Saunders Park Is The Secret Hidden Gem Of The Fort Worth Stockyards

The Fort Worth Stockyards Secret Saunders Park

In the picture you are looking at the backside of Riscky's Steakhouse and the Love Shack and a couple other backsides, like maybe the White Elephant Saloon, who's frontsides face Exchange Avenue in the Fort Worth Stockyards.

The picture was taken in a location called Saunders Park. I have long been perplexed by Saunders Park.

Why have I been perplexed?

Well, it appears a lot of effort went into building Saunders Park, enhancing Marine Creek. But very few people who visit the Fort Worth Stockyards see Saunders Park.

And yesterday I saw that the sign on Exchange Avenue that directed visitors down the alley that leads to Saunders Park no longer exists.

The Snake I've Seen In Texas I Saw At This Location

I've long thought the alley that leads to Saunders Park was really tacky, what with garbage bins filled with restaurant refuge aromatically lining the way to the park.

The only Fort Worth Stockyards enterprise that seems to embrace and make use of Saunders Park is Tim Love's Lonesome Dove Bistro, which has a patio overlooking the park.

I think I recollect reading Tim Love quoted after he bought the White Elephant Saloon, or maybe after he opened the Love Shack, that he wanted to open up those entities to Saunders Park.

But that has not happened. I would imagine that would be an expensive remodeling undertaking.

If I remember right, and I probably don't, I discovered Saunders Park via riding my bike on the Trinity Trail and then exiting the Trinity Trail to another trail that led me into Saunders Park.

Looking South At Marine Creek In Saunders Park

The paved trail that runs beside the canal looking waterway that flows under the Stockyards continues on for miles along Marine Creek.

I've never been able to learn why Saunders Park was built or why the Fort Worth Stockyards appears to ignore its existence.

I Googled to see if I could find any info regarding this perplexation and was surprised to learn that when you Google "Saunders Park Fort Worth" my Fort Worth Stockyards webpage is in the #1 spot.

And what is in the #2 spot? A blogging of mine on this very blog you are reading right now, written way back on April 20, 2009, titled Fort Worth Stockyards Saunders Park.

Not remembering I had already blogged about being perplexed by Saunders Park is the latest sad sign that my memory is failing. The pictures that I took for the previous time I blogged about Saunders Park appear to be better than the ones I took yesterday.

Fort Worth Stockyards Saunders Park

Yesterday I made mention of a seldom seen part of the Fort Worth Stockyards, that being the Marine Creek Linear Park and the part of the Linear Park known as Saunders Park. I said this spot reminded me of Venice, but the photo I used didn't really do a good job of showing what this park looks like. Hence this followup blogging.

I'll use the verbiage from my Eyes on Texas website webpage about this part of the Stockyards.

Most Fort Worth Stockyard's visitors do not realize a river runs through it, well, actually a creek, Marine Creek, which a short distance from this point will join the Trinity River. In the above photo we are standing under the bridge which most people walking on Exchange Avenue don't realize they are on when they are in the White Elephant Saloon or standing near the Fort Worth Stockyards sign. There is a paved trail called the Marine Creek Linear Park of which this location is a part.

Now we are in the aforementioned Saunders Park, overlooking Marine Creek. This is a very attractive, scenic part of the Stockyards that few see. There is a sign on the south side of Exchange Avenue pointing visitors to an alley that leads to the park, but that one sign seems to be the only effort made to direct people to this location. Tim Love's Lonesome Dove Bistro is the only Stockyards venue to take advantage of this asset. The Lonesome Dove has a deck overlooking the park where diners can enjoy the view.

When you explore around the Saunders Park zone you can see signs that at some point in time it was bigger, with trails eroded and rockwork fallen apart. The Stockyards area and North Main Street seem to have a history of projects that don't quite get finished. I think one of them is called something like La Gran Plaza. Basically an alley was fixed up, sort of Mexican themed, but it didn't get finished. I think the Rose Marine Theater was part of that renewal attempt.

Another thing about Saunders Park. It was in the tunnel part of this trail that I saw the biggest snake I've seen since I was in Texas. That was very unsettling. I think it was a water moccasin. But when I get in snake panic mode my snake identification skills tend to suffer.