Wild Texas Forums: Parks, Travel & Recreation - View Single Post - Equine-friendly parks

Alchemist2000 · 12-30-2004, 05:12 AM

After thinking about this some more, I thought I should expand upon my first response, which was focused on the state parks because that was what you had specificaly mentioned. If you are looking for something closer to Fort Worth, there are a number of popular riding trails near the metroplex.

There are some very popular equestrian trails on Grapevine Lake and Lewisville Lake. These are on Army Corps of Engineers land and open to the public, but maintained by the Cross Timbers Equestrian Trails Association See the CTETA website for maps of the various trails.

The Greenbelt between Lake Ray Roberts and Lewisville Lake, which is run by the state park system, has 12 miles of equestrian trails and some accommodations for horses at the three trailheads.

Finally, the LBJ Grasslands, which is federal land north of Decatur, is used extensively by horse owners, with 50 miles of horse trails. I could not find their map online, but we picked up one for free at the ranger station going north out of Decatur. I would definitely recommend getting a map if you are headed out that way, since the roads are a maze of old drilling roads. I did find a website for a Bed and Barn there. I don't know anything about the Bed and Barn, but their website does have a little bit of info. The grasslands are one of our favorite places in north Texas to hike. It would be a great place on horseback....lots of woods and varied terrain. It is not at all what I first envisioned when I heard the term "grasslands". Most of the area is free, although a couple of the improved camping areas require a fee. The most popular horse location seems to be Tadra Horse Camp. It has primitive camping areas large enough to accommodate horse trailers. There is a $4 per car fee for this location.

We have hiked in all of these areas, some more frequently than others. All of them seem to be extremely popular with area horse owners. Unfortunately, since we do not own horses, I can not critique these locations from that perspective. Good luck and let us know if anything pans out.

12-30-2004, 05:12 AM	#3
Alchemist2000 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Lewisville, TX Posts: 73	Re: Equine-friendly parks After thinking about this some more, I thought I should expand upon my first response, which was focused on the state parks because that was what you had specificaly mentioned. If you are looking for something closer to Fort Worth, there are a number of popular riding trails near the metroplex. There are some very popular equestrian trails on Grapevine Lake and Lewisville Lake. These are on Army Corps of Engineers land and open to the public, but maintained by the Cross Timbers Equestrian Trails Association See the CTETA website for maps of the various trails. The Greenbelt between Lake Ray Roberts and Lewisville Lake, which is run by the state park system, has 12 miles of equestrian trails and some accommodations for horses at the three trailheads. Finally, the LBJ Grasslands, which is federal land north of Decatur, is used extensively by horse owners, with 50 miles of horse trails. I could not find their map online, but we picked up one for free at the ranger station going north out of Decatur. I would definitely recommend getting a map if you are headed out that way, since the roads are a maze of old drilling roads. I did find a website for a Bed and Barn there. I don't know anything about the Bed and Barn, but their website does have a little bit of info. The grasslands are one of our favorite places in north Texas to hike. It would be a great place on horseback....lots of woods and varied terrain. It is not at all what I first envisioned when I heard the term "grasslands". Most of the area is free, although a couple of the improved camping areas require a fee. The most popular horse location seems to be Tadra Horse Camp. It has primitive camping areas large enough to accommodate horse trailers. There is a $4 per car fee for this location. We have hiked in all of these areas, some more frequently than others. All of them seem to be extremely popular with area horse owners. Unfortunately, since we do not own horses, I can not critique these locations from that perspective. Good luck and let us know if anything pans out. Last edited by Alchemist2000 : 12-30-2004 at 05:15 AM.