My friend Jamie and I challenged ourselves to walk The Loop Dallas’ (almost completed) entire 50-mile trail system in one year. Because we’re busy and skipped the hot months, it took the full 365 days – New Year’s Day to New Year’s Eve – but we did it! We jokingly refer to ourselves as the “Dallas Loopies,” because it took dedication and Jamie’s superb planning skills to make it happen.
My name is Janie Griffith and this is My Dallas Trail Story.
I’m an SMU film school alum, video production business owner and sixth-generation Texan – my ancestors settled on the west bank of the Trinity River in 1855. I’m fascinated by how this city blossomed around the waterway, has managed its floods over time by rerouting it away from downtown and adding levees and wetlands, and uses it for recreation. My favorite parts of The Loop Dallas trails bring me close to the Trinity and its tributary springs and creeks, especially when I overdose on technology and electronics at my Global Shout Media office.
I live in far northeast Dallas and Jamie is in Lewisville, but The Loop Dallas gives us a safe, fun way to spend time together and see new and different areas on foot. The murals, sculptures, lighting and traffic safety features help transform areas that can feel a little gritty or industrial into places you feel safe enjoying time outdoors, alone or with others. Walking over busy Mockingbird Lane using the pedestrian bridge and then connecting with the Ridgewood Trail was a great example – this network would have been amazing when I was an SMU student on campus with no car.
My tiny Maltese, Waffles, walked each one of these 50 miles with us. He loves to meet other dogs, see the beautiful cranes and herons along the river, sniff the plants and flowers on the forest trails, attempt to catch every squirrel (someday, buddy), and enjoy the breeze coming off White Rock Lake. We run the trails together when it’s cool enough; he is indefatigable and can run faster and further than I can!
We had a blast on our Loop Dallas Adventure and encountered a lot we didn’t expect. We found fences growing through the middle of ancient trees, came across an angry crawfish on the path in the Upper Chain of Wetlands during a surprise thunderstorm, passed wild greens foragers and river fishermen, ventured to the current end of the paved path construction underneath the raised north and south-bound lanes of I-45, viewed the Dallas skyline from so many unusual vantage points, greeted city workers building flood control features and train conductors passing in locomotives, and accidentally crashed a 5K race we weren’t registered for! What a wonderful way to break out of the rhythm of our daily lives and experience something new!
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