Rail lines have been repurposed. Paths have been cut through forests. Trails have been stitched together by bridges and connectors. For decades, cities across DFW have been building and connecting hike-and-bike trails to make the great outdoors accessible to everyone.

Now the 66-mile DFW Discovery Trail is set to be completed as soon as 2024, linking up Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, and Grand Prairie with one long ribbon of hard-surface pathway.

The trail got its name in 2022 when the North Central Texas Council of Governments asked the public to vote for a name online. DFW Discovery Trail beat out the DFW Trinity Trail in a 51% to 49% close call.

The Trinity River may not be in the name, but it’s definitely part of the trail. Some 710 miles long, it’s the longest river with a watershed entirely located in Texas—and its forks and main body meander their way through Dallas-Fort Worth. Parts of the DFW Discovery Trail follow along the Trinity at many key locations, including in downtown Fort Worth and downtown Dallas.

Regional transportation planners have called the trail a “super highway” for eco-friendly travel. It aims to alleviate traffic congestion, promote good health, and bring people together from communities throughout the region to share common bonds of fresh air, sunshine, and endless sightseeing along the way.

From west to east, the trail begins at Panther Island in Fort Worth (see next page). It weaves its way past Centreport/DFW Airport Station near the border of Arlington and Grand Prairie, then forks north through Irving and south through Grand Prairie. Those two forks reconnect close to the Denton to Dallas Regional Trail. A final stretch still to be completed will hook up with the Trinity Skyline Trail, offering striking views of both the river and the nearby Dallas skyline.

But even if you manage to travel every inch of the trail’s 66 miles, you’ll only scratch the surface of what the region has to offer in hike-and-bike trails. Most every city has its own trail network—and one of the most buzzworthy is The LOOP.

[The Loop]

A decade in the making, The LOOP is a 50-mile, $120 million urban bike trail that will circle Dallas’ urban core. Much of it is already finished, and when complete—possibly in 2026—The LOOP will be an endlessly flowing trail that all can claim as their own, home to a lifelong stream of bicyclists, joggers, and strollers.

In July, the Hi Line Connector—a one-mile stretch that takes people underneath I-35 and links the Katy Trail with the Trinity Strand Trails—opened to the public.

“A critical piece of The LOOP is the Trinity Forest Spine Trail, a nine-mile connection from White Rock Lake to the Great Trinity Forest,” said Philip Hiatt Haigh, executive director of the Circuit Trail Conservancy. Haigh says The LOOP will bring neighborhoods together “and make walkable, bikeable green space a strong part of Dallas’ identity.”

The story was first published in the DALLAS Newcomer & Relocation Guide, 2024 No. 2.

Get on the list.
Dallas Innovates, every day.

Sign up to keep your eye on what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, every day.