It’s 7 a.m. on a Saturday in Dallas. Songbirds flit in and out of the brush, herons patrol the local waterways and dragonflies skim above the marshland. Out of my peripheral, I see a plane taking off from nearby Dallas-Love Field, hear the faint buzz of a highway. It’s the perfect escape from the fifth largest city in the States. And also two miles from downtown.

Trinity Skyline Trail is a multi-purpose paved trail that follows 4.6 miles along the Trinity River. A gravel trail (the Trinity Levee Trail) runs parallel in either direction, providing additional miles of riding. We left home with the intention of getting a 20-mile gravel ride in on our Cannondale Topstones, but unexpected early morning storms quickly had us shifting our plan. Mud and crushed gravel caked our tires within the first 200 feet of riding the trail, but lucky us, the paved trail was just ahead. It may not have been the first choice, but it was an alternative we could live with.

Riding along the trail, you forget you’re just a couple of miles from downtown Dallas. Anyone who has been to Texas knows about the imposing highway system that is impossible to escape. It’s a flat, hot, concrete jungle….but on the Trinity Skyline Trail, it’s all nature.

We started the ride from Manhattan Project Brewing Company, where we parallel parked for free on a side street abutting the brewery’s parking lot. While the brewery has some of the best beer in the city, we planned to try the breakfast menu post-ride, so the location was perfect.

From the brewery, we rode out to W Commerce Street where we jumped onto the trail next to the Trinity River. The first of several bridges – Margaret McDermott Bridge – greeted us on the right. While riding the trail, we passed under several bridges, all with different architectural styles. And all set against the Dallas skyline as a backdrop.

We rode the 4.6 miles out to Trinity View Park where the trail officially ends and cut through the park, picking up another trail to see where it would lead. We didn’t get far, stopping at Rosebud Dr before deciding to head back. Unbeknownst to us at the time, it was the Campion Trail – a planned 22-mile trail through Irving, TX – that would’ve allowed us to stack on some additional mileage. But we’ll leave that for next time.

While the Trinity Skyline Trail wasn’t our original plan, it was a nice respite from the hustle and bustle of Dallas. The wildlife and bridge architecture provided us with a different side of the city and the views of the skyline in the early morning light were definitely photoworthy.