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State Overviews Texas Regional Overviews Big Bend Country Panhandle Plains Hill Country Prairies and Lakes Piney Woods Gulf Coast South Texas Plains Topical Overviews Biking Birding Boating Camping Fishing Golfing Hiking National Parks Off-Road Driving Scenic Drives Additional Info Festivals and Events Texas Almanac 
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Prairies and Lakes - Texas Overview
The Prairies and Lakes area are far more wooded than the Panhandle Plains and wetter. Indeed, they're so wet that the boater and fisher will find endless acreage of lakes to explore. The golfer will find Dallas and Fort Worth astoundingly well-populated with courses. For the casual leisurephile, the Prairies could hardly be nicer, but the weekend warrior won't be disappointed by the trails, either. Speaking of those trails, the biking trails around Fort Worth can be surprisingly fierce and the less fierce Dallas still has jumps that will frighten all but the most experienced. Off roading routes are tremendously muddy and often very long. Hiking trails tend to be the gentlest.
Dallas trails are more weekend warrior friendly than grueling, although many trails have tough elements or loops made for more advanced riders. The trails tend to be swift, the riding excitement sometimes as much due to watching all those trees whoosh past as conquering a technical section of trail. Dallas has its benchmark, too, though, the murderously difficult Juniper Point. Waco follows that same basic trail style of a Lowland trail; trees, plenty of water, be they creek or lake, and often friendly to many skill levels. Conversely, Fort Worth can be a little scarier as a general rule, but still green and wet, with the occasional surprise cactus. Check out the hairy trails at Cleburne State Park and the less hairy, but more popular and fun Breaks at Bar H.
The Dallas area's reputation as that land of prairies and lakes is completely reinforced here, with not only many lakes, but massive ones. Cedar Creek Reservoir, some ways south of Dallas in Caney City, is one of Texas's largest lakes at over 32,000 acres, if it's considerably shallower than its Amistad cousin. In general, prairie lakes tend to be a little shallower, a little more developed, but work lovely for boating, skiing, well, you-name-it parties on the water. Lake Lewisville is another popular lake for water sports. Lake Whitney, near Waco is a beautiful lake, sometimes noted as one of the most beautiful lakes in Texas, if not the most beautiful. Not only is it an excellent fishing lake, it's just that easy to get to, and quite the recreational playground.
The Dallas area is also filled with lakeside camping and RV sites, most of them within city limits. These do tend to be a little less wild and isolated as Hill Country sites sometimes manage, but often are located nicely close to activities, be they trails or amusement parks.
They don't call it a "prairies and lakes" region for nothing. These are many, many lakes packed into a small area, especially around Dallas and Fort Worth. These lakes are heavily vegetated and fish thrive under the surface. As, again, in much of Texas, the largemouth bass is particularly prominent, but the sunfish, catfish, and crappie often have equal prominence. River fishing is only, again, permitted in state parks, but there are some especially nice access points, such as in McKinney Falls.
The Dallas area, including Fort Worth and Plano and Irving (and it does keep growing) is a marvelous place for golf. There are so many golf courses that it's easy enough to choose your playing mood and go from there. Want a scenic course with a low difficulty? You'll find it. Want a gruelling course laced with gullies and rough? You'll find that here, too. Many of the "best courses in Texas" can be found here, among them Cedar Crest Golf Course. This once served as the site of the 1927 PGA Championship.
Most of the trails in the Dallas area are very gentle and either urban or under heavy, if respectful, use. Every once in a while, a slightly more rugged trail presents itself, but the Prairies strength is in pretty, wooded walks in lovely weather. One moderately difficult and excellent route is the Cross Timbers Trail. Fort Worth works under a similar difficulty, but its area hikes sometimes have a different flavor. If the Grapevine Lake day hike works, like the Cross Timbers, as a pleasant leg-burn of a shore-walk, Dinosaur Valley has saurian tracks as well as shores.
McKinney's Crape Myrtle Trails is named for the crape myrtle flowers lining both sides of the road, all whites and pinks and lavenders, blooming off of trees large and shrubside. The drive is gorgeous. FM 4, off Palo Pinto, is less dramatic and more historical, but is the very first official scenic roadway in Texas. For something a little closer to the big metropolitan areas like Fort Worth, but still remote enough to be interesting, take the Trail of the Dinosaur through Dinosaur Valley State Park, and Cleburne State Park. |
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