Bike Trails

Guide to Safe Scouting: Bicycle Safety

Overnight camping. The only two locations at which it really makes sense to camp along the biking route are the Northeast Texas Trailway and the Caprock Canyons State Trailway. It is technicallly possible to ride a bike from one campsite to the next at a few other locations with multi-use trails, such as LBJ National Grasslands, the Cross Timbers Trail, Winding Stair, and the Womble Trail.

1 Rails-to-Trails Trailways

Rails-to-trails trailways are lengthy, flat to gently sloping, former rail routes that have been converted to trailways.

Northeast Texas Trail (NETT) (Overnight camping) • Official Trail Website • Click on Individual Trail Sections • Review by Texas Monthly • 30 min to 2 hr 20 min E of McKinney • 130 miles of trailway from Farmersville through Paris to New Boston (near Texarkana) • 4-5 days on bike • Requires planning: there are a few breaks in the trail requiring detours, and camping must be arranged with proprietors along the trail. No cooking or open fires along the trail.

Lake Mineral Wells State Park and Trailway (Overnight camping) • Official Trailway Webpage • 30-60 min W of Fort Worth • 20 miles of point to point trailway from Weatherford, past Lake Mineral Wells State Park, to Mineral Wells. No camping except at Lake Mineral Wells State Park. Surface is finely crushed limestone, with asphalt for the last 2 miles. Foot, horse, and bike traffic.

Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway (Overnight camping) • Official Trailway Webpage • 4 hr 20 min W of Denton, Fort Worth • 64 miles of point to point trailway through isolated country in the Upper Red River Valley (near Amarillo). Camping is allowed in small groups anywhere along the trail. Clarity Tunnel is home to a colony of bats. Caprock Canyons State Park is accessible about midway along the trailway. Surface is mostly unimproved dirt. Foot, horse, and bike traffic.

Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway (Overnight camping) • Official Trailway Webpage • 3 hr 20 min S of Fort Worth, due east of Austin, near Brenham • 13 mile trailway with another 13 miles of connecting loops, all inside the state park. Camping allowed at 20 primitive campsites with established fire rings. Chemical toilets along the trail. Surface is unimproved dirt. Foot, horse, and bike traffic.

2 Day-Use Mountain Biking Trails

DORBA (Dallas Off-Road Bicycle Association) is the leading mountain biking organization in DFW. It maintains and sponsors many mountain biking trails in and around DFW. See its DORBA Trails Page for a list including current trail conditions and access. The DORBA website no longer hosts its own trail maps and instead links to the Trail Forks website.

MTB Project has an exhaustive collection of information on mountain biking trails nationwide. Click on the interactive map for nearby mountain biking trails, or use the search box to search by name. Not as carefully curated as the DORBA site.

Culture Map: A beginner's guide to Dallas-Fort Worth's 12 best bike trails (2017)

Dallas Observer: 10 Dallas Area Bike Trails (Paved and Unpaved) to Ride This Summer (2017)

Tarrant County

River Legacy Park • Website > About • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage • 8 miles paved foot and bike paths • 10 miles of DORBA trails • canoeing access point on Clear Fork of the Trinity River • Restrooms • No overnight • 1,300 acres • City of Arlington • Main Entrance at 701 NW Green Oaks Blvd., Arlington, TX 76006 • Entrance at 3020 N. Collins St., Arlington, TX 76006 (Arlington)

Horseshoe • DORBA Trail Webpage • MTB Webppage (Lake Grapevine)

Denton County

Murrell Park / Northshore Trail (Overnight camping) • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Lake Grapevine)

Knob Hills Park • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Flower Mound)

Corinth Community Park • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Corinth)

Isle du Bois Unit (Overnight camping) • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Lake Ray Roberts)

Johnson Branch Unit (Overnight camping) • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Lake Ray Roberts)

Lake Ray Roberts Greenbelt • MTB Webpage

Collin County

Arbor Hills Nature Preserve • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage

Erwin Park (Overnight camping) • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage

Frisco Northwest Community Park • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage

Sister Grove Park • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage

Katie Jackson Park • Trail Forks Webpage - DORBA Trail • Trail Forks Webpage - Skillpark • MTB Webpage

Dallas & Rockwall Counties

LB Houston Nature Trails • Trail Forks Webpage (Hwy 114 and Loop 12)

Harry Moss Park • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (near White Rock Lake)

Cedar Hill State Park (Overnight camping) • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Duncanville)

Windmill Hill Preserve • Trail Forks Webpage (Duncanville)

Big Cedar Wilderness • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Duncanville)

Boulder Park • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Duncanville)

Oak Cliff Nature Preserve • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Oak Cliff)

Goat Island Preserve • Trail Forks Webpage • Preserve Webpage- (I-45 and Beltline)

Rowlett Creek Preserve • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Garland)

Squabble Creek • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Rockwall)

Further Out

Cross Timbers Trail (Overnight camping, multi-use trails) • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Denison)

Eisenhower State Park (Overnight camping) • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Denison)

Waterloo Lake Regional Park • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Denison)

Binkley Park • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Sherman)

Bonham State Park (Overnight camping) • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Bonham)

LBJ National Grasslands (Overnight camping, equestrian multi-use trails) (Decatur)

Chisenhall • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Burleson)

Cleburne State Park (Overnight camping) • MTB Webpage - Limestone Ridge Trail • MTB Webpage - Outer Loop • MTB Webpage - Innner Loop (Cleburne)

Dinosaur Valley State Park (Overnight camping) • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Glen Rose)

Solavaca Ranch • Ranch Website • MTB Webpage (Glen Rose)

Hachie MTB Trail • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Waxahachie)

Barber Hills • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Paris)

Faulkner Park • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Tyler)

Lindsey Park • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Tyler)

Tyler State Park (Overnight camping) • Trail Forks Webpage • MTB Webpage (Tyler)

Winding Stair Equestrian Trail System (Overnight camping, equestrian multi-use trails) • (Arkansas)

Womble Trail (Overnight camping) • MTB Website - see the map of trails. 32.4 mile trail. Perhaps the best mountain biking trail in Arkansas. May need to use some caution. (Arkansas)

3 Paved Bicycle Paths

Richardson Bike Mart > Where to Ride . See this webpage for what appears to be a fairly complete collection of links to city and county paved bicycle paths in Dallas-Fort Worth (as well as a link to DORBA). The webpage says "We spend a lot of time on these trails, and we're happy to give you additional recommendations when you visit any Richardson Bike Mart location."