Wichita Bluff Nature Area Looking Good Nearing Completion

Yesterday after watching the Wichita Falls 4th of July Parade I decided Independence Day was a good day to check out the current state of construction of the Wichita Bluff Nature Area and that area's extension of the Circle Trail which circles Wichita Falls with a few gaps.

Well, I was pleased to see there has been a lot of progress with the Wichita Bluff Nature Area.

When completed this will give the Circle Trail something it lacks on all its other miles.

A hill.

Not a steep hill, but an elevation gain which will require some gear shifting whilst pedaling uphill and some braking whilst coasting downhill. In addition to the Circle Trail this Nature Area also has the possibility of hiking trails being added, meandering up and down the bluff, maybe all the way to the Wichita River.

Below you are looking at part of the new section of the Circle Trail, sloping downhill. Railing will need to be added due to the fact that there is a steep drop off on the left side of the trail.

Below we have walked down the slope to the bottom of the gorge, to the new bridge taking the Circle Trail across a creek the name of which is not known to me. Wichita Bluff Creek? Sounds good to me. From the bridge we are ascending back up the slope, hence the view you see here.

I do not know if when it is completed the Wichita Bluffs Nature Area will be a natural area of the caliber of the one I miss in Fort Worth, that being the Tandy Hills Nature Area.

It has been well over a year since I have had the pleasure of experiencing one of the few things unique about Fort Worth, that being a wild natural area so close to the sleepy town's downtown.

In a few months my monthly trip back to D/FW will shift west from Euless to south Haltom City, which is near Gateway Park and the Tandy Hills. I suspect I will be returning to the Tandy Hills in the near future for some salubrious hill hiking and nature communing.

In the meantime I hope the Wichita Bluff Nature Area finally finishes being constructed, with a grand opening celebration. Likely with no TNT explosions.  Wichita Falls is a much more sane, sensible town than the previous Texas town I lived in....