Trail Closure January 29, 30, 31 between Benbrook and Oakmont Park

The southwest portion of the Trinity Trials from the Art Cowsen trail head in Benbrook to the Oakmont Park along Bellaire Drive will be closed for maintenance on January 29, 30, and 31.  Signs have been posted along the trail (pictured below).

Trail re-route and improvements near Panther Island

see map below for re-route through mid-April 2018.

from the City of Fort Worth:

Beginning Feb. 24, the Tarrant Regional Water District will be making improvements to the grounds on the north shore of Panther Island Pavilion.
As part of these improvements, the existing, narrow and broken 6-foot-wide concrete trail will be replaced with an 11-foot-wide concrete trail. Temporary fencing will be in place during construction and trail users are asked to use the trail reroute around the back side of the Haws Athletic Center, 600 Congress St. Signage will be in place leading up to and along the reroute.
Construction is estimated to last through mid-April.

from: http://fortworthtexas.gov/news/2018/02/Trinity-Trails-realignment/

Trinity Trail Closure! Bellaire & 183 low water crossing

Update:  TRWD now says there was some confusion with a contractor and that the trail will NOT be closed.  A detour will be built before construction begins that will effect the existing trail.

A sign recently went up at the Trinity River low water crossing at Bellaire near the Hwy 183 overpass stating that the Trinity Trails will be closed starting May 31, 2017.   (sign photo below)

With no alternate route available, those of you who use the Trinity Trails to go to and from Benbrook will not be able to do so soon.  Hundreds of people use this section of the trail every week, so this will be a real inconvenience.

The trail will be closed for construction by PRIM Construction related to the Waterside development on Bryant Irvin (the site of the old Lockheed Martin Recreation Complex, LMRC).

I've made lots of calls, but no one has been able to tell me who made the decision to close the trail or how long this closure will be.

All I can recommend is contacting your Fort Worth City councilperson and Mayor Betsy Price, or the TRWD (who is ultimately responsible for the Trails).  Considering Mayor Price's focus on a bike friendly Fort Worth I'm amazed that an alternate to closure or an alternate route was not worked out.  This will truly inconvenience many people.

Many, many people will be inconvenienced by this closure.

Please note: this web site and blog is a community forum for people who use the trails, with no official capacity related to the Trinity Trails.

Airfield Falls Trailhead now open!

It's new official name is "Airfield Falls Conservation Park," and it is now an attraction in its own right, but it is still also the trailhead with access to Fort Worth's beautiful Airfield Falls along the Trinity Trails.  (map below)

It has taken a long time to finish, but now it's open and looks great.  The McDonnell Douglas C-9 aircraft wings and tail are in place along with some other airplane related pieces such as wind socks beside the entry driveways and runway lighting poles (orange and white in photo below).

The overall concept for the park/trailhead is conservation.  The parking area features water permeable paving, allowing rainwater to be absorbed directly into the ground rather than becoming runoff.  There are numerous picnic tables and a pavilion.

The park is bordered by Kings Branch and Farmers Branch tributaries of the Trinity River. They join near the park and then proceed Airfield Falls. There is a paved trail that leads down to Kings Branch and bridges over both.  The trail follows the waterway to the waterfall and is beautifully landscaped with drought tolerant plants and butterfly attracting flowering plants.

Parking area with permeable paving (under the pickup and the walkway in foreground)

Picnic table and runway light poles near parking area.

"Airfield Falls Conservation Park" entry sign

Wing and tail of McDonnell Douglas C-9 airplane on display.

Information signs:

Picnic tables and pavilion.

Looking back at the C-9 aircraft from trail that leads to Kings Branch creek.

Looking up at trail bridge over Kings Branch

Farmers Branch from trail bridge

Butterflies on one of many butterfly friendly flowering plants along trail.

Airfield Falls from trail.

Airfield Falls

Airfield Falls with my exploring companion.

Airfield Falls Trailhead Now Projected to Open by Fall 2016

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the TRWD now has a new contractor to finish the Airfield Falls Trailhead within the next 3 to 4 months.  The trailhead will have 30-space parking lot, restrooms, picnic facilities and demonstration gardens.

see:  Contractor hired to complete Airfield Falls Trailhead

Portion of Trinity Trial Closed Through Mayfest

Starting April 11 through May 4th, part of the Trinity Trail in Trinity Park will be closed for Mayfest and Mayfest preparations.  You will still be able to get from one end of Trinity Park to the other, but only on the gravel loop trail that runs through the woods along University Drive.

Vehicle access to Trinity Park will be closed off completely.

Here's a map provided by TRWD:

Walking, Jogging, Biking Trail Loops Near Downtown

I know that a lot of people prefer loop trails to out and back trails.  So I wanted to point out that there are now 2 loops on the Trinity Trails near downtown Fort Worth.  The 2 loops actually form a figure 8 for a 4.5 mile total length.  The lower loop is contained withing Trinity Park and the upper loop extends from the North end of Trinity Park to the Panther Island Pavilion area.  The middle of the 'figure 8' is the Phyllis Tilley Memorial Bridge.

Note:  1.1 miles of the lower left of the trail (in Trinity Park) is crushed gravel trail only.  The rest is paved and mostly dual trail.

Here's a view of the 2 loops (click on the map to be taken to an interactive Google Map):