Hidden Gems
Hidden GemsSay Yes To Dallas
Obscure-yet-public spaces still exists in Dallas-Fort Worth, for those willing to strap on a sturdy/ sensible footwear and step into the unknown. Say Yes to Dallas has complied an inaugural list of places in the Dallas Region—living, dead, and spirit-infused—that urban explorers should visit, if they really want to be considered such. Our criteria were straightforward: These places must be accessible without committing misdemeanors, e.g., the need for hypnosis of the groundskeepers or the use of chloroform on distracted security guards. They must be physical destinations as much as states of mind, and they must be places that most people pass by but are mostly bypassed because they’re not places anyone has to be.
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Hitting the Trails, Dallas Style
Walkers, cyclists and runners venture into some fascinating places in the Dallas Region. These include former outlaw hideouts, abandoned rail beds and suburban oases. Of course, not all 442 miles of off-street paths in the region offer such adventures. So, the “Say Yes” crew has cobbled together a list of trails that effectively debunks the notion that the Dallas Region is four-wheel-centric.
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Views of Dallas
Admit it – this is one of the best cities to live in. Many restaurants and bars are now open. Need an excuse to get back out and explore? Check out our pick of places to be and views to see from our Views of Dallas hidden gems list!
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The Great Trinity Forest
Address: 6500 South Great Trinity Forest Way, Dallas, Texas 75217*
Note the asterisk at the address above. That’s because this place is so wild, even Google has trouble pegging it with an accurate location. That address belongs to the Trinity River Audubon Center, one of 12 destinations and multiple trailheads within a 6,000-acre plot of land in Southern Dallas. Much of the forest is a landfill that nature (and the City of Dallas) has reclaimed. Gear up if you’re planning a deep exploration. Far into the forest, in a place called Big Swamp, naturalists have reported lairs of water moccasins, snorting feral hogs, hand-size spiders and chest-high poison ivy. -
Dragon Park
Address: 3520 Cedar Springs Road, Dallas, Texas 75219
Dragons are nestled in the green space a few blocks from Dallas’ exhaustively traveled Katy Trail. Facebookers have described this place as a “little oasis in the midst of a major city.” Aside from the (of course) dragon, an archangel issues a clarion call, and griffin (winged lions) stand guard at the park’s entrance. Though the address is listed on Cedar Springs, it’s best to enter from Hood Street.
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Mysterious Teddy Bear Sculptures in Lakeside Park
Address: 4601 Lakeside Drive, Highland Park, Texas 75205
On Christmas Day 1995, the Harlan Crow family donated several larger-than-life Teddy Bear statues to the town of Highland Park, where they remain to this day. Sure, there’s a waterfall, lily pads and a rolling creek. But it always comes back to the Teddy Bears. The largest bear stands 8-feet-5 inches tall, and smiles and stares vacantly forward, as a cub perches on its left hind leg. What are you looking at, Giant Teddy Bear? Don’t answer. This has gone far enough.
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Chandor Gardens
Address: West Lee Street, Weatherford, Texas 76086
Hidden gems have fascinating backstories, and Chandor Gardens is no exception. In this tale, a world-renowned portrait painter once determined to create a living work of art within the confines of his Weatherford, Texas, estate. Englishman Douglas Granville Chandor, famous for his paintings of some of the 20th century’s most pivotal figures developed a cactus-strewn cow pasture as a showplace. Chandor died before he could paint a combined portrait of the “Big Three” – Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin – to celebrate their second meeting, which would have occurred in Yalta. Admission is $5 for adults and teens, free for children 12 and under.
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Marie Gabrielle Restaurant and Gardens
Address: 2728 N Harwood Street, Dallas, Texas 75201
Another example of urban green-space, Marie Gabrielle hides in the shadows of foliage, and can be easily missed. An English garden and reflecting pools often serve as makeshift picnic spots for patrons of Marie Gabrielle Restaurant, but many people visit or happen upon this place out of pure curiosity. Like a woodland sprite, much of Marie Gabrielle’s charm lies in her seclusion, and in the delight that comes in discovering her.
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Dallas Heritage Village: Genteel Dallas
Address: 1515 S Harwood Street, Dallas, Texas 75215
More than 100 years ago, before Interstate 30 spliced Dallas in half, the Cedars neighborhood was a premier destination filled with Victorian homes. Every week, mesdames and messieurs would depart their mansions, stroll past greenhouses to hear concerts at the neighborhood bandstand. Dallas Heritage Village has recreated this experience, right down to a reconstructed plantation-style (haunted?) mansion known as Millermore. Side note: Stanley Marcus of Neiman Marcus fame was born here. Second sidenote: Bring your wallet.
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Thanksgiving Chapel
Address: 1627 Pacific Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75201
The streetscape outside Chapel of Thanksgiving is similar to any other urban center; the light rail’s bell clangs, traffic jams, and office dwellers scurry to or from wherever they generally scurry. Amidst all this rises an off-white conical form that looks suspiciously like a misshaped serving of vanilla soft-serve. Walk up the ramp most afternoons and enter. Inside, a ramp carries visitors upward, into a silent chapel, whose ceiling is an upward swirl of stained glass. Listen closely and you might hear the low trickle of the water feature outside. Or is that just peace filling your mind?