Trinity River Audubon Center Top 5 List

Spring has Sprung! Need some ideas for getting outside to enjoy the beautiful weather? For Texas Friends, look no further than the Trinity River Audubon Center and Wilderness!

Explore the Great Trinity Forest by starting your adventure at the Trinity River Audubon Center, which is only 10 miles south of downtown Dallas and is an easy half-day excursion. However, visitors will feel a world away from the busy city. The 6,000-acre Trinity Forest is the largest urban hardwood forest in the United States, and the Audubon Center gives visitors access to this abundant nature (trinityriver.audubon.org).

Exploring Trinity Forest’s bottomland hardwood forest, wetland, and prairie habits, you’ll discover a unique plant and animal species community. Surprisingly, the center’s 120 acres was a former illegal dump site. This City of Dallas-Trinity River Corridor Project has reclaimed crucial habitat for many species of birds and other wildlife at the edge of an increasingly urbanized metropolis (trinityriver.audubon.org).

Signs provide basic visitor information.

Framed and digital Maps aid hikers along the trails.

The beautifully simple Audubon Center was designed by Antoine Predock from BRW Architects.

Audubon classrooms are behind slate-gray wall

Top Five Trinity River Audubon Center Things To Do

1.) Self-Guided Walk/Hike 5 miles of Nature Trails

2.) Guided Nature Hike

3.) Birding at Trinity River Audubon Center

4.) Schedule Trinity River Audubon Nature Education Program (individual or class)

5.) Explore Trinity River Audubon Center Hands-on exhibits and Gift Shop

We can all reduce our water consumption:)

Harvesting rainwater in Texas is a SMART move.

The ‘**try this** *at home*‘ segment provides helpful tips to incorporate these actions in your own home.

Below are pictures from inside the Center. A large room with floor-to-ceiling glass frames the Trinity Wilderness beyond. Walls with small cutout windows and shadowboxes filled with turtles and other wildlife intrigue people of all ages. A large ‘sandbox’ gives young naturalists a look at how water creates streams and rivers. And feather cutouts on the ceiling add to the all-natural atmosphere of the Center.

The outside of the Trinity River Audubon Center is low-slung and hugs the horizontal landscape. Angled porches are covered with seemingly floating ceilings providing welcome shade. Trails are well-groomed and marked, which makes for easy hiking to the Trinity River and through the forest.

The Center has many colorful publications promoting events, lectures, groups, and more. The Adventurers Newsletter showcases young naturalists’ activities and gives information on basic environmental issues, such as recycling and reducing carbon footprints.

Audubon Conservation Ranching Initiative was implemented to protect natural grasslands. “This market-based conservation approach offers incentives for good grassland stewardship through a certification label on beef products” (Audubon flyer). Help support the Ranchers and their families who are creating and protecting healthy habitats for birds.