Packrafting The Trinity River Paddling Trail Out Your Own Backdoor -- From The M-Streets to The Audubon Center

Floating the rain swollen Trinity River under the towering cottonwoods and pecans of the Great Trinity Forest just downstream of White Rock Creek in Dallas, Texas September 21, 2013

Hurricane Ingrid Track from NOAA

Earlier in the week and some thousand miles to the south, Hurricanes Ingrid and Manuel slammed the Central Mexican coasts along both the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific. As the storms moved into the interior that tropical moisture funneled north via the annual monsoonal flow across the Southwestern United States and Texas.

Coupled with the approach of the first strong Canadian cold front, the tropical moisture created a much welcomed and widespread heavy rain event in the Upper Trinity River Basin of North Texas.

Hitting the river at the height of the flood

The Dallas Fort Worth area saw 3 to 6 inches of rain causing minor flash flooding and the Trinity River to rise some 15+ feet above normal. The average flow through Downtown Dallas is some 500-600 cubic feet per second, after the heavy rains the flow was ten times that, over 5,000 cubic feet per second.
Downstream, White Rock Creek, a tributary to the Trinity River, saw flows over 1,200 cubic feet per second below the White Rock Lake Dam. This translates into a faster speed of flow too, some two-to-three miles per hour.

With the river high and running fast, what better time to get out on the water. Even better, use specially designed lightweight whitewater-purposed packrafts and mountain bikes to make for an entire car-free adventure through the Great Trinity Forest and points beyond. Nearly all the photos here were taken inside the inner highway ring loop of Dallas, Texas known as Loop 12. The exception being a scant few photos taken while visiting Joppa Preserve and the Trinity River Audubon Center which sit a mere city block from Loop 12.

Paddling on the Trinity River in southeast Dallas under the massive twin I-45 bridges originally designed to accomodate barge traffic between North Texas and the Gulf Coast

A Float On The Last Day Of Summer
The trip down here hits a number of exceptional places to visit on the Trinity River in one of the largest urban parks in the country known as the Great Trinity Forest. Highlights included not just the grand spectacle of running the river. Anyone can do that. It's being able to fold in a connection to the people on the Trinity using them as a way to connect dots and relevance to a place that has no signs or guideposts. It's still amazing to know that a six mile river float, a twenty mile bike ride, a visit to a world class Audubon Center, a pre-Columbian Native American site, a drink out of an ancient spring and crossing through the State Fair of Texas can all be done inside the city limits of Dallas.

Floating the Trinity River with the famous Texas Buckeye Grove commanding the view in the background

Off The Map Route
The ease of access afforded by not just floating the river but also traversing the woods by mountain bike allowed us to condense what would be a twelve hour canoe and hike into one that was a mere five hours. The luxury of not being tied down by a vehicle on the river means no shuttling, no backtracking, no waiting around and means you can go "the back way" at every turn. The road less travelled or no road at all. 26 miles altogether, much of it where no street address exists.

Paddling Portion
Paddling Route data can be found here:
Map route data Trinity River Paddling Trail Santa Fe Trestle to Loop 12

Six mile float route from the Santa Fe Trestle Trail down to Loop 12 and the Boat Ramp take-out

The route used for this trip follows the Main Stem of the Trinity River from the Santa Fe Trestle Trail at Moore Park, down to the Loop 12 Boat Ramp located at the Trinity River and Loop 12. It's a straightforward route that includes a number of historic sites, rarely seen bridges and wildlife.

Since the water was high, we were able to use the pack rafts to negotiate up the mouth of White Rock Creek to an area behind Big Spring at Mile 5, where Bryan's Slough/ Oak Creek joins White Rock. A rare treat to briefly paddle into the heart of the Great Trinity Forest.

Cycling Portion
Route data can be found here:
Map route data Trinity Forest Bike Trail Loop 12 to Trinity River Audubon Center

Four mile bike route from Loop 12 to the Trinity River Audubon Center

Packrafts make the trip possible

Getting ready to launch boats at the Standing Wave

It's packrafting, not canoeing. It's packrafting, not cycling. These are high performance boats and not pool toys, either. Hard to explain to us Texans as the lionshare of packraft users are high adventurers in the mountains of far flung continents, in desolate hard to reach places no one has ever thought to venture before. To some extent, the Trinity River fits into that. A true classic wilderness float with rarely another human seen the entire trip.

The first use of modern inflatable boats began in the mid 19th century, but the history of inflatable boats goes back much further. In fact, indigenous tribes around the world have, in past centuries, sought to use animal skins and inflated bladders to keep them afloat in the water. These rafts proved in a practical manner that you can fill a water resistant material with air and float the surface of the water.

The first use of inflatable boats was in 880 BC, when the king of Assyria used greased animal skins inflated with air to move his troops across a river. Other records of history show that during the Ming Dynasty in China, inflated skins were used for river crossings.

Peter Hackett's boat design used in the Canadian Arctic

In the 1840s, the army and several naval officers, including British Lieutenant Peter Hackett, developed inflatable boats specially designed for use in an Arctic exploration. In 1848, U.S. General George Cullum introduced an inflatable rubberized fabric that is used to some extent in the civil war. In 1866, three men crossed the Atlantic on a raft of three tube, the first transoceanic voyage in the history of the inflatable boat. It was shown that many of these inflatable boats were sturdy, reliable and worthy of further development.  Vulcanized rubber changed the history of rubber boats  In 1900, the manufacture of vulcanized rubber inflatable boat took to the next designs to the next level.

Modern day pack rafting via mountain bike in Dallas

The background of inflatable boats in the 20th century saw their use across a broad spectrum from saving many lives on the Titanic, to downed aviators during wars, to specially designed boats used in clandestine military operations.

The refined and contemporary design of modern boats used today allow for a lightweight and strong boat that can carry many hundreds of pounds of gear and equipment with the boat itself weighing around 6 pounds.




Alpacka Boats and Big City Bike Rafts

The boats used are Alpacka brand boats from Alpacka Raft Mancos, Colorado. They are the Rolls-Royce of adventure boats and are the worldwide standard for expedition travel where water crossings and remote water travel is required. With the Rolls-Royce quality, comes a Rolls-Royce pricetag to buy one. The boat, lifejacket and paddle can run $1000 and priced about the same as a traditional well made kayak or canoe. Well worth every penny.

Will Saunders

Those not wanting to fork over that kind of money for a boat can rent one from Will and Evan at http://www.bigcitybikerafts.com/. Dallas based near White Rock Lake, they'll rent you a boat and gear pretty cheap if you have something that you have been interested in trying.

I had been on a previous bike rafting trip down the river with Will, it started and finished from the Katy Trail Icehouse along the Katy Trail in Dallas. The writeup from that trip in February can be found here:  Bikerafting the Trinity River from the Katy Trail. He has some cool outside the box ideas on where to take these rafts around Dallas and could show you the in's and out's of how they work in just a few minutes. He is good people and has some real creative solutions to getting more people interested in the outdoors in Dallas.

If you want to read more about what these boats are capable of, source a book written by Jonathan Waterman and published by National Geographic called Running Dry: A Journey From Source to Sea Down the Colorado River. Jonathan Waterman used an Alpacka on his 1450 mile journey from the source of the Colorado River on the snowpack in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park all the way through Arizona's Grand Canyon and down to Mexico's Baja

Assembling The Boats

Putting the boats together and disassembling the bikes for the float downriver takes only a few minutes. Even without much practice, the assembly and inflation of a boat takes a blink of an eye. The boats don't use pumps for inflation, they use a pillow bellow system. Much like a pillowcase, you grab some thin air and simply squeeze the air into your boat. Simple by design and allows for rapid inflation.


















Taking the bike wheels off and securing to the bow of the boat takes another few minutes. A 25 pound mountain bike weighs very little in a relative sense. The boats are capable of carrying a field dressed elk, moose or bear out of a boundary wilderness area, a bike cargo is nothing compared to that. The trick with a bike is to make sure all the sharp points of the pedals and cranks do not contact the boat.

This could easily be done with a road bike or any other bike that allows for wheels to be taken off. We were all using the larger 29" wheeled mountain bikes and everything fit aboard with room to spare.

The oars break down into 4 parts and the stuff sack for the boat serves as a dry bag when on the water.





With quick assembly and a recheck of gear, safety chat and route plans, it was time to hit the water.

Our group of four was rounded out by Brendan and John. Brendan has prior experience on the Trinity River upstream the previous year and in heavy thunderstorm conditions.
 





A note on safety and self-rescue:
I would recommend first time river runners on the Trinity to use a guide or organized group outing with experienced friends who know the ins-and-outs of the river. Makes for a much more enjoyable float. Launching on the fast running and swift rain swollen Trinity is an exciting trip but one I would suggest only for more advanced paddlers in excellent physical condition.

Looks can be deceiving with obstacles just under the surface. With an extra 10-15 feet of water in the river and 10 times the volume of flow, many of the snags and obstructions, actually all of them, were unseen. Made for a beautiful float as not a car tire or piece of trash was seen on the bank. Also makes for very difficult conditions if problems crop up.

Putting Afloat On The Dallas Trinity River Paddling Trail
The Dallas Trinity Paddling Trail is one of 57 Texas Paddling Trails that dot Texas. Half a dozen of which are in the Trinity River basin. More information can be found on the TPWD Paddling Trail Website

Putting in at the Standing Wave 32°45'9.26"N, 96°47'26.43"W is a breeze using the ingress and egress ramps used for portaging around the river obstruction there. A concrete ramp leads from the sidewalk right into the water. Before you know it, you are away.

Just downstream from launching at the Trinity River Standing Wave, Will and Brendan pass the mouth of Cedar Creek

Just downstream from the Standing Wave is the mouth of Cedar Creek 32°45'5.08"N,  96°47'17.34"W. Most know it as the creek that flows through the Dallas Zoo. Where this creek meets the Trinity River(river right) a small fort once stood, built by the Army of The Republic of Texas during the expedition to scout a Military Road from Austin to the Red River. I-35 now follows that route.

Under the MKT Bridge downstream

The old Katy railroad bridge 32°45'0.06"N ,  96°46'38.94"W dates supposedly to 1905 and is one of the oldest railroad bridges still in operation over the Trinity River, if not the oldest. Few ever see this bridge. Tucked away behind a few bends in the river it stands virtually hidden to the river beyond. From this point on, save for a few freeway overpasses, the city that surrounds the river is silent. The river and the 4000 acres of trees that surround it soak up noise like a sponge

P&G Plant Pumphouse, lower intake of structure is submerged in the photo

Photo from 2012 showing the low water view

The Proctor and Gamble Pumphouse 32°44'55.95"N, 96°46'33.35"Wsits some 500 yards south of the Proctor and Gamble Plant on Lamar in South Dallas. Built in 1919, the plant was constructed at the vital crossroads of two major railway lines and in close proximity to the Trinity River. The two story structure here served the purpose of providing cooling water to coal fired boilers behind the plant and also non-potable water use not involved in the production process. By the time this pump was operational, new standards for sanitary disposal of wastewater were law. Pumphouses such as this can only lift water in feet height equal to the atmospheric pressure in water, 34 inches, which translates to 34 feet. Roughly the same height as this structure. This plant was modeled after a sister factory in Cincinnati on the Ohio River.

One of the many quiet sections of the Trinity River just south of Downtown Dallas where large tree canopies dapple the sunlight as the strong current gives us an effortless journey downstream

As one approaches I-45, the river picks up a little speed. Here the river drops a little more in elevation than other sections, thus speeding things up a little. During high water the extra speed is unnoticed, it's easier to see in normal conditions.

Approaching the twin I-45 spans over the Trinity River

The I-45 Bridge, built in 1971, was constructed with the belief that one day high profile barge traffic from the Gulf of Mexico might one day turn Dallas into an inland port. The Jefferson Street Viaduct near Downtown Dallas has the same elevated look to it. Beyond I-45 is Miller's Bend where the river nearly doublebacks on itself within a 1/3rd of a mile. Steeped in history and one of the more interesting places on the Trinity River.

Entering Miller's Bend

The namesake of the Miller's Bend is William B. Miller an early Dallas pioneer who made a lasting mark on much of Dallas as a whole. An enterprising businessman on the south bank of the Trinity, he needed a ferry crossing to reach Dallas. In turn, Dallas needed a reliable ferry crossing to reach Hutchins, Corsicana and points south. He owned and operated a ferry here for a number of decades beginning in the 1850s. Freedman Henry Critz Hines later ran the ferry through the 1870s. Miller's Ferry road still exists today in southern Dallas County and served as the piggybacked route for the first railroad, first highway and first interstate into Dallas. More can be read about the background of Miller's Ferry, the Native Americans and the bridge history here Miller's Ferry.


Conversation With The Jet Ski Guy On The Trinity River at Miller's Ferry

I would imagine that it has been awhile since riverine traffic has passed each other on the Trinity River in Dallas. One might need to go back a dozen decades to find the last time traffic passed each other here. What better place to have that happen than at Miller's Ferry.

In the distance, we hear the low hum of a boat, rounding the bend, just at the exact spot of historic Miller's Ferry is none other than the jet ski guy.

Like us, the man on the Sea-Doo was riding the crest of the recent rains. He told us that he lives near Ennis and was riding up the Trinity River all the way to Fort Worth! Pretty far.  He stopped to talk with us, inquiring about the height of the river at the Santa Fe Trestle and whether or not the "Dallas Wave" aka Standing Wave was inundated. He needed the water to be high so he could pass safely through. Answering in the affirmative, we chatted further.

Part Chuck Norris, part Kenny Powers, talking about Trinity River alligators at Miller's Ferry with the jet ski guy

I had previously seen the jet ski guy during high water back in 2012 at McCommas Bluff. There high above the swollen river, I saw two jet skiiers navigate over Lock and Dam #1 and head upstream. Robert Wilonsky at the Dallas Morning News wrote a brief about it here:
Raising Awesome Bar To New Level

The 2012 video is here:

 Fun to talk with someone like that as their experience on the Trinity is very parallel to mine yet seen from a different perspective. He spent a moment talking about an alligator recently not far from Downtown Dallas. His gestures suggested an alligator in the three foot range and in an area upstream of Lamar and south of Downtown. The alligator slid off the bank and into the water as he drove past.

The jet skier was headed for Fort Worth that day, we bid our goodbyes, he started his engine, we put paddle to water and just like that we were all gone from Miller's Ferry.

Floating under the old Central Exwy Bridge

Buckeye Trail vicinity on Trinity River

Beyond Miller's Ferry one floats through Rochester Park aka William Blair Park and some real wildscape areas known for the towering trees and native Texas Buckeyes. River right is the Wetland Cells, a Corps of Engineers partnership and part of the Trinity River Corridor Project. River left is the Buckeye Trail and network of trails that meander through the woods there towards the mouth of White Rock Creek.







White Rock Creek and Boating to Historic Big Spring

Will Saunders at the mouth of White Rock Creek, Trinity River in far background

With some nice high water we ventured off the Trinity River and headed up White Rock Creek aways. With great ease and a little paddling we reached the flooded mouth of Bryan's Slough also known as Oak Creek.

Up White Rock Creek from the Trinity River

The water is usually 2-3 feet deep, on this day it was 20 feet deep and we were paddling through the tree canopy.

White Rock Creek left, mouth of Bryan's Slough at right

A little further up the creek we reached Bryan's Slough. Banks were steeper here to the left with the mouth of the creek to the right. As proof of concept, we could have in theory paddled almost the whole way to Big Spring on Pemberton Hill.

Heading back down to the Trinity, on White Rock Creek

Bryan's Slough was the turnaround and we let the current drift us back down into the Trinity.

Scenic section of the Trinity downstream of the White Rock Creek mouth

Not much was said south of White Rock Creek. We just drifted along at a good clip, enjoying the shade of the trees and soaked it all in. Many canoeists face this straightaway as a curse. During normal slack flows and a strong south wind this section gives many a tough go of it. Not this day. It was cruise control.

Take out at Loop 12

At the Loop 12 Boat Ramp

Taking out at Loop 12 is fairly straightforward. A standard one lane boat ramp exists there with an interlocking paver design. The Loop 12 bridge does funnel the water to some extent making for some needed elbow grease to get into the ramp. Very easy. Taking apart the boats, re-assembling the bikes took only minutes. It was time once again to saddle up on bikes and head towards our next stop the Audubon Center.

The Great Trinity Forest Trail

A four mile paved trail was built in two phases, 2009 and 2012 between Loop 12 and the Trinity River Audubon Center. The bike path skirts Little Lemmon Lake, Lemmon Lake and a couple of unnamed ponds on the south side of the Trinity River. The concrete trail was built upon an old gravel road which once served private fish camps along the lakes when it was a private hunting and fishing club known as the Trinity River Rod and Gun Club.

The tall trees of Joppa Preserve near Lemmon Lake

We were able to see numerous birds at Little Lemmon Lake including shore birds and a rare White-Faced Ibis listed as a Threatened Species. Interesting to see.

Trinity River Trail Bridge Crossing

The bike path crosses the river south of the Trinity River Audubon Center and about 200 yards upstream of the mouth of Elam Creek.

Trinity River Trail Phase II near the Audubon Center

Trinity River Audubon Center
North of the bridge, the trail is shade-free as it crosses through the old Deepwoods landfill east of the Audubon Center.

 

Trinity River Audubon Center

The Audubon Center sits in what one could call the middle of the Great Trinity Forest and it serves as a great educational primer to the woods and Trinity River Project. Lots of maps, lots of scale models and many hands-on exhibits to introduce children and adults alike to the Trinity River.

Will talking with Jenna Hanson Director of Education at the Trinity River Audubon Center

Jenna from the Audubon Center came out to speak with Will about the bike rafts and doing something with the Audubon in the future. Bike rafts might be a good fit for exploring the Trinity down here in the near future as more people visit by bike.

Brendan at the TRAC

The actual trailhead for the Trinity Trail is about half way down the Audubon drive, it has a dedicated parking lot, water fountain and trail kiosk. The Audubon Center is a separate facility and has it's own parking lot, operating hours and such. More information including exciting new programs including the Audubon's new river expeditions and birding by bike excursions can be found on their website: http://trinityriver.audubon.org/. They also offer Trinity River Bird Count field trips, which are probably the best way to venture into the Trinity with a group. The bird counts are free to attend and are safe as you are with a group.





Visiting Big Spring and Shooting The Breeze With Billy Ray Pemberton

Historic Big Spring in the Great Trinity Forest

Billy Ray Pemberton

We did not bother with filling water bottles at the Audubon Center. I knew a place just a five minute ride up the road where we could fill up, where the water was clean and cold. Big Spring.

We'd already had a great time meeting the jet ski guy, had the red carpet rolled out for us at the Audubon Center, how to top that?

Only one place to go, that's a visit to the Pembertons. We found Mr Pemberton on this stunning bluebird sky of a summer afternoon relaxing at the base of the ancient Bur Oak next to the spring. I imagine if anyone reading this had some magic place like this behind their home, you'd likely do the same. The sounds of the city disappear down here. It's often quiet enough to hear a bird's wings flap in passing or the sound of wind moving through a field of grass. It's an oh so rare refuge inside Loop 12.

Mr Pemberton welcoming the guys to Big Spring

Volumes could be written about the place. The water, the land, the trees and the deep history that reside here. Mr Pemberton's family has been on the land here since the 1880s. Before that the Beeman family and the founder of Dallas, John Neely Bryan lived here. Before that it was used by Native Americans for many many centuries as a water source. Their stone tools and artifacts can still be seen today.

An hour or two earlier we were not far from this spot, having paddled up White Rock Creek to where Bryan's Slough terminates. As Mr Pemberton explained the big floods over the years we mentioned how far up the creek we had come that day on the height of the water. I think we could have easily paddled here that day rather than ride, had the mood struck.

Billy Ray Pemberton telling the story about the Big Flood of 1908 and the walnut tree here that marks the high water mark

So much history sits here that it would take ten trips to soak up. Billy Ray gave us a short cliff notes on the place as we filled our water bottles, drank the water, then refilled again. Few Dallasites have seen what Dallas once looked like, before there was a Dallas. Few realize that some residents like Billy Ray still work the land, grow their own crops and eat the bounty that God provides. He lives it.

I have yet to find someone who does not come away with a deep and profound appreciation for Big Spring or the treasure of a man named Bill Pemberton. Put a smile on our faces the whole ride home.

Ride Up White Rock Creek to the M-Streets

Riding Samuell near Lawnview

The ride back was a breeze. We followed the hilly White Rock Escarpment up the east side of White Rock Creek along an area skirted by Jim Miller Road, Scyene and the Parkdale neighborhoods. Lots of good scenic rough hills in here, commanding views of Downtown Dallas and the streets are fairly low in traffic.

The Lower White Rock Creek Trails are better walked that ridden, rough entrances and trailheads are difficult to find and traverse Devon Anderson, Grover Keeton and Gateway Parks in this area. Out of the floodplain the trail is on solid limestone outcrops and features cedar trees for the most part.

I think the city is moving away from the idea of trails here, preferring to use a floodplain route they call the Arboretum-to-Audubon Trail. That would run closer to the creek and be more prone to extensive flooding.

Past the putting green of Tenison Golf Course

The last rise in the route was over the hills of Tenison Golf Course and the grind up La Vista through Lakewood Country Club.

From outward appearances we look like a group coming back from a casual concrete grind around White Rock Lake. The truth was we had come full circle with the ride here as we merged onto Skillman, reaching a point where we had been just five hours before.

Riding through Lakewood Village

Thanks again to Will Saunders of Big City Bike Rafts, Jenna of Trinity River Audubon and Mr and Mrs Bill Pemberton for their gracious hospitality. Great float, great ride, great people. I think that it's the people who make so much of these visits worthwhile and rewarding.

Natural Springs In Dallas -- Radiocarbon Dating One Of Texas Last Surviving Natural Springs

One of the few natural springs left in Texas and one of just a handful on public property, Big Spring is quickly becoming a focal point of intense study in the Great Trinity Forest. So much is yet to be learned about this natural spring that for every question and answer, another ten questions are spawned. The random guessing and hypothetical discussion of such a place has lately turned into a search for hard facts, scientific discovery and a determined goal for perpetual preservation.

Looking down into Big Spring

The unknowns of the place still vastly outweigh the knowns. How old is the spring, how old is the water, who lived here, who visited here, what's under the ground, how was the spring formed. Slowly some of those questions are being answered. It will likely take years to fully understand the place.

The search for answers is a fun project. With an average flow of 23 gallons per minute year round and water pure enough to drink, the Spring is a great outdoor classroom for not just children but adults too. Classified as a Magnitude Five natural spring, delivering over 8 million gallons of clean water annually to the Trinity River watershed it might be one of the cleanest if not the cleanest source of water on the whole of the 710 miles of Trinity River. For certain the cleanest water in the watershed in Dallas County. Bar none. If there is cleaner water, I cannot find it.

Radiocarbon Dating Big Spring's Water To the 14th Century
In addition to monthly water monitoring, one of the most unique tests conducted recently was a radiocarbon dating test of the water at Big Spring. The $600 cost for the test was paid for by fourteen citizens interested in the preservation cause. Conducted in late August 2013, the water test was sent to Beta Analytic in Florida for analysis.

Small pipe placed deep into one of the spring's outlets for the test

The results took the balance of a month to get back and show the water being dated to 1360 AD. When dealing with variables like water, many things factor into the age of the sample taken. The soils and rock it flows through, surface water permeating into the aquifer, testing methods. All have an effect on the water's age. At the bare minimum the results show that the water and aquifer that supply Big Spring are not modern. They are very old and could very well be much older than 1360. So many things factor into how to age the spring that it would take many more tests at different parts of the aquifer to gain a comprehensive insight into the age and size of the aquifer that feeds the spring.

Richard Grayson(left) and Tim Dalbey(right) working to prepare a test site and water sample for the radiocarbon dating test

The water test was led by archeologist Tim Dalbey. He had floated the idea of the test for over a year and with enough backing and monetary support was able to get the water sample required. Tim does all kinds of interesting things around town. One of the more recent was a mid 19th century cistern discovered by work crews doing renovations of Dealey Plaza in preparation for the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination. The cistern sits mere feet from the School Book Depository in Downtown Dallas. Byron Harris from Channel 8's report is below, featuring Tim, the cistern and the assassination:





Current Water Testing Efforts
Tim also ponied up for a water test at Big Spring over a year ago which included a chemical analysis of the water. Those results can be found here June 2012 Water Quality Test At Big Spring

The importance of  tests and monitoring is designed to establish a baseline for the future. Starting recently from square one with much of the data collection the avalanche of data regarding the spring and surrounding area now exceeds 5,000 pages of documents and is growing all the time.

The Texas Stream Team, formerly Texas Watch, is based at Texas State University and is affiliated with the university's River Systems Institute. The team is a partnership of agencies and trained volunteers working together to monitor water quality and educate residents about the natural resources in the state. Established in 1991, the team is administered through a cooperative partnership with Texas State, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The more than 2,000 volunteers are trained to collect water samples according to a water quality plan approved by TCEQ and EPA. The monitors make field observations and analyze the samples for dissolved oxygen, pH, specific conductance, Secchi depth transparency, temperature, and E. coli to assess the quality of aquatic life and contact recreation conditions of the water.

Big Spring has not one but now two data testing sites in conjunction with the Texas Stream Team. Led by Richard Grayson, the DFW coordinator, the two sites labeled:

Meadows Center For Water And The Environment

#80939 Big Spring Source
#80965 Big Spring Pond
Water samples are collected monthly with on site testing for PH, dissolved oxygen. E.coli testing is done offsite at the offices of For The Love Of The Lake.

The City of Dallas has also provided test results of their own at both Big Spring and the Texas Horse Park. Those results can be found at the City of Dallas Stormwater Management website here:
City of Dallas PDF file for water quality at Big Spring and 811 Pemberton Hill Road


Plenty of data exists online to review much of what is going on with Big Spring, the future Texas Horse Park and a future PGA Golf Course. The raw data and documents can most easily be found through a website administered by Hal and Ted Barker here: http://savepembertonsbigspring.wordpress.com/
Hal and Ted were recently featured in a Dallas Observer story about their preservation efforts in Dallas http://www.dallasobserver.com/2013-08-29/news/the-barker-brothers-fight-city-hall-and-win/

Laray Polk crossing Bryan's Slough at Big Spring hike with city officials

One recent guest on a hike to Big Spring was author Laray Polk. She has recently written about some of the underlying methane gas issues at the planned PGA Golf Course just a stone's throw away from Big Spring http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/north-south-dallas-project/viewpoints/20130811-dallas-world-class-golf-course-must-account-for-methane-threat.ece





The Geology At Work

Big Spring sits in southeast Dallas 32°43'49.06"N 96°43'15.49"W ,  the neighborhood of Pleasant Grove and the subsection of an area called Pemberton Hill. At roughly 405 feet above sea level, the spring sits in what geologists call the Trinity Terrace.

The Trinity Terrace is a series of orangeish and brown-yellow Pleistocene gravel deposits from a long ago time.  The Pleistocene is the geological epoch which lasted from about 2.5 million to 11,000 years ago, spanning the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. During that time, a vast ice age here in North America, ice sheets and glaciers extended as far south as Kansas. Coupled with much wetter weather than today, the Trinity River was vastly larger, carrying large loads of sediment across a valley that extended from Fair Park clear across to the Dallas Zoo. Big and mighty river, large flood events to boot.

Gravel matrix cemented together by calcium carbonate solution flowing through the rock strata, sample taken from the head source of Big Spring

The large flood events deposited gravels over the underlying Austin Chalk. The Austin Chalk was deposited roughly 80-90 million years ago during the cretaceous when Dallas was covered in a large sea. In a rare few places you can still see the Trinity Terrace gravel overlying the Austin Chalk.

McCommas Bluff Preserve on the Trinity River

One such place is historic McCommas Bluff, just downstream from the Trinity River Audubon Center. Here one can easily pick out in the northern section of the bluffs, the Trinity Terrace deposits stacked atop the older Austin Chalk.

Good view of Austin Chalk(white limestone) sitting below the much younger Trinity Terrace gravels(red-brown-yellow gravel matrix)

Much of the gravel and sand here is loose, one can pick some up barehanded with no effort. In some areas where water has infiltrated over time, the matrix has cemented together. The calcium carbonate solution in the water binds the gravel and sand together forming a hard rock structure.

Porous water bearing Trinity Terrace gravels cemented together with calcium carbonate and seeping water through the voids, Austin Chalk seen as white rock underneath

If one looks carefully at the photo above you can see the voids created over time by water slowly moving through the rock at McCommas Bluff.

A natural void or crack in the Austin Chalk that the water has exploited forming a natural seep

At one particular place along McCommas Bluff a natural seep exists where water exploits a void/flaw/crack/crevice in the limestone. Here the groundwater has created a deep void with crystalline calcium carbonate inside of it. Above is the water bearing Trinity Terrace gravel.

2009 view of McCommas Bluff Preserve atop the bluffs(bluffs are to the left and out of the photo)

2013 view of McCommas Bluff Preserve, same spot as 2009 photo, barren and devoid of vegetation due to 18 wheeler traffic

The seeps at McCommas Bluff are fragile. Easily impacted by surface activity in the recharge zone beyond.  Some seeps have stopped flowing here, others a mere trickle compared to a few years ago. The cause of the degradation was a construction project by Dallas Water Utilities that compacted and ruined much of the land here. Despite assurances that the area was going to be reseeded with new native grass and wildflowers, it never came to pass.


 Getting Back To Big Spring

Head source of Big Spring, notice the same gravel matrix visible inside the spring

Tim Dalbey standing in Big Spring. Visible behind him, to the right is one of the spring's sources, to the left is a large limestone rock outcrop which serves as an impermeable layer.

The same geologic structures seen at McCommas Bluff can be seen with a discriminating eye at Big Spring. Looking closely through the vegetation and soil, one can pick out the gravel and limestone boundary inside the spring. Above, Dr Tim Dalbey stands at one source of Big Spring to the right of the photo. To the left and in the background one can pick out the clearly defined limestone vertical face.

More study is required to find out what makes the spring work so well. With such a volume of water one can only wonder what kind of geology focuses so much H2O in one spot.

Loss Of Nearly All Natural Historic Springs

There was a time when Dallas was dotted with springs. Well known in name only, Cedar Springs and Kidd Springs are both great examples of what were once large, functional and important springs in Dallas. There are many more like Keller Springs, Balch Springs and Grapevine Springs that either no longer flow or have been so heavily altered over time that they no longer serve as a touch stone to the past.

There is one place though, one natural spring of importance still out there, that has sat in relative isolation and free from the hands of man. That place is called Big Spring, in the Great Trinity Forest, Dallas, Texas.

 Cedar Springs

Across the street from the Whole Foods grocery store in Highland Park stands a modest inscribed stone laid in 1936 to mark the site of Cedar Springs. People know the name. Hundreds of thousands of people drive the road every day bearing the same name. Few have ever seen the actual Cedar Springs or what remains of them not encased in concrete.

Cedar Springs townsite in Dallas Texas, south of Lemmon Avenue and east of the Dallas North Tollroad

If you could thumb back through that history book and find a year that exemplified a time when the land was fresh in Dallas it would be 1843. Dallas in that year was a vast unpeopled wilderness of plains, known for lush riparian bottoms and a bounty of wild game. The city as we know it today was no more than a dugout scrape of a hovel occupied by one man, John Neely Bryan. Dotting the distant landscape of what was then Nacogdoches County in the Republic of Texas were a scant few homesteads of pioneer families who decided to call what is now Dallas, home. Dallas was not even a going concern at the time. It was Cedar Springs.

Before there was even a Dallas, Cedar Springs served as a small military bivouac for the Republic of Texas. Here Texan military units were reported to camp, exploring and surveying an untamed land that later became DFW. Preston Road was laid out from here. A connection from Holland Coffee's Trading Post on the Red River at Preston's Bend with points south towards Austin. Here is where it all happened.

For a time, a serious effort was underway to determine what town should hold the county seat, Dallas or Cedar Springs. The springs were superior to what was offered in Dallas near what is now the Old Red Courthouse. Better land, better water, better living conditions all around. Cedar Springs in it's heyday boasted a distillery, grist mill, sawmill and a variety of businesses that used the spring for light manufacturing before the Civil War. Those times are long gone, after an election that made Dallas the county seat.

Cedar Springs as it exists today

At the back end of a city park sits the remains of Cedar Springs. Barely a trickle from it's source, most likely ruined long ago by a construction project. Bisected by a chain link fence and full of trash, it's water begins a slow trip under the Dallas North Tollroad.

Under the tollroad in some mix of concrete culverts the water from Cedar Springs mixes with drainages from western portions of Highland Park to form Cedar Springs Branch. Here the flow is a little stronger, just 100 yards distant from the head of Cedar Springs itself.

The west side of the tollroad is where the bulk of the residents lived in what was once Cedar Springs. The waterway is channelized now in a culvert as it passes through a series of gated condo communities and apartment complexes.

Behind one such set of high gates and fences sits a Texas Historical Marker for Cedar Springs. Hard to read from the street(click on the photo to read the inscription). Nothing remains to take stock of today. Long ago gone. Only a street name remains to note the place ever existed.

Kidd Springs

Kidd Springs Park in Oak Cliff

When Kidd Springs was a going concern, the spring fed lake here was one of the finest swimming holes in the United States. Originally the spring was used by Oak Cliff pioneers in the 1840s-1850s as a water source. When the namesake for the spring Colonel James Kidd purchased the 200 acres of property around the site, he improved upon it. The improvements included turning a natural ravine into a lake via a dam on the northeast and drilling down some distance to improve the flow. The result was a manmade artisanal source up near present day Fouraker Street just north of Davis that ran down to the lake via pipe and then bubbled up into the lake.

A mechanically powered pump simulates the old Kidd Springs outflow using water from the lake

Kidd Springs rock work that some attribute wrongly as the source

Yellow Crowned Night Heron among the trash at Kidd Springs

Kidd Springs at the turn of the last century is where the elite in Dallas spent their summer weekends. A cross between a waterpark and amusement park, Kidd Springs was the place to be seen and put Oak Cliff on the map. Oak Cliff as a community always boasted their clean water as compared to Dallas across the river, Kidd Springs was evidence of that.

Like Cedar Springs, the wheels came off Kidd Springs long ago. Maybe it was the polio scare or the 50's drought that did the place in. Over time the place just became little more than a memory in the heads of the old timers, people who recalled the elite country club atmosphere of a place long since gone.

Improvements to Kidd Springs Park where the lake now sits incrementally crept away from the lake itself and the park now is as cookie cutter as any other in the city. Concrete sidewalks that replaced the old asian motif decor, the rock work replaced by more functional but bland access for ADA compliance.



Big Spring 
Seventeen decades, a whole 170 years of documented Texas history lie here. In a chronological history book of Dallas history, the intertwined lore of this spot would be written on page one.

The evening sun setting behind Big Spring

Around the time Cedar Springs was founded, a year or two after John Neely Bryan started calling his dugout hole near what as now the Old Red Courthouse, a family called the Beemans settled in North Texas on lower White Rock Creek.

Veterans of the Republic of Texas Army and Indian campaigns, the Beemans by the early 1840s had already made their mark on the infant Republic's history. They settled on White Rock Creek on land claims given to them by the Republic of Texas for military service and land purchased via Toby Script. One parcel of land was known as the "Big Spring Survey", claimed in 1842 by John Beeman in what was then the Peter's Colony Survey. John Beeman and his family lived on the west bank of White Rock Creek just down the hill from the present day Beeman Family Cemetery.

Big Spring as it looked on the evening of August 13, 2013, 170 years to the date that President Sam Houston camped here

John Beeman called this piece of land "Big Spring" after the cold and clear water that flows straight off the bedrock via a natural spring. Used for countless centuries by Native Americans, this site had been a magnet for humans seeking water and refuge. Even present day the water still flows at a near consistent 60 degrees. Who knows what kind of people once drank from the water here. What language they spoke. What they ate for dinner.


Sam Houston and his Treaty Party visit Dallas and a high probability that they camped one night at Big Spring

Sam Houston

Sam Houston had lived with the Cherokee people for years as a young man, had a fondness for the tribes and wanted them treated fairly as their lands were taken over by civilization despite their depredations against the settlers in Texas. For months Houston sent messages to his Indian friends proclaiming he would hold a Grand Council of the Tribes at Fort Bird(presently in the North Arlington area) during the full moon of August 1843. Similar to what we might consider a general assembly meeting of the United Nations.  Houston sent Indian Commissioner Joseph C. Eldridge out months in advance of the date to bring the Comanches and others to the treaty council.

It was in August 1843 when Sam Houston and an expedition of about 30 men departed Crockett in East Texas, and began their trek to the Three Forks of the Trinity(now known as Dallas and Tarrant County) to negotiate with the chiefs of the Indian tribes.  Their route was well documented traveling roughly on the same route into Dallas that US Highway 175 takes today. This route was an ancient Pre-Columbian trail used by Indians for many centuries as an important trade route between the Piney Woods of East Texas, the Plains and Indians living north of the Red River. Scyene and Preston Roads share similar distinctions in Dallas as ancient Indian trails that later became major roads.

Big Spring Sunset among the native walnut and pecan trees

One of the men in his group was an Englishman by the name of Edward Parkinson. He kept a detailed account of the trip in his diary. It's believed he came along just for the adventure of seeing real live Indians on the plains. At the time the Beeman family was living in a blockhouse near present day Dolphin Road and Military Parkway. The account below mentions that they did not see the Beeman family until the next morning, August 14th 1843. His diary entries from August 13th and 14th or there abouts follow.....

"We encamped that night at White Rock Springs, so called from the calcareous nature of the rocks abundant here about one mile from the White Rock Fork of the Trinity. In the morning some settlers from the infant colony opened about the Forks of the Trinity River visited us, accompanied by some travelers examining the country, they brought us no news of the expected Indians and were on foot, stating that some little time previous the wild Indians had stolen all the horses but one or two belonging to the settlement.  We then saddled up and proceeded to the fork at White Rock Creek which we found very difficult from the rain which had fallen making the bank on the other side one slide of about thirty feet, from top to bottom. We were obliged to dismount and drive the animals over, some of them describing curious mathematical figures, from their inexperience in the science of sliding. However, all got over safe,  and on reaching the prairie on the other side arrived at one of the colonist’s cabins{that of John Beeman} where we were regaled with an acceptable and plentiful supply of buttermilk. My horse(a mustang) having become almost knocked up, I determined upon resting here, and was hospitably entertained until the following day, the company in the meantime moving on to Cedar Springs, where they rested a day or two previous to marching on to Bird’s Fort on the West Fork of the Trinity the appointed Treaty Ground, great anxiety prevailing respecting the Indians but no news of them."--Edward Parkinson 1843

Sam Houston

When Houston arrived at Ft. Bird, several tribes had shown up but did not want to go near the garrisoned fort fearing a trap. Houston moved the negotiations and camps six miles north to Grapevine Springs.  He felt the Springs offered better water, more shade in the summer heat and less mosquitoes.  However the group camped there for more than a month while awaiting the Comanches, and was described by Parkinson as:  "there were some fine though rather monotonous days, only relieved by finding a bee tree or killing our beeves." Finally Houston realized the Comanches weren't coming and decided to have a council with those in attendance.  Known as a flamboyant dresser, Houston's attire for the occasion was noteworthy.  "Donned in a purple velvet suit, with a huge Bowie knife thrust in his belt, and a folded Indian blanket draped over one shoulder to proclaim his brotherhood with the red men, Houston eloquently promised the chiefs that a favorable treaty line would be drawn beyond which the Indians could live unmolested by white men." At this time, along with the negotiations with the Indians, Houston was still President of the Republic and having to deal with the Mexican situation and annexation of Texas.  Before the actual treaty was signed, he had to go back to Washington on the Brazos to deal with these issues personally.  To deal with the Comanches when, and if, they arrived he assigned Gen. Edward H. Tarrant and Gen. George Whitfield Terrell.

Treaty of Bird's Fort

The treaty was signed in the last three days of September 1843.   The Treaty at Birds Fort was a rare instrument: it was actually ratified by the Republic of Texas Senate. Throughout both his administrations, Sam Houston worked to negotiate with the Texas tribes, not only because of his natural inclination but also because the new Republic simply could not afford to be at war both with the Indians and the Mexicans. His policy had already been put into practice when he and John Forbes negotiated a treaty with the Cherokee on February 3, 1836.    President Mirabeau B. Lamar, on the other hand, was convinced that the tribes were conspiring with the Mexicans, and he also believed that the tribes constituted a foreign nation in competition with the Republic. He actively supported a policy of extermination and expulsion, a policy which removed the Cherokee altogether and which helped plunge the new nation into considerable debt.



Native Americans

Springs in Texas have been a magnet for human activity for many dozens of centuries. Find an undisturbed spring site almost anywhere in the Lone Star State and one will readily find evidence of human occupation that goes back thousands of years. The old watering holes of the first Americans later became well worn routes of travel that were used by the first European expeditions to Texas. Those old game trails and hunting routes eventually morphed into wagon roads, some became modern day highways we know today.

Native American artifacts excavated from 41DL72 as part of a Geo-Marine project in 2013. Photo Credit: Tim Dalbey

A wide swath of an archeological site once covered the terrace upon which Big Spring sits. Over the last hundred years, through utility right of ways, easements and some gravel mining, the site, officially called 41DL72 slowly diminished in size. Remnants of the site still exist undisturbed. The effort to save the remaining undisturbed area for the future is a tough sell. 

One oddball layered map that literally looks like a footprint from Geo-Marine

Measuring DL72 in the electric ROW

For an area that looks so quiet, so untouched, the complexity of issues facing the place can best be described in the map above. What are 6 maps laid over one another show all the competing projects and eyes on design for the place. Some ideas, like the fencing of the spring are now just a distant memory. Others are still a concern as bulldozers begin work on the Texas Horse Park.






The work to map some of the areas has consumed many an early Saturday morning this summer. Measuring, driving stakes, measuring again, taking copious field notes and photos. All to preserve a place that links some ancient people to us. I don't even know who they are. No one does. If the bulldozers don't wreck it maybe one day we will find out.

Mapping out a DL72 protection area

Left to Right RJ Taylor, Conservation Director for the Connemara Conservancy Foundation; Wayne Kirk, Texas Horse Park; Dr Tim Dalbey, archeologist; Photographer Sean Fitzgerald; Roy Appleton, Dallas Morning News; Ted Barker, Save Winfrey Point and Save Pemberton Big Spring

Runaway horses bathing in Big Spring 2012

Protecting the spring and the surrounding area is vitally important to the health and long term sustainability of Big Spring and the Native American site around it. "Protecting" and "protection" of a place can mean many things to many people. How one comes to consensus on what is best to protect one of the last natural springs in Texas, how we all figure that out is a tough one. Lots of big, gigantic promises being made. Hope it's not all talk.

The large field above Big Spring which serves as a bio-buffer for the spring

Another view of the field, standing NE corner, looking SW, Texas Horse Park will sit beyond the transmission lines

The idea that never was

According to the City of Dallas, hired consultants for a time floated the idea of equipment buildings, two 1,000 gallon fuel tanks and a compost heap that would have commanded most of the land in the field here. See inset left. Those plans according to the City of Dallas were only ideas and never a serious consideration.

Talks with the city thus far in reaching preservation and conservation status have been productive and are seeing much progress. A large buffer is the right solution to the perpetual preservation of the Big Spring site, the preservation of the Native American site and leaving the woods surrounding the Spring free of anything but foot traffic. It should be a place that is open and enjoyed by all who want to visit. With discussion for a detailed and comprehensive management plan, conservation and preservation it's thought that the sights and sounds seen today will look the same 500 years from now. There is an abundant and rich reward for leaving places like this alone.