Trinity River Audubon Center
6500 Great Trinity Forest Way, Dallas
214/398-8722
trinityriver.audubon.org
Hours: 9am–4pm Tuesday–Saturday and 10am–5pm Sunday
Admission: $6 for adults and $3 for children ages 3–12. Get free admission each third Thursday of the month.
Parking: Free
No doubt the kids are already lamenting their return to the confines of the classroom, so on your next free weekend, treat them to some fresh air at the Trinity River Audubon Center. Ten miles south of downtown Dallas, this 120-acre expanse in the Great Trinity Forest is home to multiple types of terrain — hardwood forest, wetlands and prairie — and more than 220 known bird species.
Borrow a free pair of binoculars from the front desk and explore the sights on five miles of hiking trails — flat enough to navigate with a jogging stroller and dotted with rest areas that overlook ponds. Don’t miss the two-story bird blind (a structure designed to hide you while you spy on the birds) about a 20-minute walk up the Wetlands Trail.
To officially learn the ropes of bird observation, join the kids for two-hour classes offered each month. On the evening Owl Prowls, instructors teach how to imitate the call of the barred owl, which sounds amusingly like “Who cooks for you?”
For younglings with shorter attention spans, visit the Children’s Discovery Garden, a small patch of vegetation rife with butterflies and hummingbirds. Find the garden next to a colorful playhouse, a sandbox and outdoor tanks stocked with catfish, which you’re welcome to feed with provided pellets.
As the sun heats up in the afternoon, retreat indoors to check out the tarantula, box turtles, snakes, bullfrog and more native animals on display in their miniature habitats (ask attendants about the live feedings). Stop anytime to feed your own brood at the picnic tables scattered around the center and grab one treat from the nature store: a jar of honey harvested locally from the center’s very own bee colonies.
