Birding and trails go hand in hand, and is a great outdoor activity for social distancing. Dallas is recognized as a "Bird City Texas" by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Audubon. With a wide variety of trail types and different habitat types found throughout the city, you never know exactly what you will find. So download a bird field guide app on your phone, grab some water, and your binoculars, and head out to one of Dallas' scenic trails.
While out on your birding adventure, please consider recording your observations in the eBird or iNaturalist apps on your smart device. These observations help natural resource managers monitor for species diversity and unique species showing up in the area. In iNaturalist, community scientists have recorded over 280 species of birds in Dallas. Remember, take photos but do your best to not disturb the birds. October and November are some of our best months to get out and see some really beautiful birds and trails!
Here are some top picks of trails from around Dallas to check out for birding:
- White Rock Creek and White Rock Lake Trails—These two paved, hard surface trails follow the riparian area along the creek, and the around the forests and prairies associated with White Rock Lake. Over 200 bird species have been recorded in this area, can you help us add to that number?
- Trinity Skyline Trail - Beginning at Trammel Crow Park you will have a beautiful view of Downtown Dallas. The trail will lead you past some wetlands that tend to hold a lot of shorebird type species. Currently this is a 4.6 mile hard surface trail
- AT&T Trail and Trinity Forest Trail - This 8.1 mile, hard surface trail will take you through bottomland hardwoods near the Trinity River Audubon Center. Many different species of forest and wetland birds to be found along this trail.
Want to get a little more adventurous? Try this nature trail:
- Cedar Ridge Preserve - Managed by by Audubon Dallas has ~6 miles of hiking trails. This area is similar to being in the Hill Country. This trail system is extremely popular and can get crowded on the weekends, plan accordingly.
