WHITE ROCK CREEK TRAIL

Vital to the overall trail system, the oldest and best connected trail in the city, the White Rock Creek Greenbelt Trail (as it originally was called) was the first major trail in Dallas, built in 1982 as mitigation to a sewer line project along the White Rock Creek.

Since we last covered the trail network plan in the March 2009 Advocate, proposed connections have materialized. Now users, once they hit treeshaded White Rock Creek Trail, can traverse more than 35 miles of uninterrupted terrain. White Rock Creek Trail proper’s 7.5 miles link several parks that make up the greenbelt — Olive Shapiro Park, Fair Oaks Tennis Center and Flag Pole Hill, to name a few. Central to the trail is, of course, the all-accommodating and beloved Harry S. Moss Park in the Lake Highlands area. White Rock Creek Trail links, southward, to the 9.2-mile loop that circles White Rock Lake (and White Rock Lake Trail connects to the Santa Fe Trail, p. 43, that links to Deep Ellum and the planned Loop, p. 47). In the opposite direction, trail users can follow the winding concrete path underneath Greenville Avenue to the Cottonwood Creek Trail, p. 45, which dips under the High Five interchange, extending to Richardson’s trail network. Plans to connect other trails, such as the Lake Highlands Trail to the White Rock Creek Trail, are underway. The stretch is popular with cyclists, due to the uninterrupted flow and commuter potential, though on certain park-side sections that are popular with preoccupied parents, toddlers and tiny tricyclists, caution is advised.