Photo by Nathanel Desmeules via Unsplash.
About four miles of mountain bike trails are planned for a new, 50-acre park located a mile south of White Rock Lake.
The trails will be built in Creekside Park, which will surround a section of the north phase of the Trinity Forest Spine Trail (map here). They will be the first natural-surface trails built in Dallas in more than a decade, said Sean Laughlin, the director of development for the Dallas Off-Road Bicycle Association, a nonprofit that manages and maintains more than 200 miles of trails in North Texas, including those at the Oak Cliff Nature Preserve.
DORBA and The Loop Dallas, a 50-mile trail system being built by the Circuit Trail Conservancy, are leading the project. Colorado-based Singletrack Trails was selected to design and build the trails, which will be maintained by DORBA’s volunteers, according to a press release.
Trails built by Singletrack are designed with a focus on sustainability and maintenance, making it easier for volunteers to repair damage to the trails.
“To put this park into national perspective: Because of The Loop Dallas trail and the location of Creekside Park one mile south of White Rock Lake, more people are within 10 miles of this mountain bike trail system than live in the entire state of Wyoming,” Philip Hiatt Haigh, the executive director of the Circuit Trail Conservancy, said in a statement. “With unprecedented access to this population center, most of the trails will be for entry-level mountain-bike riders and children, making the sport accessible to a new and broad audience.”
Creekside Park won’t be the only Dallas park with mountain bike trails. On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council authorized a 10-year agreement with DORBA to allow the nonprofit to fund, develop, operate and maintain off-road bike trails across the city, including at L.B. Houston Park, Boulder Park, Emerald Lake and Harry S. Moss Park.
