Favorite Biking Trails
My favorite places to bike in Austin and Dallas.
Biking has been one of my favorite hobbies since grade school, and I picked it up more once I lived in Austin for college. It helped that Austin is a very bike-friendly city, and living near campus enabled me to bike to class. Once the COVID lockdowns happened, biking helped me stay healthy and prevented me from staying indoors. Ever since then, I've enjoyed sightseeing popular destinations in the city as well as beautiful nature spots, and biking allows me to cover the most ground for that! (also stopping at new restaurants in the city 😋)
Every place I've lived at so far is near a long trail system, so it's easy to get a good ride started on a nice, sunny morning. By exploring the most popular or scenic trails in whichever city I live in, my biking experiences remain fresh, which has helped keep my interest in biking alive. This blog post lists my favorite trails in Austin and Dallas, along with some of my personal experiences biking in them.
Favorite Loops
Starting off with the most popular bike trails in each city...
Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail (Austin, 10 mi.)
Austin's most iconic bike trail, which loops around Lady Bird Lake, is a great way to experience the best Austin has to offer. There's many nice views along the river with Austin's urban scene (like the one in the picture above). You can easily get off the trail and visit Austin's other popular destinations, including all of downtown and Zilker Park!
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Easy access to Austin's most popular destinations, and is very scenic Loop distance is controllable; you can bike a part of the trail instead of the full 10 miles Mostly flat and smooth ride overall, aside from a few elevation changes | Not for faster rides, since there are many pedestrians, especially on weekends Need to deal with Austin's downtown parking if you drive here |
Even though the full loop is 10 miles, there's several bridges to cross the river and shorten your loop. If you're going for a casual bike ride, you can choose two bridges closer to each other so it's easy to end the ride. I tend to choose the I-35 and Pfluger Bridges (near Lamar Rd) to shorten my loop to around 4 miles.
Once COVID happened, I frequently traveled down here, at least once or twice a week during my summer internships. I lived near UT Austin, so it didn't take long to reach downtown by bike. I wanted to escape the remote world and discover as many new places as I could, even when options were limited.
Even after I stopped living near campus, I still drive my bike here pretty often. I like visiting the Austin Central Library as a nice public space to work at, and it's right across a parking lot for the trail. I finish my work for the afternoon before heading out and grabbing my bike for a few laps!
White Rock Lake Trail (Dallas, 9 mi.)
Northeast of downtown Dallas is the White Rock Lake Park, which has a 9-mile trail looping around the lake. It's not quite in the heart of Dallas, but this can be good or bad depending on your preferences; it's not as densely populated with pedestrians, and while there's not as many places to visit as Austin's urban scene, there's a lot more nature to appreciate here. It's also near the Arboretum and Botanical Garden... which you can also see the lake from!
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Beautiful, scenic view of the lake Mostly flat for an easy biking experience, few elevation changes | The trail goes around the whole lake with no shortcuts; you either commit to the full 9 miles or turn around |
When I lived in Dallas, this was my go-to for long weekend morning bike rides. Unfortunately, that's when parking also gets difficult, but there's several parking lots around the trail. I needed to leave early in the morning for the best chance at parking, and because this was pretty far from where I lived in Las Colinas, about 30 minutes. This didn't offer the same level of convenience as Austin's downtown biking trail, but then again, DFW is huuuuuge.
The Veloway (Austin, 3 mi.)
This is a small metropolitan park located in South Austin, a few minutes from where I live. The Veloway is a 3 mile, one-way trail that only allows biking and rollerblading and prohibits foot traffic. There's no pedestrians around that you have to yield to, there's very little traffic, and the whole trail is 2 lanes to allow passing--all making this trail ideal for fast bike rides!
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
No foot traffic and very little bike traffic in general, allowing for fast bike rides Shortcuts throughout the trail to skip to the start of the loop faster | There's one steep upward hill in the trail, with no downhill equivalent. If you can't handle the elevation change, you'd have to walk your bike every time Same view can get repetitive |
My least favorite part about the trail is how there's a steep upward hill about halfway through, so you have to switch to low gears and use a ton of leg strength to pedal. It's usually what wears me down, but it's good practice to get used to. It just sucks that I have to encounter it every lap around the trail, and there's no downhill equivalent.
Since the Veloway is less than a 10-minute drive from my house, I like to go here often for shorter bike rides, usually on my lunch break from work. 3 miles is a good length for having control over how much distance I want to bike. I usually don't leave without biking at least 12 miles (4 laps), and if I get tired, I can use the shortcuts to cut my current lap short. Seeing the same view every 3 miles can get... boring though, so it doesn't support my desire for sightseeing while biking.
Favorite Straight Paths
(Kinda done with pros and cons at this point, they mattered way more to loops than these straight paths lol)
Campion Trail (Dallas, 7 mi.)
This trail runs through the Las Colinas area, where I used to live to work at Citi, so it was my neighborhood trail for a year! I lived within biking distance to work, and the roads often linked to this trail, so I biked here frequently. My path to work and this trail are all in a nice, clean suburban area, which also goes along the Trinity River, so it was perfect for sunny mornings.
The trail starts at the very south of Las Colinas, where its urban center is, and where popular tourist spots like the Mandalay Canal and Toyota Music Factory are. It runs up north and passes through I-635, where the Sam Houston Trail Park is, and which is nearby the MacArthur shopping centers. There are a lot of nice locations to stop at, and it was definitely a pleasure living in this area in general.
Southern Walnut Creek Trail (Austin, 7 mi.)
This is a long straight trail system in East Austin, but it's more of a neighborhood trail than anything; there aren't too many views as it's paved through forest areas, but there are some occassional river views. I do like to bring my bike here if I have any reason to drive to the East Austin area.
Also, this trail has plenty of elevation changes. Most of them aren't difficult on their own, but there is a steeper hill in comparison near the end. Going uphill several times definitely gets tiring over time. I've found it more fun starting from the other end (at mile 7) since you start off going downhill multiple times and riding fast off the momentum, but then you'd have to make your way back if you ride the whole trail...
Katy Trail (Dallas, 3 mi.)
This trail runs through Uptown, which has a lively urban environment known for its bar and restaurant scene. This is a nice trail to visit to explore some of what Dallas has to offer, though it doesn't cover nearly as much of Dallas's urban scene as Austin's city trails do.
I've gone here a few times, either with co-workers or by myself on a weekend morning when I feel like biking. There can be quite a bit of traffic (especially on weekends), but the trail is wide and kept clean, so traveling through it in busy times isn't too much of an issue. It runs through some nice park areas, including Turtle Creek Park, so it's also a nice place to walk your dog or bring your family.