Enjoy long-distance hikes through fascinating large preserves and parks — without leaving DFW. Dallas Sierra Club joins with Amy Martin, author of Wild DFW, to offer quarterly hikes on trails as wild as North Texas has to offer. Explore these places with naturalists and others that know them the best.

First up: Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area [lee-lah]. We’ll hike every trail there and one not open to the public. Scrappy Eastern Cross Timbers to lush bottomland forest, river and off-river marshes, open meadows and prairies, riverside and old river channels.

Points-of-interest naturalist mini-breaks: insect-home installation, waterbird fishing melee at dam outlet, 1800s cabin and farmstead. Lunch break at bird blind on Bittern Marsh.

We hope these hikes will help Dallas and surroundings develop a mindset of embracing its nature with a deep sense of pride. From that will arise more trails and greater land preservation.

Donations for hike leader thank-you gifts and park/preserve donations appreciated.

Wild DFWs available for purchase.