I think one of the most enjoyable aspects of mountain biking is getting out and discovering new-to-me trails. Whether its being challenged by a trail feature I’ve never seen before or the simple pleasure of experiencing a new location, I’ve found quite a bit of enjoyment from riding new trails. I especially enjoy meeting other off-road enthusiasts—some of the friendliest and funnest people to be around.
If you take just a few minutes and look through the trails listed on this site you’ll discover literally hundreds of miles of singletrack in the greater North Texas area—well over 200 in the DFW Metro area alone. It’s doubtful that any of you have ever ridden every single trail listed on this site. So that begs the question. Do we need more singletrack in North Texas?
My answer is yes. I’m all for more and more ribbons of lovely dirt winding through trees, flowing down hills, and crossing area creeks. While North Texas may not have the ability to become a mountain biking destination the likes of Sedona, Moab, or Northwest Arkansas, that doesn’t mean we can’t and shouldn’t give it a try. The more trails we build in this area, the more riders we’ll add to the sport. More off-road cyclists means growing support for existing trail organizations and bike shops. Plus, we already have the advantage of having one of the largest groups of mountain bikers in the country.
So where might some of this new singletrack get built? Here’s the lowdown on three potential additions that I know about.
Denton Urban Singletrack Alliance
There’s a group of MTBers in Denton who have a petition on Change.org with the goal of persuading the City of Denton to allow an urban singletrack trail to be built within one of the city’s parks. As of now, there’s not a ton of details and the plans are obviously in the VERY early stages. The Denton Urban Singletrack Alliance is looking for at least 1,000 signatories on the petition, and as of this posting there are only 591.
Click the following link to add your name to the Denton Urban Singletrack Alliance petition.
South Arlington Singletrack
If you’re one of those who frequent the DORBA Facebook page on a regular basis, you probably saw a recent post about a potential new trail in South Arlington. A DORBA member who has been involved in building some of DFW’s best trails in the past will present at the Arlington Parks and Recreation Board meeting on March 11th to get approval for a trail running through Red Kane, Rush Creek, and Sublett Parks.
Mountain bikers, especially those living in Arlington, are encouraged to attend the meeting at 6:30pm at 717 W Main in Arlington to show your support.
Aubrey—Little Elm Creek Singletrack
This last one is actually my own little dream. A few years ago, Aubrey was given some park land in the floodplain along Little Elm Creek just north of Highway 380. Since learning of this I’ve had a vision to see if some singletrack could be built on Army Corps of Engineers land just west of Aubrey’s parcel along the creek. My hope is for Aubrey to allow for some parking and trailhead access, as well as sponsor the trail’s land lease with the Corp.
I’ve already met with the Corp and they are open to a trail within the Lake Lewisville floodplain. As of yet I haven’t been able to go out and survey the land due to all the rain we’ve had the last several months, but I hope to get out there soon. There doesn’t seem to be a ton of elevation, but we won’t know what shape a trail might take until we get out there.
The map above is just my pre-conceptualization of the trail to see how many miles might potentially fit within the Corp land running from the Aubrey property south toward Highway 380. It looks like six to eight miles of trail might be possible without getting too winding. If everything works out with the city and the Corp—as well as gaining permissions from a neighborhood HOA—I’d also like approach the developer for the land to the north and see if they would be open to extending the trail along the creek into the new neighborhood they’re building.
None of this may work out, but I’m excited to give it a try and bring more singletrack to North Texas.
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