As landscape architects, we are inspired by the place that we live and work. The popular image of Dallas is a highway-centric city, but we know that it is a much more layered place. At Studio Outside, we are interested in exploring the city we inhabit and finding new and exciting places to discover. As a former Outsider used to say – "Get Outside Now!" To experience the city, we meet after work or on the weekend and go for short hikes in and around Dallas. We do this not only to share time outside together but also to celebrate that there is nature worth visiting and exploring in the city that is so often overlooked.
We started close to our office and met on a Friday afternoon (our office closes at noon on Fridays!) at the Piedmont Ridge Trail in Pleasant Grove. This trail follows the White Rock escarpment and is said to be the remnant of a trading and traveling route used by the Comanche people before European settlement in the area. Due to the unique topography and geology, the trail has many interesting plants and great views of the city beyond the sprawling Great Trinity Forest, one of the largest urban bottomland hardwood forests in the US at over 6,000 acres. It was a great hike, and we even saw a coyote!
Several of our next hikes were further afield. We traveled down to the John Bunker Sands Wetland Center on a cold, blustery morning to try to see a baby Bald Eagle! While we failed in spotting the eaglet, we did see its parents, many other waterfowl, and various other flora and fauna. The wetland center is an example of a constructed water cleansing system that is doing amazing work and modeling an alternative approach to sustainable water management in Texas.
Another memorable hike was at the Goat Island Nature Preserve in southern Dallas Country. The loop trails in the preserve offer the opportunity to follow the Trinity River, explore floodplain forests, look out from the old farm levee, and even get down to river level and see the remnant dam structure from when it was decided that the Trinity River should be navigable from Houston to Dallas….it didn't work. Listen to this great episode of 99% INVISIBLE to learn more about the proposed Port of Dallas. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/port-of-dallas/
Other hikes and outings have included:
• Downtown Dallas New Urban Parks – Pacific Plaza, AT&T Discovery District, and West End Square.
• Texas Buckeye Trail to see the rare Texas Buckeye in bloom on the banks of the Trinity River.
• Studio Outside's landscape at the New Parkland Hospital and the UT Southwestern Medical Center Rockery to see the recently hatched herons and egrets!
Future Hikes and Outside Adventures planned for this fall:
• Grapevine Lake Day, Cedar Hill Preserve, & a Studio Outside Camping trip in October!
Where else should we hike in and around DFW?
Interested in joining one of our hikes? Apply for one of our open positions today! careers@studiooutside.us