Dragons, Dogs and Bears (Oh My)

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.

The Great Trinity Forest >

Address: 2917 Swiss Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75204 

The Swiss Avenue Historic District is renowned as a showplace for early 20th Century architecture, from Prairie, Craftsman to Italian Renaissance. Within the district lies our hidden gem for dog lovers:  a place known to some just as the “Swiss Avenue Dog Park.” This green space, owned and operated by the Meadows Foundation, encourages users to abide by their own code of conduct: Bring your own water, be sure to clean up, and owners of small or leaping dogs must be mindful that the park’s fence can be compromised, especially by escape artists.

Meadows Foundation Dog 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.

Dragon 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.

Lakeside Park >

Address: 200 block, Fall Creek Drive, Richardson, Texas, 75080

Aside from being a Rough Rider and taking some hill in Cuba, Teddy Roosevelt was renowned for taking friends, family and even the French ambassador on scampers through the brambles. We’d like to think that Roosevelt would feel right at home in Prairie Creek Park, with its large, sun-covered stones, covered bridge, fields of wildflowers and a mossy waterfall. “Oh, that lovely, relaxing waterfall,” writes Yelper Ali G. “What more can I say? The beautiful patch of wildflowers is enough to make me visit.”

Prairie Creek Park >

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.

Chandor Gardens >