I am not suggesting that we almost died on our trip to the Great Trinity Forest, but let’s just say that it was not totally safe.
It was pretty, at first.
Ingrid the Labradoodle in the forest.
A field of flowers in the Great Trinity Forest in Southern Dallas.
Ingrid in a flower-filled forest clearing.
Cacti were all over the forest. Some of them even had flowers.
Setting down the Stanley mug in a rock clearing.
Mushrooms were all over the Great Trinity Forest.
Us getting totally lost with the dogs in the Great Trinity Forest.
And then we got lost.
Unlike your typical city park, the Great Trinity Forest is actually a massive 6,000 acre forest in Dallas’s “urban core” – which is PC-speak for the neglected lower-income neighborhoods that border the forest.
According to the Dallas Observer:
“The “Great Trinity Forest” has always been more of a concept than a reality. We’re really talking about 6,000 acres of floodway along the reaches of the Trinity River through poor, sometimes very tough areas in the southern half of the city. Much of it was cleared for farmland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, then in many places developed as neighborhoods. Most of the area was abandoned and allowed to “return to nature” within the last 40 years.”
So what we were really exploring was a massive wildland that the city gave up on. Full of wild animals, middle-aged science teachers, illegal dumping, homeless camps, and poorly maintained trails that lead to nowhere.
We saw the trees, the flowers, and the cacti.
And we got lost.
And it started to get dark.
And we ran into a homeless camp.
And then we ran into more clearings filled with cacti.
We eventually backtracked and made our way out.
Rehydrating Ingrid with our Stanley Brand growler.
The dogs getting some water from our Stanley growler.
But the danger fun wasn’t over.
There is a train station near the forest.
The train station has a little park area with the most bizarre sculptures, so we had to stop and take pictures.
Ingrid checking out the creepy giant rabbit statues in the South Dallas park.
The creepy giant rabbit statues in the South Dallas park.
I am messing with my Instagram filters when Michael tries to get my attention.
Michael: “Um, it is time to go now.”
Me: “Hold up, I am Instagramming this pic.”
Michael: “No no, you don’t understand. We need to go now. Look over there!”
I look up to see a stray pit bull trotting toward us while eyeing the chihuahua.
A Dallas woman was recently mauled to death in an area pretty close to the Trinity Forest, so we were not taking any chances. We bolted to the car and then whipped out the cameras just as a second pit bull appeared.
Howling stray pitbull dogs in South Dallas near a train station.
Stray dogs glaring us down near a South Dallas train station.
The Forest Trip was an adventure, but I prefer safety the city.
I don’t need to be stumbling around cacti in the forest or risk getting mauled by pit bulls to enjoy nature. Dallas’s manicured lawns and parks are all the nature I need.
The view from Turtle Creek Park / Lee Park in Oak Lawn, Dallas.
A home in Highland Park that has a creepy statute in the bushes.
A mansion in Highland Park that has a courtyard instead of a front door.
Gunter giving side-eye to some statue at Dragon Park in Oak Lawn.
Ingrid posing next to a lion statue at the Dragon Park sculpture garden.
Ingrid being way too ambitious with her stick on the Katy Trail.
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