SANTA FE TRAIL

The trail was built in 2000 with funding from the city, county and Texas Department of Transportation, and its pavement overlays the former train tracks that once carried the Santa Fe railroad. It begins just east of Deep Ellum, continues north past Woodrow Wilson High School, through the heart of East Dallas, crosses underneath Grand and eventually connects with the west side of the loop trail around White Rock Lake.

The 12-foot-wide concrete trail is ideal for a bikers looking to cycle their way to downtown Dallas, or a runner who wants to take in the sights and sounds of the neighborhood before making it to White Rock Lake.

Sopac Trail

In addition to connecting with the loop trail around the lake, the Santa Fe also links with a segment of the SoPac Trail, which extends all the way to Cottonwood Trail on the north side of I-635.

The Park Department's Peter Bratt says a plan is in the works to build the White Rock Creek Trail South, which would extend from the Santa Fe Trail south to the Trinity Audubon Center Trail. It is part of an ambitious plan that would link all of the city's major pedestrian arteries that will only be possible if funding is secured (see more on p. 47).

—STEVE DICKERSON

The SoPac Trail eventually will lead users to the existing White Rock Creek Trail and White Rock Lake Trail and then run north along to a location near Trammel and Fisher. Along the way it will connect to Katy Trail and the Dixon Branch Trail by utilizing the old Union Paci fic Railway line. The final vision for the pathway is a 7-mile segment of planned trail running through East Dallas that eventually stops a round Central Expressway. The SoPac Trail corridor primarily passes through residential neighborhoods on its route to the lake. The trail sho uld be complete by the end of next year.