Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A large informative map detailing the various trails in the preserve is adjacent to the entrance of the
education center. For this trail, combine the 0.3-mile Trinity River Trail with the 0.65-mile Forest
Trail. You can easily add on the interconnecting 0.4-mile Overlook Trail, hiking up a small hill to take
in a blufftop view from the preserve's tallest point, and the 0.9-mile Wetland Trail and 0.5 mile Prairie
Trail, which together wind through several ponds frequented by a variety of ducks and egrets.
Enter the education center, where you'll pass an information desk and classrooms plus a large open
lecture room, and exit through the glass doors in the rear. The trailhead begins on the boardwalk over
the appropriately named Trailhead Pond, the junction for several trails. Veer right onto the Trinity
River Trail, heading away from the pond and into the open prairie. At 0.15 mile the trail splits. Bear
left into the forest and wind under the dense overstory of ancient oaks to a rustic wooden fence, where
you can take in the view of a bend in the Trinity River. Turn around and head back to the spot where
the trail splits. This time go straight onto the Forest Trail. You'll pass three large ponds in an open
prairie where birders like to look for birds resting on tree limbs above the grasses.
The trail continues toward a wooded area and loops around two smaller ponds. Snakes sometimes
rest on and alongside the trails, so keep an eye on the trail even as you look up to spot birds. Don't
wander off the well-marked trail—poison ivy grows rampantly in these woods. The Forest Trail loops
around back to the junction with the Trinity River Trail, so simply wind your way back to Trailhead
Pond.
If time permits, head over to the lookout platform across from the center and check out some of the
other trails. Otherwise, head back through the center and exit to the parking lot. On the south side of
the building, a large bank of solar cells helps power the preserve's utilities and educational markers ex-
plain various ways to minimize human impact on the earth's resources.
