A very solitary spot in White Rock Lake Park and a prime bird-watching area in Dallas, this trail is bordered by the dam and historic pump station on the east, Winsted Park on the west, TU Electric towers on the north and the spillway on the south.
The electric towers are home to the bright green Monk Parakeets, who build their nests in the wires. It’s nice and toasty up there! If you have never seen these birds, it is almost shocking the first time. You feel like someone left the cage doors open at an exotic pet store. (You can also see these birds along the Katy Trail, just south of Knox Street.)
The spillway has flocks of egrets congregating. The Texas Master Naturalist program brings participants to this spot for the bird watching!
Hikers and dog-walkers use a network of trails in the heavily wooded area. Concrete chutes remain, once used to dump fish into 26 1-acre ponds. They were then harvested to stock the lake beginning in 1930. Some of these ponds still hold water and you can see turtles of all sizes sunning on logs in nice weather.
With the upcoming ELDOA 1-2 Intensive seminar Legacy went to scout and photograph hiking and running trails along the new Trinity River Corridor Project located just behind the hotel location- Hilton Anatole. Look for photo uploads and trail information in future nature-outdoors posts.