Elwell's Ultra Adventures: Cedar Ridge Preserve 12/26/2010

Today was day one of my plan to run DFW area trails. I found a few close by that I knew were paved, too short, or were a pay to enter type of trail. Not what I was looking for.
Then I stumbled onto Cedar Ridge Preserve (thanks Trails.com). I'd heard of before when looking for mountain bike trails and usually just disregarded it because they don't allow bikes. They do not allow anything but hikers, walkers, and runners. From what I read it was 6 loops and roughly 6 miles. Exactly what I was looking for.
Contact Info:
Cedar Ridge Preserve
7171 Mountain Creek Parkway
Dallas, Texas 75249
972-709-7784

When I arrived there were about 20-30 cars parked. This initially concerned me. I don't like running around a lot of people. I wanted to enjoy the trails...alone!
I noticed one lady with a big German Shepard and signs saying pets must be on a leash, so I'm guessing pets are welcome.
Fortunately, I only saw a handful of people, all hikers, and all very polite. Well to me anyhow(see Angry Asian below). Here is a link to my route:
View Cedar Ridge Preserve 2010-12-26 in a larger map
Picture of the entry way into the preserve I took them on my way out....which is why they are nighttime shots...

So I started off...trails were very well marked. Very well maintained. Very enjoyable.
as you will notice I did about 7 miles but stopped to snap a pic of anything that caught my eye.
Here are a few of the trail:

Here are few of my favorite shots I got of the pond.

Right before I found this overlook picture below, there was an older Asian couple I passed. I said hello, they ignored me. I stopped to pull out my camera and the guy started yelling at some rocks. He then proceed to angrily kick all the loose rocks from the trail. I can only imagine he fell previously. I really, really really, wanted to ask the guy what he expected to find on a nature trail! I did get some satisfaction in the fact that I figured he busted his butt on a rock, AND that he'd probably never be back! And of course the view made me forget all about him.

So to wrap things up...their are 6 loops. Took me 7 miles. At the back of the preserve their was an awesome pond worth stopping and checking out(see pics above). The 2 difficult loops are as they are listed. Difficult. Not impossible or impassible, Just pretty steep climbs for the area! On 2 occasions I slowed to a walk and labored up. On several more occasions I felt these lungs burning as I gasped for air while climing. But like any good uphill....there is a downhill, these were typically fast and fun. A few parts of the trails were covered in leaves and became a bit slippery. Despite the full day of rain we had 2 days ago, the trails were in good shape. Only about a mile stretch became even slightly muddy. It wasn't anything sloppy and gooshy. Mostly just sticky.
The park closes at 6. I was minding my time closes. I started the last trail with 20 minutes left. I took a wrong turn and popped out in a neighborhood. I had to back track and as soon as I got back on trail I found a tower. Here is a pic I took from up there:

Made it back to my truck at 5:52pm I was the only vehicle left. Worth mentioning is: I did not see a single piece of trash at all anywhere! (this is very rare for the metroplex)
What a great day!

Here are the remainder of the pictures I thought were worth sharing. Makes it hard to believe this is only minutes outside of Dallas. And right in the mess of the DFW metroplex.

A few pictures at a stream crossing. In fact I believe it was the only stream crossing. There was a bench here that would of made a nice spot to sit and relax.