Spring Creek Forest Preserve — Attraction in Garland

Very nice in the spring - buggy and muggy in the summer. There are some big trees - the largest I've found is probably over 5 feet in diameter, although there are some that fork out bigger than that closer to the ground. Tallest trees are in the 70-100 foot range, but I haven't measured them, so it's just an estimate. The main trails are easy to follow, but the smaller ones come and go. The creek is pretty ugly, as creeks go, but the sound it provides does add to the nature-y ambience.

Most interesting by far is the vegetation: while there are many plants I recognize, the variety is far greater than most areas around here, and there are some flowers and grasses I am unaccustomed to seeing. Also fascinating is the abruptness with which the change in flora occurs from the edge of the park to the center.

All in all, this is a great place to take your kids out walking so that they can see some big trees, climb through the forest, etc. That being said, it's ideal snake habitat, teems with mosquitoes and, especially in areas of mixed sun and shade, has some truly dense poison ivy thickets.

So definitely go, but beware the...

I give it three stars and I'm going to tell you why there is no picnic tables there is no benches along the route you know the when you walk they have mosquitoes in there as big as hummingbirds I swear to you and we walked 5 miles 5 miles stretch I saw no benches at all so I hope that the Garland chamber Converses listening or reading this because you need to allocate some money to put benches along the way because it's vital I'm handicapped as it is and then not having benches made it real tough on me there is no playgrounds for kids this is not a real good place for kids it's just for you to go out and walk and hike and that's it there's nothing there I don't know if I'll go back just based on what I saw today but if you want to go out and walk and hit the trails and experience something new well then go for it but I'm not so that's my take on it and I hope that you either enjoy it and tell me that I'm wrong or maybe you won't like it like I do anyhow my name is Mark and again I'm enjoy putting these posts together...

Great trail for Boy Scout and Cub Scout hikes. The preserve has two parking lots with trailheads. One is on the East side of Holford road (and closer to 190). The other is on the West side and closer to the fire station.

The East side trail is paved with a pavilion that is perfect for Cubs and Webelos. You can run half the meeting in the pavilion then do the quick nature hike. Perfect for Webelos Naturalist or Forester. This is also an easy place for Boy Scouts to find evidence of native plant and animal species.

On the West side, there is a one mile loop with access to a sand bar with fossils. There are also areas where the creek shows stratigraphy that can be used for Webelos Geologist. We also use that side for short Boy Scout hikes and the Environmental Science Merit Badge since it has both riparian and meadow ecosystems that are easy to access so you can photograph them in four...