Houston's Buffalo Bayou Park Named One of the Best in the Country!

Houston’s Buffalo Bayou Park has been named one of the top ten best trails in the United States of America by USA Today. I am very proud of Houston for this accomplishment. Buffalo Bayou is actually what The City of Houston was founded upon, spurring the very first development along the waterway.

In 1986, the Mayor assigned a task force to publish the first Buffalo Bayou Master Plan, which turned the Bayou into a park space with the possibility of urban waterfront development. In 2002, they published a second Buffalo Bayou Master Plan which was called the Buffalo Bayou and Beyond Master Plan. This new plan would cost $5.6 Billion and takes 20 years to implement. The project goals include the creation of hundreds of acres of greenways and new parks by reclaiming industrial space along the bayou waterway. It includes habitat restoration programs, recreational opportunities for canoeing and kayaking, trails for hiking and biking, outdoor cultural events, watershed and flood control management, and mixed-use urban development.

The trail we are speaking of in the USA Today article; is the Buffalo Bayou Promenade.The Buffalo Bayou Promenade,  extends from the historic Sabine Street bridge; (just west of the Central Business District) to Bagby Street in the heart of the Arts and Entertainment District. The Buffalo Bayou Promenade has become a popular location for live performances of music and video, for outdoor sculpture exhibits (The Buffalo Bayou Art Park), for canoeing and kayaking and for walking and jogging. The promenade has won local and national acclaim for the role it has played in helping to change how Houstonians think about their waterways in general and Buffalo Bayou in particular. I am glad that Houston is getting recognition for Buffalo Bayou Park as it is one of the best urban hiking trails in the country. The best part is, the full master plan of the project isn’t even done yet.