Last Saturday we dropped the kids off at my Mom's and we went hiking. We went to the Cedar Ridge Preserve south of Dallas. The parking lot surprised me upon our arrival by being more crowded than I expected but once on the trails things did space out and you had some nature to yourself. Of course we went on a Saturday afternoon with gorgeous weather. Next time we will go on a weekday morning during the summer, or at least early in the morning if we return on a weekend.
It was much prettier scenery than I expected to find. It was also much hillier than we anticipated. We got some really good workouts climbing some steep trails. We did pass a humming beehive and quickly tried to move along. However, a lone bee did follow us and actually stung Kim! Fortunately she got the stinger out pretty quickly out of her leg and I had Tylenol on hand.
We were also warned about venomous snakes, including rattlesnakes, but we didn't see any. If you stay on the trail you're usually okay. Snakes don't like people and will avoid you if they can. Still, the signs are cool.
There were a lot of interlocking trails to choose from. We were only able try a few. They were very well marked. Much better marked than most hiking trails we've been on. I do think they need more signs warning hikers of their difficulty. We were fine trying anything, but we saw some other hikers about to enter a trail that we just left that didn't seem prepared for what they were about to face. There were plenty of trails of various difficulty.
There were very nice views of expansive vistas. Who would have thought you could find such hilly terrain in DFW?
I would definitely recommend Cedar Ridge. It's free to enter although they suggest a donation at the entrance. It was very clean and well maintained. And it was one of the prettiest places we've hiked in a long time.
