The only thing better than skating is skating with friends. I love rolling down the Katy Trail in the evenings, helping build an inclusive community on wheels for skaters to exercise, learn tricks, and make new friends.
I’m Henry, an inline skater. I lead a social skate on the Katy Trail and this is My Dallas Trail Story.
DFW Inline Skate Club has been around for years, with a consistent Tuesday Night City Skate for advanced skaters. That one goes down the Katy Trail too, but then splits off down city streets through downtown, Deep Ellum and some other cool spots.
I started the Thursday Night Skate in late 2022 as a way to make the club accessible to more skaters. For this one we stay on the trail, away from cars, making it safe for beginners. Initially we’d get only a handful of people each week, but with better weather and more folks hearing about it, we’re up around 10–15 now. If you ever see us rolling down the trail, flag me down and ask for a sticker for our group. But if you’re rolling too, just join up and ride with us. Membership is immediate.
We’re an all-wheels-welcome group. Mostly inline skaters, but Thursday nights, we’ll get rollerskaters, a couple longboarders and maybe somebody on a bike. Anything that rolls. The pace is casual and you certainly don’t need to be a skating whiz to come out and enjoy. We get people who’ve been skating only a few months. Not absolute beginners, but as long as you’re able to control your speed and navigate around other trail users (it can be crowded) then you’ll be fine.
We meet up at David’s Way, on the Katy Trail at Knox St. Roll out at 8 pm. We skate up to the north end of the trail, then roll down the whole length of it, stopping for a short break at Snyder’s Union to chat and let everybody regroup. Once we hit Victory Park we’ll go over to the plaza in front of American Airlines Center, put on some music and hang for a while and work on new. Then it’s back up the trail and usually over to Old Monk or Cosmo’s for some late-night dinner and drinks.
