Lewisville, TX, has a lot more to offer than skyscrapers and shopping malls. Venture into its backyard, and you’ll find many natural attractions and scenic parks with native wildlife, all within a half-hour’s drive. You will find some of the best hiking trails, fishing spots, nature preserves, and recreational parks with various amenities in Texas.
Start your exploration at these nine amazing parks and nature attractions.
Arbor Hills Nature Preserve
If you’re looking to escape the hustle and bustle of city life and reconnect with nature without going too far, make Arbor Hills Nature Preserve your first stop. It’s a vast 200-acre pocket of tranquility, with three miles of paved trails that wind through scenic terrain. You can walk, jog, or hike along these trails or enjoy other outdoor activities in their neat playgrounds. Here, you will also find various wild animals, including deer, owls, snakes, armadillos, and coyotes. Be sure to climb the observation tower to get a bird’s-eye view of the park or watch the sunset before leaving the park.
Lewisville Lake Park
On the southern shore of Lewisville Lake lies a 622-acre park that offers various amenities. Picnic sites, tent camps, athletic facilities, swimming beaches, and pavilions are popular attractions within the park. Marinas, boat and jet-ski rentals, launch ramps, and angler’s supplies are also available. Other highlights are the beautiful pine trees and vast open space.
Residents of the Dallas Fort-Worth area come here to engage in water sports and outdoor recreational activities. You can relax by the shore, hike, fish, bike, sail, play, or catch up with family or friends. Bring your kids along for a fun-filled day at the lake, where you can build beach castles and play by the shores. The forested areas surrounding the lake are safe and have plenty of campgrounds and picnic areas.
The Shoreline Trail
Lewisville is also home to multiple outdoor trails that are perfect for cycling and hiking. One of these is the 10-foot wide, 3.5-mile long Shoreline Trail. Its surface is built from textured concrete and natural granite. The trail runs along the breathtaking shores of Lewisville Lake and is lined with benches for you to rest as you explore the landscape. Informative signage dots the trails. For your convenience, the Shoreline Trail’s management offers free parking to visitors and several bike repair stations along the trail. Visit this trail to learn more about the town’s history, flora, and fauna.
LLELA Nature Preserve
Short for Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area, LLELA is a beautiful nature preserve that covers over 2000 acres of bottomland hardwood forests, tallgrass prairies, and wetlands traversed by the Trinity River. This park is surrounded by soft rolling hills near Lewisville, TX, just beneath the Lewisville Dam.
LLELA was established to preserve and promote the unique ecosystem and biodiversity in Lewisville. Today, it is home to deer, hogs, squirrels, beavers, foxes, hogs, river otters, and hundreds of birds and different bat species. Being so close to the urban sprawl of Dallas and the Fort Worth area, locals get the chance to explore the diverse ecology of this park.
Grapevine Botanical Gardens
At Grapevine Botanical Gardens, you get to enjoy nature’s beauty and relax in a tranquil surrounding. You can come alone or with friends to spend lazy weekend afternoons or to take long peaceful strolls. The park has several trails, koi ponds, a butterfly sanctuary, and hundreds of plants and flowers to delight your senses. There are also many sitting areas. This hidden gem stays in bloom all year round and is open throughout the year. With its breathtaking scenery and serene atmosphere, you’re bound to lose yourself here.
Lewisville Fishing Barge
Just off Lake Park Road on Lake Lewisville is an excellent urban fishing spot. The barge has been around since 1957 and offers fantastic opportunities for fishing. You can choose to fish outside on the pier or inside with climate-controlled comfort. There’s plenty of fish and a great variety, including largemouth bass, crappie, carp, and buffalo all year round. Beverages and snacks are available, or you can bring your own.
Stone Creek Park
The award-winning Stone Creek Park lies south of the busy Reed Market Road and offers a bit of nature’s quiet within a metropolitan setting. It’s defined by basalt lava that forms a mini butte-like natural area in the park’s center. A large part of the six-plus acre remains natural with rabbitbrush, ponderosa pine, and other native plants dominating your view. You can explore this park through unpaved trails. There are also several picnic areas, open turf, and natural play areas. If you bring your dogs, be sure to keep them on a leash, except in leash-off areas.
Doubletree Ranch Park
Head over to nearby Doubletree Ranch Park, and explore its one-mile trail. This park features beautifully designed gardens, rolling green lawns surrounded by old trees, and a picturesque waterfall. Here, you can enjoy a family picnic on the grand lawn or have fun playing soccer at the soccer complex. The splash pad is another attraction with three wet play sequence zones for continuous water action, 15 water features, and a waterfall.
If you’d rather reconnect with nature than play water sports, you can take long strolls through the park, hang around the butterfly garden, or sit under a tree and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
Old Alton Bridge
Finally, for some spooky, haunted trails, head over to the Old Alton Bridge, or Goatman’s Bridge, that connects Denton and Copper Canyon. This iron truss bridge was built in 1884 and provides a sneak peek into the history of the area. Legend has it that anyone who walks across the bridge might see glowing eyes, hear a splash or a burst of disturbing laughter, or simply see the ghost of a man with the head of a goat staring at them.
So, there you have it. The nine top attractions and parks in Lewisville, Texas. Are there other wonderful attractions and parks within or around this town that we missed? Drop a line to Huffines CJDR Lewisville and we’ll update our listing.
Image via Pixabay by Manfred Antranias Zimmer