Dallas Fun: Spring Creek Nature Area

Four years ago I ran the White Rock Half Marathon. I was fully one of those running “crazies” and had two training buddies. We spent months together, pounding pavement. We also became incredibly good friends, as sweat + talking + predawn workouts will do wonders to form relationships!

Anyway, time passed and almost-four kids later, I miss both being athletic and my running buddies. We try to do playdates often as our boys enjoy spending time together, but we moms love to chat and we are used to doing that in motion. We haven’t gotten the memo of having kids on the same timeline so someone is usually pregnant or has a newborn, limiting our athleticism.

Enter our favorite secret spot for stroller walks- Spring Creek Nature Area. There’s an easily accessible parking area off Renner & 75 in Richardson. We meet in the morning and coax the kids into strollers with snacks and sippys. There’s several winding loops through the park. In fact, the first few times we went it felt kind of confusing, though the trails are marked. The trails are full of wildlife, there were butterflies everywhere a few days ago. My oldest likes all the bridges and underpasses. Also… the beloved Dart Train goes right through, for bonus cool-mom points. The trails have just finished completion and are all in great shape. For bigger kids not in strollers, it would be a great location for a nature scavenger hunt. There’s also picnic tables back along the trails and plenty of trash cans.

The trails have had a lot of bikers. The bikers use polite calls (“on your left!”) to alert you and we’ve enjoyed sharing the trails with them. My favorite part is that the trails are wide enough for two moms pushing double strollers to walk next to each other. So nice to not have to watch for cars like you do in the neighborhoods.

If you choose the trail that leads under Plano Road, it spits you out by Foxboro Park. It’s been freshly remodeled since that review and there are also restrooms there. It makes a great turn-around point to let wiggly kids out for a break.

We really love playing out at Spring Creek- it’s one of those great areas that makes you feel like you are somewhere much farther away from a bustling metropolis.

Go get outside this weekend before it starts to be full-on Dallas summer!

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Lisa is a native Houstonian transplanted to Richardson. She met her husband of 7 years, Clint, at Texas Tech. They spend their time wrangling two little guys Jack (May 2009) and Kyle (Sept 2011). She is a speech-pathologist by trade but has been given the gift of staying at home- trading scrubs for yoga pants, domesticity, and days at the park. Her favorite thing to do is watch her boys explore their world and shred away her girlieness with sirens, trains, and pirates. She loves every part of being a mom, even with things are crazy! Read more of her story on her blog or keep up with her on Twitter.