This practical guide takes readers to the best trails found in the Great Trinity Forest, all within easy reach of Downtown Dallas. Destinations include less traveled, low-traffic areas for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding in the City of Dallas. Joppa Preserve, McCommas Bluff Preserve, Trinity River Wetlands, Texas Horse Park, Dallas Trinity Paddling Trail, Lower White Rock Creek, Sycamore Dixon, Texas Buckeye Trail, Dallas Whitewater Wave, Levee Trails, Rochester Park and more.
Roseate Spoonbill at Lemmon Lake Joppa Preserve Dallas, Texas
Somewhat rare to see coastal birds such as the Roseate Spoonbill this far north in Texas. Exceptionally rare to see the Roseate Spoonbill inside the city limits of Dallas, within a large urban area. Hunted to near extinction in the early 1900s, the Roseate Spoonbill population dwindled to only 100 breeding pairs in Texas by the 1930s. Their striking pink feathers were popular on women's hats, and hunters from all over the United States competed for spoonbill plumes. In the early 1900s, roseate spoonbills began to recolonize areas along the Gulf Coast and slowly increase in number. Today, threats to roseate spoonbill populations come as a result of habitat loss. Even by 1979, their numbers had only rebounded to 2500 birds in the wild. Currently their numbers have rebounded substantially enough to be removed from Federal protection as an Endangered and Threatened species.
Lemmon Lake at sunset Joppa Community water tower in background
Lemmon Lake Wood Stork
The video clip below was filmed the evening July 3rd 2011 at Lemmon Lake:
As an older lake, over 120 years old, Lemmon Lake once served as a private fishing and hunting lake to well heeled Dallasites at the turn of the last century. Over time, the lake as slowly started to silt in creating an ideal shallow water environment for wading birds, alligators and snakes. Sightings of venomous snakes and alligators are common here.
The Roseate Spoonbill, Ajaja ajaja, (sometimes placed in the larger genus Platalea as Platalea ajaja) is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in South America mostly east of the Andes, and in coastal regions of the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and the Gulf Coast of the United States.
Spoonbills consume a varied diet of small fish, amphibians, aquatic invertebrates, and some plant material. They feed in the early morning and evening hours by wading through shallow water with their bills partially submerged. As a Roseate Spoonbill walks it swings its head back and forth in a sideways motion. When the bird feels a prey item it snaps its bill closed, pulls the prey out of the water, and swallows it.
Sunset over Joppa
Lemmon Lake is by far the single hardest body of water to reach on public property in Dallas. Remote not just in its geographical location but also in the way the forest has encroached on the lake itself. Triple canopy woods, briar patches, poison ivy clog any route to the shore. Once one gets within 100 yards of the lake itself one must navigate around swampy areas and a 30-50 foot buffer of reeds and cattails before getting an unobstructed view of the lake itself. Evidence of alligators from their tracks and wallows are everywhere in the cat tails. Great caution should be taken walking through this area. The reward of visiting such a place are encounters with birds and animals you will not see anywhere else in North Texas.
Evidence of animals in the shoreline reeds and cat tails can be seen in the photo below:
Lemmon Lake
Can you spot the coyote? I could not, till I accidentally spotted it while looking through the photos I took. Had no idea it was there.
A closer view of the same photo, coyote on shoreline in the right of the photo:
Alligator at Little Lemmon Lake near Trinity River Dallas Texas May 2011
Quite a bit of buzz lately about a near record size alligator that was killed in Leon County halfway between Dallas and the Gulf of Mexico. Dallas attorney Levi McCathern killed a rather large alligator weighing in at a claimed 880 to 900 pounds and 14 feet long(later revised by game wardens to 13 feet 1 inch, animal was seized by the State and those involved charged with a Class A misdemeanor). You can read the original story about it here prior to their arrest:
Texas Parks and Wildlife says that current record was set in 1998 outside of West Columbia, Texas at 14 feet 4 inches. The world record for the largest alligator was set in 1890 in Louisiana at 19 feet 2 inches. Texas doesn’t have records on file for alligators caught before endangered species protections were lifted here and hunting resumed in 1985, so it’s possible that Texas alligators used to be even bigger.
July 20 update to the original story above about the Dallas lawyer who shot the alligator on the Trinity River south of Dallas
A Dallas man and three fishing and hunting guides from Crockett have been charged with taking wildlife on private property without the landowner's permission following a state game warden investigation into the death of a 13-foot, 1-inch alligator killed in Leon County. Named in arrest warrants filed Tuesday were 42-year-old Levi McCathern of Dallas, the hunter who allegedly killed the alligator, and the three guides, Steve Barclay, 47; Sam Lovell, 56; and Ryan Burton, 21. Barclay and Lovell operate a guide business called the Gar Guys. The four men were expected to turn themselves in Wednesday at the Leon County Sheriff's Office in Buffalo.
State game wardens in Leon and adjoining Houston County began an investigation when a man who owns land on the Trinity River in Leon County reported that a large alligator had been killed on his property without his consent on June 11. He also said a second, smaller ‘gator was taken on his property the day before.
As part of their investigation, game wardens seized a 13 foot, 1-inch alligator and an 8 foot, 8-inch alligator.
Taking wildlife on private property without the landowner's consent is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $4,000, confinement in jail up to one year or both.
In addition, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will seek restitution for the two alligators, an amount likely to exceed $5,000.
The case was investigated by Game Wardens Oscar Henson and Logan Griffin of Leon County and Zack Benge and Eddie Lear of Houston County.
The ‘Gar Guys,’ Barclay and Lovell, are full-time, licensed, bow-fishing guides from Kennard. They specialize in guiding alligator and alligator gar fishing adventures. Their hunting ground runs mainly north of Lake Livingston to the Houston County area. Barclay and Lovell developed the nickname of the “Gar Guys” from a local fisherman who would see their choice of catch and say ‘oh here comes those gar guys.’ After making a 90 minute DVD/VHS video entitled “Let’em Roll” that featured daytime footage of three remarkable excursions in which the duo captured 19 trophy gar with four weighing over 200 pounds, the ‘Gar Guys’ became an overnight success and decided to turn their hobby into a permanent gig.
The American alligator, Alligator mississippiensis, is a rare success story of an endangered animal not only saved from extinction but now thriving and has made a tremendous come-back over the past 30 years. In 1969, Texas provided complete protection for the American alligator and classified it as endangered after passage of the Texas Endangered Species Act in 1973. Under this protection, along with Federally implemented regulations eliminating unregulated alligator hide markets in the United States, the species has made a full recovery and was delisted from the status of endangered in 1985. The alligator is now a protected game animal in Texas. Special permits are required to hunt, raise, or possess alligators.
The DFW area sits at the far northern edge of the range of the American Alligator as seen below
The winters in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex are right on the fringe of what an American Alligator can tolerate. The long periods of prolonged cold and hard freezes really reduce the ability of an alligator population to establish itself. They are still around in some numbers but lack the prolific population boom seen in some other sub-tropic transplants like birds and nutria. The only alligators I have seen here in Dallas are 2 1/2 to maybe 4 feet on the upper end.
In the past, large alligators in Dallas have made the news. In the 1960's JJ Lemmon the owner of a private hunting and fishing club on the Trinity River just south of Loop 12/Ledbetter shot and killed a large alligator at the lake that bears his name to this day:
Dallas Largest Alligator killed within the city limits
I believe this record stills stands for the Upper Trinity River, 9 feet 416 pounds. The article suggests that the alligator came up out of the Trinity River and into Lemmon Lake which sits directly off the main channel of the Trinity River.
Trinity River Alligator at McCommas Bluff Preserve Dallas
I have seen a handful of alligators in the named and unnamed ponds and small lakes that dot the Great Trinity Forest in Dallas. They are very elusive and very hard to spot since they are ambush predators and have a very low profile. I have always seen them near dusk and at quite a distance. The two photos I have posted here including the first photo and the one above are really the only two decent photos I have of Dallas alligators. The light is usually too low and they are too low profile to be seen much less photographed.
Dallas County has gone so far as to place warning signs at Little Lemmon Lake in Dallas and the Joppa Preserve Trailhead about alligators
Alligator warning sign at Little Lemmon Lake
American alligators normally avoid humans, but they can become perceived as a nuisance when they establish territories around people. As human populations in Texas continue to expand, there have been an increased number of encounters between people and alligators. Alligators have been known to prey on pets and must be treated with caution. Alligators can be surprisingly quick on land and are capable of running quickly over short distances.
Both Joppa Preserve and McCommas Bluff Preserve are in southern Dallas County north of I-20. An even larger population of alligators is said to exist in the Goat Island Preserve south of I-20, also in Dallas County.
Unknown to many, Dallas also has a special nature preserve in South Dallas County called the Palmetto Alligator Slough Preserve. It is currently off limits to the public due to the nature of the swampy terrain and extraordinary palm colony.
For the most part any hunting of alligators is against the law here in Dallas County. The TPWD has strict guidelines on hunting alligators and requires a permit and adherence to strict rules.
Video of dead alligators on White Rock Creek in Dallas
In Dallas you are more likely to see a dead alligator or alligators like in the youtube clip above. This was filmed in mid-June 2011 on Lower White Rock Creek as it approaches the Trinity River. I believe the alligators became entangled in this soccer net and were unable to free themselves.
Read more about the Texas Parks and Wildlife Regulations on alligator hunting here:
I imagine if you are reading this you are not Jerry Jones attorney. You probably don't have the big bucks to hire a guide or a week to take off of your life to trackdown a big lizard to brag about. Have no fear! The Trinity River especially in Dallas has such a sorry reputation as a fishery that many people, the vast majority avoid it like the plague. As a result, many of the State water body records are easy to break, some for taking fish with a fly rod are wide open. The youth water body records for the Trinity River are almost wide open.
As you can see the record book is quite empty for the Trinity. Fish are quite abundant even between the levees near Downtown. While the fish are deemed to be inedible for health reasons, someone could easily set some records near downtown if they felt the urge.
Here are the official rules for submitting a record fish in Texas:
White Rock Creek runs south from Dallas' best-known land form, White Rock Lake. But for all the popularity of the old city reservoir, the creek that first had the name remains scarcely recognized. Once the water of the creek leaves the White Rock Lake Spillway in dramatic fashion it begins a slow and methodical march towards the Trinity River.
Texas Horned Lizard in Dallas at Devon Anderson Park
Piedmont Ridge Trail Lower White Rock Creek
Lower White Rock Creek, on its way to the vast hardwood bottoms of the Great Trinity Forest, runs nearly unknown through some of the city's best natural areas and most historic neighborhoods. This is the land that the Caddo and Comanche consider sacred ground. This is the land that sustained the first pioneers that settled Dallas. This is the land where Sam Houston and his men camped on the way to work a peace treaty. You do not have to look in a book or read accounts of the sites to imagine what it must have been like. Using these trails you can stand on the ancient sacred ground of the Comanche, wander across the old pioneer Beeman and Bryan homesteads, stand at the spring where President Sam Houston camped. All of it is still there, untouched. Dallas over the last century and a half grew up around it, oddly leaving it in it's original condition.
Purple Coneflower Echinacea purpurea (Asteraceae) in Lower White Rock Creek meadow
Video overview of trails:
The Lower White Rock Creek Trails are comprised of an ever expanding 4 mile soft surface trail network spanning three different City of Dallas Parks. JJ Beeman/Scyene Overlook on Scyene Road, Grover Keeton Park which includes Piedmont Ridge Trail and Devon Anderson Park south of Bruton Road. The JJ Beeman Trail starts near the corner of Lawnview and Scyene near the DART Lawnview Station and continues east to the Scyene Overlook. From there the trail roughly follows an Austin Chalk Escarpment high above the White Rock Creek Valley. One can see the VA Hospital in South Dallas, Duncanville, Hutchins as well as Downtown Dallas. The trail continues through Grover Keeton Park, up Piedmont Ridge, across Bruton and into Devon Anderson Park.
Scyene Overlook with view of Great Trinity Forest
JJ Beeman Trail Scyene Overlook Trail Junction
Piedmont Ridge Trailhead Grover Keeton Park
Access to the trails are easiest from the Grover Keeton Parking Lot on Jim Miller Road; Devon Anderson Park on Umphress Road or via DART on the Green Line to Lawnview. Scyene Overlook is also just a quick 15 minute or less ride from White Rock Lake.
White Rock Creek Trails Map --green dot notes Lawnview DART Rail Station on Scyene. Yellow dots mark formal trailheads for Scyene Overlook, Piedmont Ridge Trail and Devon Anderson.
Some sections of the trails feature steep switchbacks, loose rocks and off camber surfaces. Caution should be taken when hiking or mountain biking these areas. Technical climbs and descents along with some steep dropoffs warrant diligence if you are riding a mountain bike. Some sections will require dismounts by even experienced riders.
Devon Anderson Park sign noting distances to Comanche Storytelling Place .2 mile and one of the overlooks .4 mile.
Piedmont Ridge Overlook
Comanche Storytelling Place Devon Anderson Park Dallas, Texas
The Comanche Story Telling Place at Devon Anderson Park has been identified by the Comanche Nation as a sacred holy ground and has been identified as a candidate for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. The natural limestone shaped amphitheatre was believed to have been used by Native Americans in the area prior to European settlement. Gateway Park was also the site of an Indian Marker tree, over 300 years old that served as a guide to Native Americans in the area. This tree was lost in 1998 during a thunderstorm.
Video above features coyotes howling(turn up volume) at McCommas Bluff Preserve on the Trinity River May 7, 2011 at 6pm in Dallas. The coyotes were on the opposite bank of the river and just inside the treeline.Although coyotes are considered a nocturnal animal it is interesting to see and hear them during daylight hours. In this rather wild part of Dallas County, many animals considered nocturnal can be seen during the day. This is because of the remote environs in which they live. They rarely if ever see a human and as a result do not fear human interaction. McCommas Bluff served as a great backdrop to hear the coyotes since the 40 foot high walls of the bluffs magnified their howls, crys and bays.
Coyote or hybrid wild Coydog at Rochester Park Fall 2009
Howling is the main way for coyotes to communicate with others. While some people find it unnerving, this howl serves many purposes, none of which are malicious:
Coyotes are telling non-family members to stay out of their territory.
Family members howl as a means to locate each other within their territory.
Pups practice howling and can be very vocal in late summer as they attempt to mimic their parents.
When there is a potential threat towards the pups, the older coyotes will scatter throughout the area and howl in order to distract the threat away from the den site.
Mark Twain
The coyote is a long, slim, slick and sorry-looking skeleton, with a gray wolfskin stretched over it, a tolerably bushy tail that forever sags down with a despairing expression of foresakenness and misery, a furtive and evil eye and a long sharp face, with a slightly lifted lip and exposed teeth. He has a general slinking expression all over. Thecoyote isa living, breathing allegory of Want. He is always hungry, he is always poor, out of luck and friendless. The meanest creatures despise him, and even the fleas would desert him for a velocipede. He is so spiritless and cowardly that even when his exposed teeth are pretending a threat the rest of his face is apologizing for it. And he is so homely - so scrawny, ribby, coarse haired and pitiful".- Mark Twain
The coyote appears often in the tales and traditions of American Indian Tribes—usually as a very savvy and clever beast. Modern coyotes have displayed their cleverness by adapting to the changing American landscape. These members of the dog family once lived primarily in open prairies and deserts, but now roam the continent's forests and mountains. They have even colonized cities like Dallas, and are now found over most of North America. Coyote populations are likely at an all-time high.
Coyotes are typically most active at night and increased sightings can be correlated with the January thru February breeding season and during the fall months when pups leave the family unit to establish new ranges. Coyotes are most often heard howling or yelping during these times of increased activity. Coyotes mainly range along creeks, rivers and in wooded areas and are continuously relocating.
These adaptable animals will eat almost anything. They hunt rabbits, rodents, fish, frogs, and even deer. They also happily dine on insects, snakes, fruit, grass, and carrion. Because they sometimes kill lambs, calves, or other livestock, as well as pets, many ranchers and farmers regard them as destructive pests.
Coyotes are formidable in the field where they enjoy keen vision and a strong sense of smell. They can run up to 40 miles an hour. In the fall and winter, they form packs for more effective hunting.
Coyotes form strong family groups. In spring, females den and give birth to litters of three to twelve pups. Both parents feed and protect their young and their territory. The pups are able to hunt on their own by the following fall.
Coyotes are smaller than wolves and are sometimes called prairie wolves or brush wolves. They communicate with a distinctive call, which at night often develops into a raucous canine chorus.
Coyote behavior varies depending upon its environment. In the wild where they are actively hunted and trapped, coyotes are generally elusive. Near cities or in areas where hunting and trapping is not allowed, coyotes may be aggressive. In urban settings, they can lose their fear of people and may even threaten domestic pets. Although attacks on humans are extremely rare, there have been cases where coyotes have bitten people. As a result, people must be aware of their presence and take precautions to avoid conflict with them inside the Dallas city limits.
Texas Parks and Wildlife announced in April 2011, a new addition to the network of state paddling trails, the Dallas Trinity Paddling Trail. Ten miles in length, the trail will take users from Sylvan Avenue to Loop 12 through the heart of Dallas and the Great Trinity Forest.
The new canoe and paddling trail on the Trinity River will add to the 25 other paddling trails in the state. Eight of the twenty six trails are in the North Texas area and include trails in Arlington, Bridgeport, Grand Prairie, Lewisville and Rowlett.
Sylvan Avenue Boat Ramp, Trammell Crow Park Dallas, Texas
The Trinity River proper is created just north of Hampton Road in Dallas by a marriage of the Elm Fork and the West Fork of the Trinity. Below Dallas County, the East Fork merges with its sisters, leading to the obvious conclusion that the name "Trinity" derives from three rivers joining as one.
Sieur de La Salle
French explorer Sieur de La Salle called the Trinity "the river of canoes" because it was the major artery through the area for Native Americans.
The Trinity was officially named in 1690 by Alfonso de Leon, a Spanish officer who was sent to raid and capture La Salle's French colony on the Texas Coast.
Historian AC Greene wrote that since de Leon was 200 miles downstream from the three main branches, he could not have known they existed. The Spaniard actually called the river Rio de la Santisima Trinidad, meaning river of the most holy Trinity, probably, says Greene, because he crossed it on Trinity Sunday.
It was 150 years later that John Neely Bryan rode into the Three Forks region and looked down on the river from a high bluff that is now Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas. Bryan, the founding father of Dallas, thought the spot ideal for a city. He viewed the river which then flowed about where the triple overpass is situated as Dallas' link with the Gulf of Mexico. Thus did he envision Dallas as an inland port.
Mouth of White Rock Creek at Trinity River, Mile 8.5
That vision died. In 1852, Congress authorized a survey of the river, and an Army engineer's report the next year called the Trinity the deepest and least obstructed river in Texas. Navigation, it was predicted, was practical.
In 1868, a steamer called Job Boat One reached Dallas from Galveston. The trip took a year and four days, much of that time being spent clearing logjams. Other barges and steamers subsequently made the trip, but the northward expansion of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad slowed interest in Trinity River shipping until the late 1870's when dissatisfaction with railroad freight rates renewed interest in river shipping.
The great flood of 1908 forever changed the way citizens of Dallas viewed the river. Widespread flooding, loss of life and property prompted the government to add flood protection levees and channelization of the Trinity River from Bachman Lake to the Santa Fe Bridge south of Downtown.
In the ensuing years, Congress approved two more studies of Trinity River navigation. but it was not until 1965, when Lyndon B. Johnson was President, that the Trinity River Project was authorized for construction.
Initial estimates for the project exceeded $1.5 billion and included stream channelization for four parts of the river, a huge reservoir halfway down the Trinity and a pipeline to carry water from the reservoir back to Fort Worth. Much of this work never happened other than a turning basin for ships built on land now used for the McCommas Bluff Landfill.
700 miles in length, the Trinity River is the longest river wholly in the State of Texas. The Trinity has four branches: the West Fork, the Clear Fork, the Elm Fork, and the East Fork.
The West Fork has its headwaters located in Archer County. From there it flows southeast, through the man-made reservoirs Lake Bridgeport and Eagle Mountain Lake then flowing eastward through Lake Worth and then the city of Fort Worth.
The Clear Fork begins north of Weatherford and flows southeastward through man-made Lake Weatherford and man-made Benbrook and then northeastward, where it joins the West Fork near downtown Fort Worth and continues as the West Fork.
The Elm Fork flows south from near Gainsville and east of the city of Denton. The West Fork and the Elm Fork merge as they enter the city of Dallas and form the Trinity River.
The East Fork begins near Mckinney and joins the Trinity River just southeast of Dallas.
The Trinity then flows southeastward from Dallas across a fertile floodplain and pine forests of eastern Texas, many of which were settled during the period of the Republic of Texas. It flows onward south, into Trinity Bay, an arm of Galveston Bay, an inlet of the Gulf Of Mexico, near the town of Anahuac east of Houston.
Dallas Paddling Trail Map
The proposed Dallas Trinity River Paddling Trail will be 10 miles in length from the Sylvan Avenue Boat Ramp to the Loop 12 Boat Ramp. Crossing under 15 bridges along the way.
Trailhead location is at the Sylvan Avenue Boat Ramp:
Trail Description:The first 3.5 miles are inside the Trinity River Levees in what amounts to a man made ditch. There are very few areas to get out of your boat in this area since the banks are steep. The first real chance to get out of your boat if you wish is at the Dallas Wave, just past the DART Bridge. An information kiosk is planned for this location.
Past the Dallas Wave, the river is no longer in a man made channel. The trees are larger, banks easier to manage and you will see more wildlife. The mouth of Cedar Creek just above the Cedar Crest/MLK Bridge is a good spot to stop before continuing further. From that point forward you slip deeper into the forest where the city noise gives way to those of nature.
Past the 310 Highway Bridge it's possible to stop at the Buckeye Trail Overlooks and the mouth of White Rock Creek as you make your way to the Loop 12 Boat Ramp.
The current is usually quite slow, even when the river is high. Expect no more than 2mph of movement downstream. Since the wind is usually blowing from the south, you can expect a strong headwind which can impede your progress and lengthening the duration of the trip by a considerable amount.
In the summer, the best option for paddling the Trinity is to take short breaks under each bridge in the shade. Here you can look up at the resident Cliff Swallow communities that call the bridges home for the summer. At least one bridge also has a resident bat population. If you travel the river in the evening shortly before sunset you can see the bats leave their roosts for the evening.
There are not any good spots to bail the route early or ways to shorten the trip once you pass the Dallas Wave. The distance from the river to a nearby road that can be reached by private vehicle is over 1/3 of a mile in most cases and is not workable. Plan accordingly.
The Sylvan Avenue boat ramp is large enough to launch small boats, canoes, kayaks, small motorboats. Ample parking is available to park vehicles. No water fountains available.
Sylvan Avenue Boat Ramp
Note: As of this posting, the Trinity River is closed along a portion of the route between Sylvan Avenue and the Cedar Crest Blvd/MLK Bridge. This is due to construction safety concerns regarding ongoing bridge projects. The Calatrava Bridge at mile 1 and the Santa Fe Trestle Trail bridge at mile 3.5. The city cannot close the river itself to traffic.Just use caution when using the river in these areas.
Closure sign at Sylvan Avenue Boat Ramp(mile 0):
Calatrava construction(mile 1)
Warning sign on the river at upstream approach to Dallas Wave:
The signs above were originally placed along the river during the summer of 2010 when the Trinity River was originally moved from the traditional streambed for the coffer dam construction for the Dallas Wave/Standing Wave whitewater project. The signs as of April 2011 are still in place. Overhead construction for the Santa Fe Trestle Trail is ongoing in this area.
The route through this area is to stay on the left hand side, north bank as you approach the Dallas Wave. A bypass channel has been built into the Dallas Wave allowing for easier passage for non-surfing traffic. The south bank features a small landing above the Dallas Wave for portaging if one wants to go that route.
One of the largest Alligator Gar ever caught in Texas was landed on the Trinity River south of Dallas by Joseph Williams on April 14th. Texas Parks and Wildlife says that the "Garzilla" was caught alive, weighed and passed away despite attempts to revive it. This gar is a monster. One of the largest ever at 7 feet 9 inches long and over 200 pounds. In order to find certified scales large enough to weigh the alligator gar, they could only find a truck scale. The truck scale measures in 50 pound increments and while the record books will show it as an even 200, the alligator gar was weighed on a reliable but unofficial scale tipping 230 pounds.
Many biologists believe that overfishing and overhunting of the alligator gar on the Trinity River have severely impacted the size and population of the fish.
Joseph Williams with Trinity River water body record Alligator Gar 7' 9" 200+ pounds
The Trinity River is the longest river wholly within the State of Texas. 45% of all Texans get their drinking water from the Trinity River watershed. It's exciting to see such a large fish grow to such size in a river that humans have used and abused for so many decades.
TPWD staff with Garzilla the record alligator gar caught by rod and reel on the Trinity River
The alligator gar is one of the largest freshwater fishes in North America and is the largest of the gar species. Gars are slow growing fish, with female alligator gars reaching sexual maturity around age 11 and living to age 50. Male alligator gars mature around age 6 and live at least 26 years. Alligator gars commonly grow to a size of 6 1/2ft and over 100 lbs. But have been reported to grow up to 350 lbs. The largest recorded alligator gar comes from the St. Francis River, Arkansas in the 1930's, and weighed 350 lbs. The Alligator Gar above will easily break the State of Texas Trinity River water body record. What makes this gar exceptional is that the Alligator Gar Texas state record has stood for over 50 years.
Alligator Gar Atractosteus spatula
Alligator gars appear sluggish, however they are voracious predators. Gars are ambush predators, primarily piscivores, they lay still in the water until an unsuspecting fish swims by, and then lunging forward and lashing the head from side to side in order to capture prey. Many times gars will lay still at the top of the water for long periods of time, appearing to be merely a log. The alligator gars' diet consists primarily of fish. This gar is also known to prey on waterfowl and other birds, small mammals, turtles, and carrion. Alligator gars have been reported to attack duck decoys and eat injured waterfowl shot by hunters.
Due to its extremely large size, an adult alligator gar has few natural predators. Young gars are preyed upon by larger fish, but once they reach a size of about 3 feet their only natural predator would be an American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). The alligator gar is rare, endangered, and has even gone extinct from many of the outer areas of its range. Studies in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana have shown that the alligator gar is very susceptible to overfishing. It has been classified as rare in Missouri, threatened in Illinois, and endangered in Arkansas, Kentucky, and is soon to be in Tennessee.
Trinity River Alligator Gar research by TPWD indicates:
Alligator gar live beyond 50 years.
Alligator have a low natural mortality (less than 9 percent per year on average).
There are an estimated 9,200 alligator gar 42 inches or longer in the upper Trinity (from below DFW to Lake Livingston).
Estimated sustainable harvest from the Trinity would be about 400 alligator gar 42 inches or longer annually of which only 60 gar can be above 70 inches.
There appears to be very limited movement between coastal alligator gar and those within the Trinity River. This suggests that localized overfishing may be possible in high-use areas.
The estimated current rate of harvest for the upper Trinity is about 3 percent to 4 percent of the total population per year, which TPWD considers sustainable if recruitment is maintained.
In the Trinity it takes about three to five years for alligator gar to reach a length of 42 inches and 20 to 50 years to reach a length of 78 inches.
Video above features wildflowers growing along the top of McCommas Bluff, near a small chapel and a view across the Trinity River of the preserve, taken on April 9, 2011.
Small chapel among bluebonnets at McCommas Preserve
Access to the McCommas Bluff Preserve and trails have never been easier. In the week of April 3rd some mowing was done to the trail route from the terminus of Riverwood Road upstream to the Woodland Springs Creek area near the Dallas Audubon Center. This allows one to travel easily from Riverwood to Fairport road very easily. This particular trail can become quite overgrown by early May and the mowing will greatly help with keeping the trail open through Memorial Day.
More information about the location of McCommas Bluff Preserve and a trail map can be found in a previous post here:
The evening of April 4th, 2011 marked the first time since the completion of the Dallas Waves aka the Trinity River Standing Wave that it faced total inundation by the Trinity River. The coffer dam was removed in late December of 2010. Since that time the Trinity River watershed above the project has not received enough rainfall to submerse the site. I was half hoping to see gigantic rooster tails of deadly whitewater similar to what one might find on the Colorado in the Grand Canyon. No such luck. I imagine there must be a sweet spot around 1000cfs where the river is the most surfable.
Park is set to officially open in early May 2011. Another project on the same site, the Santa Fe Trestle Trail will allow bike and foot traffic a place to cross the river. It has a planned opening in the Fall of 2011 with improvements to Moore Park on the Oak Cliff side of the Trinity River.
Dallas Waves, Trinity River as viewed in a dry state 3 days before Trinity River returned to normal bed
I have casually followed the project since it was nothing more than a set of survey stakes hammered into the ragweed along the bank of the river in June of 2010. I visited the site numerous times over the course of the summer because it afforded an easy place to cross the river via mountain bike when I was out on training rides along the levees.
Location:
Currently one can reach the Dallas Waves, Standing Wave from either the north or south levee of the Trinity. Seems that most visitors prefer the Oak Cliff or south side since it can be reached by parking at the Corinth DART Rail Station or on the gravel access road near the construction site. Most of the amenities like put-in ramps, take-outs, viewing area etc are on the Oak Cliff side of the river.
The other access point is via the north side of the river where Riverfront (Industrial) Blvd dead ends at a gate. Walk from there.
Both entrances are roughly the same distance from the river. The Oak Cliff side offers a better view of Downtown and easier access to the river.
Old AT&SF bridge with DART bridge behind it prior to construction June 2010
By July of 2010, a diversion channel was built to detour the Trinity from its bed to allow an in-channel set of obstructions that are designed to create a "standing wave".
Cofferdam in place
Diversion Channel of Doom
When the water was diverted out of the old Trinity River Channel it created a slightly narrower, steeper, rocky version of the old bed. The result spelled doom for some inexperienced river goers who had rented some canoes earlier in the day. I believe there were a couple of superficial injuries and some finger pointing between the city, contractor and the canoeists in regard to liability and overall safety.
In the video above the water does not look too dangerous until you realize it's only a couple of feet deep and armored with sharp rocks.
Temporary construction bridge over diversion channel prior to river being diverted
A bone dry Trinity River bed
November 2010
December 2010
Trinity River Standing Wave with cofferdam 25 percent removed in December 2010. During a "normal" flow, the structure looks just like the video above.
