss Avenue area to Audubon Center.
Mike Shoaf has data on Google Maps for the route including an alternate route we used on the way back to White Rock Lake using the Highway 310 Bridge and Lamar to Pennsylvania. Trinity River Route with Lamar Alternate This route knocks a couple miles off the total and skips the Santa Fe Trestle Trail.

Route highlights- include a ride down the Santa Fe Trail to Fair Park, Santa Fe Trestle Trail/Standing Wave, Miller's Ferry, Trinity River Wetland Cells, Joppa, Trinity River Audubon Center, McCommas Bluff Preserve, Gateway Park at I-20 and the historic Pemberton Farm.

Ride distance is 49 miles out and back from the White Rock Spillway to the new I-20 park opening June 8, 2013. Usually I provide a map and directions for how to get these places. Use your imagination to shorten or lengthen the distances. Many of the streets in South Dallas like Hatcher and Grand are low traffic streets that lend themselves to cycling. Check them out as shortcuts if so inclined.

White Ibis in the Wetland Cells

Over the last several years I have been riding this route that serves as the main artery into riding the Great Trinity Forest. Naturally, this is just the most bare basic of routes and should serve as just the backbone to exploring further into the woods. 95% of the photos you see in my blog posts are taken on mountain bike rides. It's one of the best ways to see much of the river and surrounding woods.

Other than the formal concrete trails in the area the loose confederation of existing infrastructure, streets, dirt roads and even a section of feral pig trail are open to interpretation on how to ride. At present time (spring 2013) all sections can be ridden via mountain bike or walked on foot. Some areas cannot be ridden on horseback due to lack of good ford crossings in creeks. That might need to wait another year or three.

Santa Fe Trestle Trail Bridge and Whitewater Park

The steel portion of  the bridge was originally built in 1926 and served as a main artery for the AT&SF Railroad in Dallas. Some old signs along the old right of way can still be found in the overgrowth. In 1985 the trestle was burned in an overnight fire destroying over half the structure. DART purchased the railway and bridge in 1989 later deciding to build a new bridge next to the old Santa Fe trestle rather than retrofitting the existing bridge. Since that time, the Corps of Engineers has floated the idea of removing it as the bridge acts as a partial obstruction for flood debris during high water.

To access the levee trail and Santa Fe Trestle from White Rock Lake, I would suggest riding the Santa Fe Trail towards Fair Park. Through Fair Park and down Grand Avenue. Inside Fair Park, Grand Avenue is the gate closest to Big Tex and the main Fletcher's stand. Head south out that gate. Hang a right on Lamar, left on Corinth, left on Riverfront

Miller's Ferry

At Miller's Ferry Dallas, Texas. In the foreground is Brent(in green jersey), Trail Steward for TPWD's Tyler State Park; far background on the water is Charles Allen of Canoe Dallas with a guided group canoeing the Trinity River

Pretty cool to see Charles Allen of Canoe Dallas rounding Miller's Bend at Miller's Ferry on the Trinity River as we looked on. I think it's awesome to see two different groups of people on the river who have gone many miles downstream without using motorized transportation.

Charles Allen of Canoe Dallas and his river tour approaching the old remains of the Miller's Ferry Bridge

Charles is back to doing canoe trips on the Main Stem of the river between Downtown and Loop 12.  On the second Saturday of the month he does guided tours too, which I suspect is the case with this group. Here is his website: Trinity River Expeditions -- Canoe Dallas

There should be a Texas Historical Marker for the site here. It's a great focal point for explaining Dallas history and one of the single most important sites in Dallas African American history.

The Wetland Cells

Gina Porter carving trail through the Wetland Cells

Crested Caracara in the Wetlands

The lower chain of wetlands are comprised of cells that extend from the I-45 bridge south near Miller's Ferry to Loop 12. The wetlands are not a part of the Trinity River channel. They sit up and above grade from the Trinity. As a result the land and water are much cleaner than the river channel nearby. Until recently, it was hard to even find a piece of trash in this part of the Trinity River Project. A dirt service road skirts the wetland cells and is now seeing heavy use by 4x4 off road vehicles and illegal dumpers. The gates at Loop 12 and near Highway 310 have been broken for over a year.

Fisherman near Miller's Ferry

Much of the land used by the chain of wetlands was originally part of the Sleepy Hollow Golf Course and Country Club.  The Chain of Wetlands extends many miles in length from Cedar Creek to Loop 12. The wetland cells located between Cedar Creek and Interstate 45 are interconnected and actually flow upstream and are continuously fed by discharge (or treated water) from the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant north of I-45.  The plant's water is treated against harmful bacteria before being discharged. The remaining wetland cells extend from the Interstate 45 vicinity to Loop 12 and are also interconnected and continuously fed by treatment plant water.

Dirt road through the Wetland Cells, Bank of America Tower seen rising above the trees in the background

Paco Fuentes and his horse Fantasma in the Wetland Cells

Male Wood Duck

A couple of the smaller cells south of 310 have Wood Duck nesting boxes that are starting to show success in breeding. In addition to a couple breeding pairs of Wood Ducks there has been a steady population of Blue-winged teal, Green-winged teal and even a random Cinnamon teal.

Female Wood Duck with ducklings

Cinnamon Teal foreground, male and female Blue-winged Teal background

Most of the gates that should be locked 24/7 in the Wetland Cells have been broken and open for over a year. One of our riding groups was treated to a demonstration in illegal dumping as a large truck pulling a trailer turned off Loop 12 and into the old Sleepy Hollow Golf Course entrance. Upon our return through the area several hours later there was a fresh pile of construction debris.

Same guys are still drinking beer and shooting the place up down there. The Dallas Police Department should have confiscated their rifles and taken them to jail last fall. Instead, they let them go. At left are the same guys, with the same rifles, drinking beer and shooting the place up in April 2013. Does the city want a wetland full of birds or one full of guys shooting the place up? How about declaring open season on poachers?

Crested Caracara hunting over the Wetland Cells with Loop 12 in the background

Crested Caracara at the Wetland Cells kicking up dust with a missed snatch of a rabbit in the grass, while a Red Tailed Hawk looks on

Trinity Trail Through Joppa Preserve

Great Trinity Forest Trail in Dallas County's Joppa Preserve

Crossing Loop 12 to the south lies Joppa Preserve and a group of old ponds and lakes. This trail is inside the Joppa Preserve, part of the Dallas County Open Space Project. Originally this land was part of the Millermore Plantation. The original Miller cabin and the later Greek revival Millermore Mansion are now preserved at Old City Park in Dallas. The area later became known as Joppa and Floral Farms. Both were unincorporated freedman's communities for many decades without access to running water and city services.

A paved trail completed in two phases now reach 4.1 miles to connect the Loop 12 Boat Ramp with the Trinity River Audubon Center. The centerpiece of the paved trail here is a multi-million dollar bike bridge that spans the Trinity River just southeast of the Trinity River Audubon Center.



The trail and bridge sit outside the footprint of the Audubon Center property. The formal trailhead for the Audubon section sits roughly 400m south of the Audubon entrance in a separate parking lot.

NOTE: No mountain biking or horseback riding inside the Audubon Center property. You must stay on the pavement. Also, the Audubon Center is a privately run facility and there is admission fee to visit and hike the trails there.

Trinity River Audubon Center

View of the breezeway from inside the Audubon Center

Ben Jones at left with DORBA and FWMBA members at the Audubon Center

The Audubon Center has outdoor bathroom facilities and water fountains. I think it still sits as an undiscovered resource for the Great Trinity Forest. A bit of civilization among the wilderness beyond. It should serve as a great jumping off point for those wanting to make a jump into the forest beyond.

Ben Jones the director of the Trinity River Audubon Center was kind enough to spend some time with us(inset left) and spoke of some of the activities planned for the Audubon Center this summer. Big thanks to Ben for taking time out of his busy day to visit with us!


Trinity River Audubon Center's new canoe takeout
Most exciting is the new canoe takeout that the Audubon Center has built at the river and guided river trips they are offering starting June 1st. The route would be Loop 12 to the Audubon Center and cover some of the most scenic stretches of the river. They also have a new campsite in the works for overnight stays on the river.
Watch the Audubon Center's website for more information http://trinityriver.audubon.org/


From the Audubon Center to McCommas Bluff

Crossing Elam Creek and the concrete culvert that separates the Audubon Center property from McCommas Bluff Preserve

Off the beaten path time. Takes a leap of faith for most to venture off the pavement and into hip deep grass and woods. There is a great route from the Audubon Center to McCommas Bluff but often hard to follow the first 100 feet off the pavement. Refer to the map links at the beginning of the post on how to get there. The entrance is where the paved path takes a turn to the south from the Audubon Center about 250m from the north end of the Trinity River Trail Bridge. The goal here is to find a concrete culvert crossing of Elam Creek. As seen above the crossing has a little water in it but is hardly enough to even get your feet wet.

Riding McCommas Bluff Preserve

Beyond is a doubletrack dirt road that follows a Dallas Water Utilities ROW through McCommas Bluff Preserve. An alternate dirt road leads up through the preserve to Fairport. The lower road follows the ROW down to Riverwood Road and along some great woods.

Mexican Buckeye at McCommas Bluff Preserve

The doubletrack follows an old terrace and as one approaches the old Bass Family pond there is a large colony of Mexican Buckeye just up on the sandy terrace above. You don't see many Mexican Buckeye in the Great Trinity Forest, these are easy to spot during the spring.

Elam Creek up towards Fairport also has a colony of Texas Buckeye. These are pretty hard to find tucked deep in among the privet of the area.


Noted Master Naturalist Jim Flood told me about the Texas Buckeyes back here along Elam Creek this spring. I lucked out and was able to find them, with a little trouble.





2013 was a great year for Buckeye blooms. The prolonged cold weather through March and April made for a very long blooming season, weeks longer than last year.










McCommas Bluff to I-20

The traverse from McCommas Bluff to I-20 is closed to vehicle traffic but open to bikes, foot traffic and especially horses. Those wanting to ride horses on the river should take advantage of the route here that skirts behind a cemetery to the bluff tops of McCommas Bluff.

BJ Wakefield surveying the Trinity River from the top of McCommas Bluff

David Miller

A man in Joppa told me several years ago that the land down near the bluffs was once some of the finest squirrel hunting grounds in Texas. So ripe was the hunting that a man could hunt squirrel after church on Sunday afternoons and eat squirrel stew all week.
From the porch of his shotgun house he told me a number of stories like that, things gone by you don't see too much of anymore. I always savored the moments of being there, seeing it, absorbing it. Figuring that through his old cobweb of recollection in storytelling I could imagine a man on horseback overlooking those bluffs way back when.
I could picture his mental map of riding the river on a horse during the 1920s, long before the roads and landfills were there. Rare is the day to see that in modern times. A special thanks to Mr David Miller and friends for allowing me to chat with them on a ride. Double neat to see that old story come to life one fine weekend afternoon.

McCommas Bluff

David Miller at McCommas Bluff

David Miller in the foreground watching some boaters rounding the bend of the Trinity River

Kayakers at McCommas Bluff

The last of the wildflowers that were not bulldozed by a Dallas Water Utilities project

 The new Trinity River park at I-20

The new I-20 park at Dowdy Ferry and I-20

With an expected opening date of June 8, 2013, a new park will open at Dowdy Ferry and I-20. I have heard the the park go by a number of names like Gateway Park, Trinity River Park etc. The centerpiece of the park is a small lake of a few acres that was once a gravel pit. Limestone cliffs on one side and a small island on the northeast end that can be reached in drier weather by a spit of land.

 With a gazebo, fishing pier and a short looped concrete hiking trail it should be popular. Also of note is a large trailer parking area and hitch posts for those with horses. Off in the woods there to the west is a new official-informal trail that leads back into the woods. I have ridden a mountain bike through there and about two miles of trails can be strung together with a little work. Tree shaded and flat the only thing to watch out for is the large amount of illegally dumped trash back there. Some might claim it floated in. The reality is years of not keeping gates locked allowed the dumping to occur.

View from the fishing pier

Concrete trail that loops around the pond

This is the turn around point for the ride. Roughly 22 miles or so from White Rock Lake's Spillway. The ride back can be done a number of ways, following the course back up the Trinity River or maybe up through Pleasant Grove or Parkdale. Our route takes us to the historic Pemberton Farm.



The Pemberton Farm and Big Spring

Zada and Billy Ray Pemberton welcoming everyone to their home

Not many people have ever met a Dallas farmer inside the city limits or even knew one existed. A family who still grow their own food to a large extent, work the fields and tend to livestock. Well, here they are. The Pembertons. Seems like I write about them a lot here. Seems that whenever I take others down here, their after-visit emails always highlight not on the wild animals or sites we visit but the Pemberton Farm. Zada Pemberton had candy, walnut bread and water waiting for us. Who still does that? No one. Except the Pembertons.

It's that special of a place. Rolling down the slight hill towards the bottoms, the sounds of the city quickly fade away. So quiet of a spot that you not only hear the call of the birds, you hear their wings flap as they fly through the air.

On the most recent visit to Big Spring we were treated to the steady hooting calls of the resident Barred Owls in the woods beyond. Whole weeks and sometimes a calendar month can go by without this area seeing a human. Real wilderness.

Taking turns climbing down into Big Spring to drink the water

Mr Pemberton talking pioneers and Native Americans at the Spring Pasture

You see that photo above? The 1000 yard stare on the faces of everyone thinking and pondering the 100 generations of people who once called that spot of land home. A real Native American pre-historic site. Right at our feet. It's only there because of Billy Ray. It would have been gone long ago without his oversight.

The Bur Oak at Big Spring

Those who have not been there cannot grasp the size and scope of such a place. With no fences, barricades or man made features nearby one can only gain perspective of such a place by visiting the site. Above you can see in the far distance someone walking not far from the Bur Oak. The spring site is that large and just the water feature encompasses a few acres. Free to flow whichever way it wants, the meander of the spring had historically run a number of different ways many tens of meters away from the current course.

One of three spots where Big Spring flows out of the ground atop a limestone bedrock

Riding in the same spot as President Sam Houston, 170 years later

Baltimore Oriole

With news of a fence planned to protect Big Spring, where would one build such a structure and why?

Big Spring serves as a water source for larger animals like native deer. A fence would keep them out. River Otter tracks seen in the spring suggest that they fish for crawfish in the spring. How would they get in?

It's a place that has never needed a sign to read. Nor a plaque to note the spot or a historical background. It's already marked. The ancient Bur Oak. The Native American artifacts all over the place. The Black Walnut with the spike driven in it for the high watermark of the 1908 flood. It could never be confused with another spot. You know when you have found the place.

Dicksissel (Spiza americana)  at Big Spring

I have slowly watched parts of the Great Trinity Forest change over the years. Some good, some bad. I'd ask what the future holds and will we look back decades from now and see it as a bad idea? I miss the old dirt roads already. A time when I could ride along with honest salt of the Earth cowboys riding through the woods.

That same trail, that exact same spot looks so much different now, like Plano. Gone are the horses and the cool guys who sung their Spanish ballads as they rode through wildflowers. Replaced by sterile concrete and rye grass. Unused to a large degree. Are we going the right way with all this?

Acres of marsh loving Clasping Coneflower (Rudbeckia amplexicaulis) as far as the eye can see in the Back Forty below Big Spring in the Great Trinity Forest; Dallas, Texas

Across a flooded slough from Big Spring in the Great Trinity Forest sits the largest wildflower meadow inside the city limits. Horizon to horizon, millions and millions of Clasping Coneflower (Rudbeckia amplexicaulis) bloom for a few weeks in May. The bright yellow flowers glow a radiant color that a camera just cannot capture. Varying from brilliant gold to a pale mustard the field shimmers bright like a yellow sea.

Indigo Bunting in the meadow

The meadow down here stays wet many months of the year. Matter of fact on the day when the photo above was taken the field had a half inch of water across it. Clasping Coneflowers thrive in this wet environment. In scientific jargon, the colony of flowers is given the term "monoculture" noting a dominance of one species. Peppered here and there are an Indian Blanket or some Primrose. But the coneflower dominates. No one seeded them or planted them. It's a gift. For leaving the place alone.

Evening Primrose mixed in among Clasping Coneflower

Shafts of early evening sun through clouds

It's a special spot. If there is another like it I do not know of it.

This field is known as a transitional meadow and occurs when a field, pasture, farmland, or other cleared land is no longer grazed by livestock and starts to display growth extending to the flowering and seeding of its grass and wild flower species. The condition is however only temporary because the grasses eventually become shaded out when scrub and woody plants become well-established, being the forerunners of the return to a fully wooded state. That could happen here at some point.

A wet meadow is a semi-wetland meadow which is saturated with water throughout much of the year. Some experts consider a wet meadow to be a kind of marsh, while others consider it to be a distinct type of wetland. Wet meadows may occur because of restricted drainage or the receipt of large amounts of water from rain. They may also occur in riparian zones and around large rivers like the Trinity.

Unlike a marsh or swamp, a wet meadow does not have standing water present except for brief to moderate periods during the growing season. The ground in a wet meadow fluctuates between brief periods of flooding and longer periods of wetness. Wet meadows often have large numbers of wetland plant species, which frequently survive as buried seeds during dry periods, and then regenerate after flooding. Wet meadows therefore do not usually support aquatic life such as fish. They typically have a high diversity of plant species, and may attract large numbers of birds, small mammals and insects including butterflies.

Speaking Of Wet
It was 105 years ago today. May 26, 1908. A hot and steamy day when a forefather of Billy Ray Pemberton drove a spike into a trunk of a walnut tree at Big Spring to mark the crest of the greatest flood in recorded Dallas history. The Big Flood. It was a date that has long been remembered in Dallas, forever changing the course of a city and the river that runs through it.

Original Trinity Riverbed May 26, 2013

The city in that 105 years changed in ways Billy Ray's grandfather probably never could have imagined. Skyscrapers, highways, air travel and communication at light speed.

Vowing to never again let the Trinity get the better of the city, planners and engineers moved the river. Channelized it in a system of levees and pump stations leaving the old river channel dry.

High water mark of 1908 flood in Design District

That old channel still exists, a wide damp spot snaking through the Dallas Design District. A small plaza sits on Turtle Creek Blvd with a symbolic I-beam spike driven vertically into the old river bank. The top of that blue painted steel marks the high water mark of that epic flood. Two miles wide and 52 feet deep.

High water mark of 1908 flood at the Pemberton Farm

What has not changed since that time over a century ago is that spike, that tree and the natural spring that it has sat next to, since time immemorial. The acreage around it largely unspoiled and a reminder of what Dallas once looked like before the city planted it's own roots.

That old Black Walnut is one of the focal points of any visit to Big Spring. Sitting just out of the 100 year flood plain the tree is a mere twenty feet north of the spring and in an integral part of the "Spring Complex" as it is called. Your city government does not think so.

That city government wants to fence the Spring off. Wants to build a fence that would separate that old tree from the Spring that it has forever been with as a part of a Historic Texas landscape. They want the wildflower meadows for hay. They want to bulldoze through the woods for trails. Pave parts of the sloughs and swamps for concrete paths. Being nice and oh so cordial the way we Texans lean towards is very tough when it comes to the city and their plans. Bless their hearts. For they know not what they are doing. Sure of that now.

The voices of reason are beginning to step forward to get the message across about the unique nature of such a place. Questions are being asked for which the answers will be hard to find. Where that leads is unknown to me.

The plight of the spring and the Native American site around it is gaining quite a bit of attention in the media too. Jonathan Betz from Channel 8 paid a recent visit and even drank from the Spring. Mr Pemberton as is his custom will bestow honorary Pemberton status to those who drink from it.

WFAA Channel 8's Jonathan Betz reports on Big Spring



Mr Pemberton has a joke he pulls on guests to the Spring. He'll butter folks up to take a swig of his water. A little prodding and a little bit of encouragement is all it takes. Then he'll throw a boomerang and talk about the livestock he chased out of there just an hour before or a tall tale about some contaminant. None of that is true of course, just his way of pulling leg. It comes through in his story that aired. Since then his wife, Zada, was concerned people would get the wrong idea and not understand his kidding humor. The water is perfectly clean and safe. Just to set the record straight.

Turtle in Big Spring, May 2013

The city seems it would like to discount much of the history and special nature here. Very clear that some facts are being ignored by the city government in an effort to pursue construction of future projects. The city has leaned heavily on an archeological report published in 2009 that is full of errors and factually incorrect. Using that report, the city is trying to downplay the history at the site and the Native American artifacts that lie buried beneath. Part of that answer to the truth lies in the deep dusty vaults of archeological archives in Austin by artist and archeologist Forrest Kirkland. A place scientists call DL72. We call it Big Spring.

The Legacy Of Forrest Kirkland

Forrest Kirkland at his desk detailing Native American wall art renderings in his studio, Dallas, Texas

DL72 report by Forrest Kirkland; Credit: Tim Dalbey

In the 1930s local Dallas artist Forrest Kirkland made a name for himself illustrating commercial catalogs for industrial equipment and machinery. His commercial work paved the way for his pursuit of his real passion, Native American rock art and ancient wall paintings. Taking his expertise in cataloging and illustrating the physical world he became a foremost expert in Texas Native American sites.

A resident of Dallas, his weekend field trips often led him down White Rock Creek and the Trinity River, where he documented two hundred ancient sites in the 1930s and early 1940s in Dallas County.  One site of note was DL72, the Big Spring site. His excellent documentation provides great insight into Native American artifacts at Big Spring. His field notes describe a trip taken on December 29, 1940 to Big Spring and accompanying sketches noting a large Native American site that extends north to south along a natural terrace hundreds of yards long. In addition, a note about a farmer finding a human grave near the spring, most likely Native American in origin.

Texas Parks and Wildlife has an excellent article from 2008 on Forrest Kirkland that is worth a read entitled The Shaman's Scribe: Artist Forrest Kirkland helped preserve Texas pictographs by trekking to remote sites and painting meticulous reproductions

Forrest Kirkland sketching Native American rock art on the Pecos

Forrest Kirkland created paintings based on the physical sites he visited, many of the rock art images he recorded have since been destroyed or damaged. When Amistad Reservoir was completed in the 1960s, many Lower Pecos rock art sites disappeared beneath the waves. Other rock art sites have been damaged by vandals or by natural disasters such as major floods. He passed away from a heart attack in 1942. His legacy lives on his paintings, drawings and detailed study of Native American sites in Texas.

The sites he documented in Dallas are subject not to inundation of a reservoir, weathering or vandalism. The threat is one of unchecked construction and development. Many Dallas County sites were lost this way. Very few exist.

  Important Sites Still Exist

Native American artifacts from DL72  Credit: Tim Dalbey

The DL72 site consumes much of the Spring Pasture, a 20-30 acre plot of land that serves as a biofilter buffer for the perched aquifer Spring from surface contamination. Since that day in 1940, only one professional archeological survey has been completed. That involved some scant shovel testing in a widely spaced matrix. Native American artifacts were found here and there and should have warranted more excavation. That did not happen. But should.

The extreme southern portion of the site, which now sits in a plat of land at 811 Pemberton Hill Road will one day house the Texas Horse Park. That portion of the archeological site was partially tested in January of 2013 revealing a treasure trove of artifacts that offer a small glimpse of what is still buried there. In the photo above taken by geoarcheologist Tim Dalbey who assisted with the archeological dig, one can see the variety of tools, points and artifacts the site is yielding. This summer, further investigation is planned using trenching which should provide a more in depth look at the site. Very exciting and one can only hope that the rest of the site that sits to the north near Big Spring is afforded the same professional examination.

DL72 is one of the very last Native American sites left in Dallas. If fully excavated, it would be one of the only Native American sites ever professionally and scientifically studied inside the city limits. The Last of the Mohicans, you might say.


 Beyond Big Spring -- The Big Swamp

Beaver Dam on Bryan's Slough/Oak Creek

The city has expressed a desire to build concrete trails and horse paths into an area which from aerial photos appears to be a dry woodland. Wrong! Fooled me too. It's a permanent swamp year round and the uninitiated will find themselves in hip deep water very quickly. North of 175 the place has been dubbed Bruton Bottoms, south of 175 it has no name.

Blue Winged Teal over the swamp May 25, 2013

The water here is clear. A mix of spring fed creeks, drainages and slow moving water the swamp creates an ideal habitat for all kinds of wildlife. It will put you out of your comfort zone. Mosquitoes, floating fire ant balls and snakes are the norm. So are the rare glimpses of wildlife so few have ever seen.

I have no clue how the city would even engineer a trail across this place. They would need to de-water the area by trapping the beavers, dynamiting their dams and then channelize the sloughs down here to dry it out. Even then the frequency of flooding would compromise all that.

Great Blue Heron over Bryan's Slough, May 2013

The city wants to build a concrete trail across the slough exactly where that Great Blue Heron is pictured above. It would remove a great old beaver dam that is currently in use. The trail would link to Lake June Road. This is a very wet place and just gets wetter the further in one travels.

Dicksissel (Spiza americana) in full breeding plumage May 2013

So far, the majority of concrete trails in the Great Trinity Forest follow old dirt roads, are built on levees, utility right of ways or old landfills. Now that those trails are built-out, the next phase of concrete trails will enter unspoiled wilderness areas in the Great Trinity Forest where man has never built.

It will be a hard task to prove that trails cannot be built here. The inundation of constant floods coupled with the high maintenance costs of clearing flood debris will be exponential compared to that of other paved paths in Dallas.



The Threatened White Faced Ibis flock on Bryan's Slough

White Faced Ibis on Bryan's Slough with a building severe thunderstorm in the distance May 25, 2013

Rare birds call this place a summer home. Listed in Texas as a Threatened Species, the White Faced Ibis is a very rare sight to Texans. To Dallasites the bird is very rarely if ever seen. A "life bird" for many who keep a checklist, seeing one in the wild would be a year's highlight for many birding types.

Juvenile White Faced Ibis foreground and Adult White Faced Ibis in full breeding plumage background, May 25, 2013

Water snake hiding in the swamp roots

The White Faced Ibis is threatened due to habitat loss. It needs wetland areas exactly like those along Bryan's Slough and Oak Creek to thrive. The shallow wading pools in short grasses, flooded marsh and lowland areas are their prime habitat. Very few of these places still exist. It's a real gem to have one here in Dallas. I fear it would be forever ruined by a concrete path that would surely interrupt the flow of water to some of these grassy fields needed as habitat for this Threatened Species.

Black-necked Stilt in Bryan's Slough

Under a quickly building set of severe thunderstorms I found these birds far back in an area visited by few on two legs. The air was electric with lightning and sky quickly darkening. Most would run for home.  Far from a road, far from anything remotely resembling dry land, I rode the sets of storms out at the base of a tree.

There are always a special few minutes when the air smells of ozone and rain. These pictures are from those rare minutes before the heavens open up.

Flock of White Faced Ibis taking to the air at the clap of thunder, Dallas, Texas May 25, 2013

Easy to make a case why this place should just be left alone. The hard part is proving why it should be changed.

So few places like this have ever existed in Dallas County. Even before the pioneers, the ancient Texans saw this as a special place. The ones whose language coined the term Texas from their word for friend, Tee-has "tejas".

A rare yellow Indian Blanket flower

It's hoped that this rough spot, the growing pains of a large government project to change the land down here can some how leave the land in this corner of the Great Trinity Forest alone.

Hal and Ted Barker have setup a Facebook page that keeps up with the day to day notes on preserving this part of the Trinity:
https://www.facebook.com/SavePembertonsBigSpring

They are also in the middle of a large documentation of the Trinity River Project that is taking them some interesting places via Open Records Act. That can be followed here:
http://pavethelake.wordpress.com/

I believe some of the records they have requested hope to shed light on the alleged illegal dumping at the city owned property next door which has heavily contaminated the soil at the site of the future Texas Horse Park. The Barkers are the good guys and looking to protect everyone involved in bringing the truth out in the open.

Thousands of bloated and decaying fish at West Pond in the Great Trinity Forest, Joppa Preserve, June 8, 2013

There was an old man from the Freedman's town of Joppa named Bad Leg Fred who once ran a private fishing concession here in the 70s and 80s. For a buck or two, he'd let you drown worms for an afternoon in the pond the locals called Bad Leg Fred Lake. Stocked with bass, crappie, perch, catfish and carp the place was popular with locals who wanted a cheap place to fish.

Old Fred has most likely passed away. Unfortunately so has his lake and the fish in it.

Bad Leg Fred Lake, West Pond, Joppa Preserve

That old pond sits inside River Oaks Park, part of Joppa Preserve and one of the trailheads for the Trinity River concrete trail at 4800 River Oaks Road.

The Corps of Engineers calls the place West Pond. North of River Oaks Road and about 5 acres in size this body of water is most likely an old gravel pit excavated for dam construction and improvement of Lemmon Lake which sits due east. An archeological site was identified there in the 1940s and is noted on the inset map as 41DL78. The pond was most likely used in the 50s and 60s to draw water for cement manufacturing.

Anhinga

The pond has no true inlet or outlet. When the Trinity Forest Trail was constructed in 2008-2009 the design did not take into account the complex storm water runoff that feeds West Pond and Lemmon Lake. The resulting construction cutoff the water to both lakes. The small channelized creek that once fed the lakes now bypasses them heading due east for the Trinity River.

West Pond is most likely recharged via a shallow water table. It sits just high enough and far enough from the Trinity River that only the largest floods reach it. As a result the sport fish, the bass, perch and catfish that have been stocked here over the years all stay put. Makes for a great fishing lake that is free from many of the undesirable rough fish that fill other lakes.

Decaying fish at West Pond

I wonder what went wrong here. The pond here has never seen a fish kill according to the fishermen who have angled here back to the Bad Leg Fred era. In 2011 when Dallas saw a record drought the pond held full all summer. This spring the periodic rains every few days have turned the woods around the Trinity River green and lush, the kind of rain that allows aquatic life to flourish.

Dead Largemouth Bass at Joppa Preserve

Clues to what might have caused the fish kill probably lie in the off-color of the water. The once green-blue water is now clear, stained a shade of light brown. It was a mass extinction event that killed all the fish, top to bottom, big to small. Surprised to see the larger carp die off. In the heat of the summers here, the carp are the very last fish species to die in the shallow water of drying lake beds. They can live in what amounts to a muddy pudding. To die in a large pond is a question that needs an answer.

Dead Bluegill at Joppa Preserve

Anatomy of a fish kill
It must have been from an extreme lack of oxygen in the water that killed off all the fish. One could only guess if it was natural or man made.  One of the most common types of fish kills in ponds is caused by depletion of dissolved oxygen in the water. Oxygen must be present in the water at or above certain minimum concentrations for fish to survive. The symptoms of an oxygen depletion fish kill are as follows--the fish will be swimming near the surface, attempting to gulp air; large fish will be killed first, followed by smaller fish; the kill will occur at night or in the early morning hours; the majority of fish will be killed within a few hours time.

Dead Buffalofish at Joppa Preserve

Oxygen depletion fish kills are most commonly caused by a die-off of the microscopic green plants (phytoplankton) in the pond, or overturns in which oxygen deficient water from the deeper levels of the pond mixes with water in the upper levels. Phytoplankton imparts a green color to the water in a healthy pond. It is essential as part of the food chain and as a supplier of oxygen. A sudden die-off of these plants may occur when the plants use more oxygen than they supply to the pond. As the phytoplankton die and decompose, the remaining oxygen in the pond is consumed and within a short time, a fish kill occurs due to oxygen depletion.

I'm not sure what caused the die off to be honest. The absence of turtles, frogs and birds might suggest something man made. A nearby railroad line and a tractor trailer lot sit just to the west. 

The Fallout

Leroy and Oliver at West Pond

One of the only public fishing spots accessible to South Dallas residents, the pond here has been a haven for anglers without the means of transportation to other larger bodies of water. Some take DART. Some hitchhike. Some walk. Some walk miles to get here. I feel for those folks. Their refuge from the day to day grind has evaporated for the summer.

Little Lemmon Lake went dry last summer and has only refilled due to spring rains. The customary winter rains that usually send the Trinity out of her banks did not flood the Great Trinity Forest, leaving Little Lemmon Lake without any fish. It's as barren as West Pond.

A historic grove of oaks sit adjacent to the pond. Since emancipation the oaks have served as a traditional gathering spot for Juneteenth events and many family reunions. A damn shame that the focal point of the park, the pond, is now devoid of fish.

The wildlife will need to find a new place to find food. Buffalo fish are a favorite meal of the resident River Otters. The fish kill will put them in a bind as they need to find a new place to hunt for food.

Downed lines in the River Oaks Parking Lot

How the lake gets restocked and whatever caused the problem in the first place will be something not likely to be fixed soon. Even 311 calls to get the downed powerlines that have been knocked out for over a month have not yielded results.

Patient coyotes of the Great Trinity Forest on a quiet and methodical stalk of their prey through the undisturbed wetlands of Dallas

In the early part of the last century George Dorsey(1868–1931) from the Carnegie Institution in Washington DC recorded a collection of Caddo mythology stories. At that time the Caddo had long since been moved to Oklahoma from their traditional lands in East Texas. Dorsey realized way back then that the stories and traditions of those native tongues would likely vanish. Among the vast collection are stories named "Evening Star and Orphan Star,""The Boy Who Married a Mountain Lion," "Coyote and the Six Brothers," "Lightning and the People," "How the Buffalo Ceased to Eat Human Beings," and "Why Hawks Have Thin Legs."

Most of those stories have no bearing to modern Texans. They might glimpse the tail of a retreating coyote or maybe the distant call of a hawk. Frankly few places still exist where one can see animals of such mystique behave as the First Texans once did. Those Caddo stories are not about people. They are about the animals themselves.

The coyotes own this land. They run, manage and decide who stays, who goes. I imagine I must meet their muster as I often find myself within a distance so close to them that my camera will not focus for being under the designed minimums of the lens.

Red Tailed Hawks along the Trinity River upstream of the Sylvan Ave Bridge

Our city forefathers spent the better part of the last century killing out a good part of the natural world they knew down here. A process of rearranging nature to suit the hand of man. Fair enough. I imagine those old Indian tribes if given a bulldozer and a chainsaw would most likely do the same.

Those old animal stories though, well, they still ring true today. Given enough time and enough human neglect the Trinity River has reclaimed much of what was wrecked and ruined in the last century. A post World War Two generation of man skipped over this place and let it go back wild.

Few things on two legs and without feathers get down here. Some special places where the human is the unexpected outsider and where animals often challenge a man to find somewhere else to spend a Saturday afternoon.

It all comes full circle back to those old Indian tales. That vague feeling of being on equal footing with what many would consider small varmits living on the margins.

A young coyote quietly approaching a flock of birds from down wind in low swamp brush

The Caddo language calls them ta shah. The coyote. The coyote is also represented in many morality tales as an example of a trickster and liar. The stories that make up the Caddo mythology attempt to answer questions about the world, teach lessons and simply to entertain. Some of the more popular stories that explain the world are about how death came into the world, the creation of a sacred spring and the flooding of the earth. Moral lessons are taught using the stories of the twin heroes named Thunder and Lightning.

A coyote stalking prey along a trail marked by Master Naturalist Bill Holston in the background

The voice of those ancient stories still ring true today. In the Great Trinity Forest, in the heart of a city, where one can find the terror and wonder of a coyote pack sniffing and walking over your own footprints laid minutes before. I thought their eyes might be larger than their mouths. Their quiet thousand yard stares were more geared toward quarry one hundred yards distant.

Whitetail Buck in velvet, Great Trinity Forest, Dallas, June 2013

The browsing habits of a Whitetail buck is what held their attention. Mine too. A rare sight for Dallas, the deer population is making a very slow recovery and a move up into East Dallas by way of wildlife corridors on White Rock Creek. Detrimental poaching activities which the city could easily address go largely unchecked down here. Hunting deer using hog dogs and cruel snare methods are a poor way to hunt and should be openly ridiculed by those at city hall.

It's hoped that whatever plans and designs are on tap for the second Trinity River golf course planned for this area in the last 50 years that accommodation will be made for the wildlife that already call it home.

This time of year the rich groundcover serves not just a unique foreground for a rising anvil headed thunderstorm some miles distant but also serves an an incubator of sorts for amphibians and crustaceans. The moderate late spring rains send water into these low areas allowing tadpoles and small crawfish an area to mature.

White Faced Ibis feeding in the immense flooded grass flats of the Great Trinity Forest

The tropical birds know all to well what feast awaits them in the shallows here. Those same birds that move up from the far flung places we Texans know as resort destinations, the Yucatan, Belize, the rain forests of the Amazon. Here in Dallas they feel right at home. What small Dallas county remanent left of a once immense bottom land that once reached clear to the Gulf of Mexico. Few such places exist these days. With the rarity of this type of land comes the loss in population of such birds. The White Faced Ibis is so few in number here in Texas now that the over-summering population here in the Great Trinity Forest most likely represents a notable percentage of the entire population. Bird minded folks always seem to flood me with email when I see the White Faced Ibis down here, especially when they have juveniles in tow.

White faced Ibis taking flight after seeing the coyotes

I imagine an Ibis would not have much of a taste to it or much nutritional value. The coyotes might have flushed the birds just for the sake of flushing. Just out of view and behind a small batch of willows the four coyotes converged on that flock. Hoping for what, I do not know. The tricksters.

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

Many of the birds this time of year are in full breeding plumage. The neon colors of their feathers and beaks really show in strong daylight. Birds that many see as plain vanilla this time of year have colors bolder than any running shoe.

All the birds featured here all feed directly from the Trinity River in the flats, flooded marshes and swamps that pepper the landscape of central Dallas in late spring.

Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)

 This past winter did not bring the large flooding rains needed to send bait fish and fry into many of the old swamps and oxbows where these birds feed. Sort of slim pickings this year in places that are traditionally the Golden Corral buffets of fish for wading birds.

Unknown what impact this will have on the traditional migration of Wood Storks and Spoonbills to the DFW area.

Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor)

Juvenile Little Blue Heron

White Ibis fishing out the last puddle of water between the Corinth Viaduct and Santa Fe Trestle Trail, June 2013

Many of the wading birds in Texas are specialized in some hunting method that sets them apart from the rest. While flood water might not have moved in baitfish for consumption, the jack of all trades White Ibis and Snowy Egrets seem to have a niche in the flooded cover down here. Found up and down the Trinity River they can often be spotted close to Downtown if you peer over the bridges. About the size of a chicken the round birds are impressive to watch as they feed in organized groups.

Moving further down the river is where they really shine. This time of year when some of the areas hold small frogs and crayfish the birds attack with zeal. A hard rough cuss of a place to visit. Hard to get down there, hard to get through the woods, hard to move through all the detrius of the swamp and work up the nerve to stand in it, knee deep.

White Ibis

In the video above filmed entirely in Dallas, watch how the White Ibis and Snowy Egrets work in a coordinated flock eating frogs and small crayfish as they go.


Under the gathering clouds and electrifying claps of thunder a nearby storm does not even register with these birds. The ibis seem to serve as the bartender of the swamp, stirring up the bottom of a mix that brings prey to the surface. The egrets need to only follow the leader.


On their own, the egrets shake their feet methodically under the water hoping to stir food to the surface. Neither species of bird grips prey to any extent with their feet, all food is caught with their beak.


The off colored Ibis above is a juvenile White Ibis and has mastered the art of foraging for it's own food.



Many wonder if these sites will soon be a thing of the past. Killed off once by an ever expanding city and then left to regenerate without any help from man, this area now faces the very real possibility of being bulldozed for a new purpose. The bells still toll for one and all  -- and God knows for the land.