Kiest Park

At an impressive 263 acres, Kiest Park is the largest city park in Oak Cliff, one of the oldest established neighborhoods in Dallas. It's bursting with so many amenities that it might be easier to list what it doesn't have than what it does. If you play baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, tennis, or volleyball, there are facilities here to meet your needs. If group fitness is more your thing, the large Kiest Park Recreation Center offers Zumba and high-impact aerobics, as well as dance classes, martial arts training, and summer camp programs for kids.

Even so, Kiest Park's biggest draw isn't its organized activities, but the simple pleasure of spontaneous afternoons spent walking in nature. It's a great place to come with your dog. Three miles of trails wind through rolling lawns and forests and past many unique features, including stone gates, picnic shelters, and a fieldhouse. Other features from that era that fell into decay have since been restored, including manicured gardens and a pergola. A water feature with a charming frog fountain adds to the nostalgic atmosphere of this section of the park.

One of the most recently developed features in Kiest Park is a soft dirt trail through old-growth forest in the park's southernmost section. It feels wild here. As you emerge from the densest tree cover, filtered light falls in dappled patches on enchanted copses. Elsewhere, you and your dog can wander past fields of colorful wildflowers. Look for bluebonnets and Texas paintbrush, as well as daisies and coneflowers.

You could come back day after day for hours at a time trying to see every scenic vista in Kiest Park. This well-loved park was recognized in 2017 as a Lone Star Legacy Park, indicating its special prominence and historic legacy. Come here to see the best of Texas past and present and to spend a truly magical day with your dog.