Heights Bike Trail (West/East) – Part 2

We picked up the Heights Bike Trail where we left off last time - in front of Sawyer Heights Lofts close to the shopping center at Sawyer Heights Street and Sawyer, where parking is plentiful and safe.  From here, the trail runs alongside Spring Street, dips under the I10 and the I45, crosses the bayou and turns south towards downtown.  Right now, it ends just short of downtown but construction is already underway on the bridge that will take the trail over the bayou and into Main Street just where the METRO currently terminates at the University of Houston Downtown.

Today’s walk turned out to be full of contradictions.  The thrill of setting out along this “new to us” bit of the track was quickly tempered by the increasing noise of traffic as we approached the freeways.  But, despite the traffic thundering overhead as we dipped under the roads and turned south, the impressive view of this new angle of the downtown skyline  redeemed our spirits.  We quickly settled back into our conversation with a long straight stretch of smooth pathway ahead.  We enjoyed watching the birds fishing in the peaceful bayou to our right and took photos of the pretty selection of wildflowers to the left.   We were briefly amused to see a group of cormorants perched high in a tree  over the bayou and also managed to catch a glimpse far off to the right of Four Giant Presidential Heads –some of the many sculpted by David Adickes.  

All too soon we were approaching the University of Houston Downtown and the noise of construction became almost overwhelming.  The trail comes to an abrupt end but our curiosity forced us on across the mud, past the jackhammers and over the old bridge into the somewhat less scenic but nonetheless interesting area around Harris County Jail and other correction facilities.  

The return journey was tiresomely loud and also uneasily unpopulated.  By the time we were passing back under the I10 and I45 we were feeling a little uncomfortable and resolved to carry mace and a personal alarm with us the next time.  The final contradiction of the day was that while there were convenient restrooms and good coffee right where we had parked, we found the location rather lacking in charm and novelty.

Overall, the Heights Bike Trail is a great find and we will be walking, or perhaps even cycling, this way again in the future. 

Enjoy Houston

Elaine

Houston Heights Bike Trail (north/south along Nicholson St)

For those not familiar with the Heights bike trail, there are two trails of the same name which intersect. The longer of the two trails runs west and east along 7^th St, and the shorter runs north and south along Nicholson St. I’ll refer to them as the w/e and n/s trails. Both are great trails but today I’m sticking to info about the n/s trail. We love walking anywhere in the Heights neighborhood and this little path was on our list of “to-walk” trails for a while but for reasons unknown it kept getting put on the back burner. Finally we arrived at a walking day when nothing else was planned so we opted to walk this little gem. I’m so glad we did.

Finding parking was easy. There is parking along Nicholson St., just south of 8^th St. An alternative parking spot, on the south end of the trail, would be a few blocks west at Lawrence Park - then walk along the west end of the w/e trail until it intersects with the n/s trail. We chose to park and begin the walk at the south end of the trail simply because we are more familiar with the area. Once we got going we could immediately tell this was a fabulous walking trail, seemingly frequented less by bikes than its w/e counterpart. To me, this is a perfect length trail, 2 miles one way if you start where the trails intersect and walk all the way to the Starbuck’s at the 610 freeway.  The trail technically ends abruptly at 26^th St., but we topped it off with the last three blocks of residential area just before the 610. Since Starbuck’s is so conveniently located at 610 and Nicholson, we decided to stop in for coffee. This is a good place for a bathroom break too, if you started at the south end, as it is exactly mid-way. On the return we just couldn’t resist stopping off at the nice little shopping center at 19^th and Nicholson. We picked up some spices at Penzey’s and Elaine bought a comfy pair of shoes in the shoe store located there; we also walked through Joshua’s native plants located one block down on 18^th and Nicholson.  We had our hands full by the time we picked up the trail again.

In terms of nature sightings along this trail, I can’t say there were any unique plants or foliage to speak of (other than in the plant shop), but we were pleasantly surprised to see some beautiful chickens in a yard at the north end of Nicholson. I got pictures but they didn’t turn out very well as you can see – one is posted here just for proof that we did actually see some of our beautiful, flightless friends within city limits. Other than the odd occasional chicken, most of the sights to see in the area are the lovely and unique - new and newly remodeled homes. They all seem to be tidy and proper, boasting kempt yards and lovely colors. The architecture in the area is always a point of pleasant conversation and never ceases to be interesting.

Over all, this is a nice and easy concrete trail, with the only down side being that one must cross busy 20^th St without a crosswalk. (This proved to be a challenge going both north and south).  Although we did get side tracked by the shopping and coffee (turning it a bit into a stroll at some points), I suspect, on a second try, we’ll be able to turn a blind eye to the shopping and stick to our exercise…maybe.

Happy Houston Trails

Tamara

Heights Bike Trail (West/East) – Part 1

Nothing bucks me up more than finding a new walk.   T and I decided some time ago to find nice places to walk within the loop.  Sometimes we stray a little further out but mostly we keep the drive short to give us more time to talk while we walk.

On Heights Bike Trail, facing west at Heights Blvd and 7th St.

This week we found the Heights Bike Trail which provides a short cut through the Heights residential area to Downtown. It’s new to us so we started out in good spirits at Lawrence Park on Shepherd and 7^th Street where it was easy to park the car and we headed off towards Downtown. 

The trail is comfortably smooth under foot and not too busy mid-morning.  It’s November, and a thick border of Black-eyed Susans  to the right of the path made us feel we were out in the countryside.  The very varied houses and gardens lend plenty interest to the eye on the left.

Gradually you become aware of the increasing noise as you approach the I10 but before the path takes you right underneath it you can pause on the bridge over the Bayou and watch the herons and egrets fishing and enjoy the view over Stude Park to the north east and the cityscape to the southeast.

Immediately under the I10 you arrive at the shops off Sawyer Street.  We decided to turn back at this point.  The return stretch was equally pleasant and as the noise abated we relaxed into the quieter neighborhood.   We were surprised how few of the streets crossing the path had Stop signs so the walk may feel different when the traffic is heavier.

We rounded off the morning with a breakfast at Dry Creek Café on Yale at 6^th Street.  Food was good and the atmosphere was friendly – we’ll be back. 

More about the next stretch another day.