More trailways, amenities and a kayak launch are coming to this north Fort Worth park

City officials are collaborating to bring fresh amenities to Riverside Park in north Fort Worth.

During its April 15 meeting, the Tarrant Regional Water District board of directors approved a contract between the water district and the parks and recreation department to add a kayak dock and extend the existing trail at the park.

The current trail was added as part of the ongoing floodwater storage construction for the Central City / Panther Island flood control project, said the district’s chief operating officer Darrell Beason. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is tasked with constructing the bypass channels to reroute floodwater from the Trinity River to expanded flood water storage in downtown Fort Worth. 

With a trail already in place, the extension comes as the water district’s recently revamped recreation master plan recommends a lighted trail that loops across the river from East 4th Street to Riverside Park. The extension would allow more accessibility to the trail to circumvent portions of it prone to flooding, said Beason.

Before the trail is extended, water district and parks staff will start by adding the kayak dock, Beason said, which is also recommended in the recreation master plan. The dock will include ADA accessible walkways and parking space. 

The dock will bring an additional kayak launch site to the Trinity River Paddling Trail, one of a few dozen U.S. rivers to be designated as a National Water Trail by the National Park Service. Leaders of the nonprofit Trinity Coalition have ambitions to expand the number of access points along the 130-mile trail, according to previous Fort Worth Report coverage. 

With the kayak launch projected to cost $550,000, the city of Fort Worth will reimburse the water district for contractors and ongoing maintenance of the dock. The funds will come out of fees previously dedicated for this purpose by the parks department.

The kayak launch was also included in the Riverside Park master plan adopted in September 2010, but staff had not yet retained the funds to start on the project at the time, said Joel McElhany, assistant parks director in charge of planning.

Parks staff recommended partnering with the water district on the kayak project due to its location off the riverfront and floodwater storage.

“(Water district staff) are the experts at it,” said McElhany.

Aside from Riverside Park, parks and water district staff are collaborating on trail extensions in other areas of Fort Worth.

The transportation and public works department is working to extend the trail that runs along Angle Avenue from Buck Sansom Park to Interstate 820, according to McElhany. The extension would connect the trail to water district property at Marine Creek Lake. 

In the River District neighborhood, the parks department acquired a plot of parkland to connect the greenspace to an existing trail off the West Fork of the Trinity River, enhancing accessibility to open space in an area slated for heavy development, said McElhany. 

The trail extensions would support the parks department’s goal to enhance accessibility to green and open space, a goal outlined in GREENprint, the city’s newly revamped parks and recreation master plan.

Construction on the trail extension and kayak launch at Riverside Park is expected to be complete by December 2025.

Nicole Lopez is the environment reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org. 

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