Walk It Off

When it comes to places to go for a walk, Preston Hollow and the Park Cities have an embarrassment of riches.

The original idea I had for this was to toss up a bunch of great pictures with the quote, “Drive to anywhere Park Cities or Preston Hollow, park car, get out of car, and step forward continuously until you begin to tire and circle back.”

However, that’s simply not good enough, and walking is really a lot more important than people realize. There is some scientific evidence that general exercise can actually help stave off various effects of Mild Cognitive Impairment, which can be caused due to a lack of blood flow. When we get our heart rates up, it increases blood flow. Regularly exercised bodies could lead potentially to healthier minds.

So, let’s talk about some fun places to not just keep ourselves healthy but also that will provide other opportunities. Some of these places to walk are huge but at the smaller ones just do laps. These are in no particular order.

⦁ NorthPark Center – If you need efficiency with your exercise, combine your exercise and your shopping in one trip by heading over to NorthPark Center. You get a variety of shops to go to and if you want you can absorb some of that industrial-strength air conditioning from the movie theater as a break or a treat. You also have a variety of places to eat post-exercise from restaurants to a food court.

⦁ The Galleria – It’s similar to NorthPark but without the movie theater. The Galleria is a really large open building, which gives it a really nice atmosphere as you walk through it. It has just as many excellent places to get some food at after you’ve wrapped up your walk. The fantastic ice skating rink is also one more way to get exercise or a way to add to the walking you’ve done already. If you have kids or grandkids with you, they’ll love you for taking them to it.

⦁ SMU – I didn’t go to SMU but I have to admit it’s a beautiful campus and the surrounding area as well. You could get a good deal of exercise walking laps around the campus or just around the football stadium. Plus, if you walk there, you’re not too far away from restaurants or anywhere else you might want to go post exercise.

⦁ Northaven Trail – It’s officially 8.2 miles of hiking and biking trail. Of course, you don’t have to walk the whole thing but even walking just a mile and circling back will be a big health boost. It also feels pretty spacious in the middle of a big city.

⦁ Katy Trail – Most people know about Katy Trail already because it’s a great place to walk, jog, or ride a bike. It also is in uptown. A large number of restaurants are nearby to get bite to eat at.

⦁ Goar Park – A good place to get some short walks in. It even has a playground for kids or grandkids you might be bringing along for them to play at.

⦁ Lakeside Park – Another fun place to go take a walk. Plus people get engaged there all the time or do engagement photos. So, it’s hard to be sad when there’s all that positive energy in the air.

⦁ Preston Hollow Park – A park in a nice neighborhood with a playground like Goar Park for kids to play at if you need or want to bring them along while you get your exercise.

I could make this list go on even longer as there are a lot of places that are perfect for walking in the area. You should go out and explore and you’ll probably find ones that only a few people know about or you’ll discover a new one.