Lewisville Outdoor Learning Area is a 1.8 mile loop trail located near The Colony, Texas that features a river and is good for all skill levels. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, nature trips, and birding and is accessible year-round.
kid friendly
birding
hiking
nature trips
walking
forest
river
wild flowers
wildlife
no dogs
Just down Highway 121 business from I-35E in the eastern part of Lewisville is a special place that should be shared with your kids. It is the Lewisville Independent School District Outdoor Learning Area (LISDOLA). LISDOLA is an eighty-acre tract of land located on the south side of Lake Lewisville Dam in Denton County. The landscape boasts wetlands, forests, fields, rivers and streams and contains approximately five miles of hiking trails. It provides teachers, students and visitors with an outdoor, hands-on-educational experiences. There is a small parking lot near the trail head just off Fish Hatchery Road. There are several trails of various lengths of easy hiking. All the trails are named and well marked. All arrows on the posts point back to Fish Hatchery Road. Numerous QR codes along the trails provide educational information about the bids and wildlife in the area. The LISDOLA nature trails are within the Eastern Cross Timbers region of Texas. The original region was approximately 19,000 square miles of gently rolling to hilly landscape. These nature trails are but a small remnant. The Cross Timbers are drought-stressed woodlands, populated by low-stature, slow-growing trees. It has typically sandy soils with some pockets of clay. The dominate tree is the Post oak. The surviving Post oaks are in the 200 to 400 year old range, though their diameter may be only 12 - 18 inches.
Closed on weekdays for school outings.
Main trail is much shorter than advertised (1.8 miles), but very well maintained. Many of the side trails are poorly maintained or possibly being decommissioned. Nice scenery, but I would have liked more views of the creek which was often just out of sight.