Saturday Afternoon Ride 03-06-10

A while back I had heard about a new section of the Trinity Trails that was constructed next to a waterfall. I was under the impression that it was a man made water feature, probably something akin to the falls in Wichita Falls, Texas, just on a much smaller scale. I know that one of the area bloggers had made an attempt to ride to the falls but for some reason never reached his destination. I set off to find the elusive Trinity Trails falls for myself.

I didn't have too much time to ride today so I cheated by driving to the trailhead at White Settlement Road and Isbell. This trailhead is located in northwest Fort Worth. It's a nice facility. It was chilly and gloomy when I started but the sun eventually came out.

This is too common of a site on the trails. I wish that they had made the crossings a couple of feet higher. I stayed on the northside of the river rather than attempt crossing here.

This is generally what the trails look like on the northwest side of town. There's not much in the way of scenery. The trails are mostly crushed limestone in this area.

If you stay on the north side of the river you'll pass the old Air Force base. That's an F-4 Phantom in this photo. When I was in the Air Force I was stationed at Bergstrom in Austin. It was a reconnaissance base equipped with RF4C Phantoms. I hated those things. They were incredibly loud and tended to fall out of the sky on a regular basis. I watched one take off, immediately blow an engine and crash into east Austin.

End of the trail. It's still gloomy.

I took a chance and crossed the river here to the south side trail. I was more worried about slipping on algae than being washed off the trail. I've slipped crossing a creek before and it was pretty embarrassing.

The sun started to peek out when I hit the new trail.

My first sight of the falls. The falls themselves are natural. Obviously the river banks have been reinforced.

The area around the falls is much prettier than I expected. This will be a great area to wade in the river and explore once the weather warms up.

I rode back to the starting point and decided to grab a bite to eat at George's Specialty Foods, a Greek restaurant located just across the street from the trailhead. You can't get much more convenient than that.

There wasn't much available to lock my bike to so I sat next to a window and kept an eye on it.

I was indecisive about what to order. The waiter suggested a Greek Turkey Sandwich which I wolfed down. I would suggest stopping here for a meal if you decide to check out the falls for yourself.