outdoors - Up For Adventure

I love the parks in Ennis Texas!

Playgrounds, boating, walking, fishing, and nature trails, Ennis Texas, located south of Dallas in Ellis County has a ton of great options to fit almost anyone!

I’m so proud of the parks in ENNIS Texas that when my mom was here for a visit I decided to take her to every major one . I told her “we have some really great parks here, I want you to see them all!” So we had a guided Ennis Park day. 😉 I was the guide.

We have some beautiful weather here in Texas, so there are plenty of reasons and opportunities to get outside and explore. Not to mention, I was new to this area once and it took me a long time to realize all of the gems we have here.

I also have 3 kids (that are now in school), so although visiting new places out of town is great, it’s not always an option, so it’s really important to me to have places to hang out OUTSIDE here in our town.

So I’m proud to give you a little tour of my favorite parks here in Ennis Texas.

Lake Clark

If you want to: fish, gaze at the water, kayak, walk the dog, watch a pretty sunset, or a storm roll in, go here.

This is my FAVORITE place to take my kids in Ennis. It’s so kick back and relaxing. I love taking my kids here when we have a free evening. The sunset over the lake is so beautiful. They can ride their bikes, walk the dog, throw their poles in the water, or play on the (simple) playground.

Other things to know about this park:

-Fishing tournaments occur here on some Tuesdays (they alternate between here and Lake Bardwell ), so on those days you will find lots of boat trailers in the parking lot, and boats in the water, so that’s kinda cool.

-NO bathrooms

2. Lions Park

If you want to: Take your kids to the playground, exercise (marked trail), feed the turtles, fish, and ducks.

Lions Park is another favorite of mine. I usually go here when I want to take a jog, let the kids play and enjoy some nature. There is a path around the pond that is 1/2 a mile per lap. There is also a work out area with pull up bars. It makes it easy to get a good workout here. The pond has a ton of turtles and catfish that are used to being fed and will come up by the droves if you bring some food. There are also ducks, birds and squirrels that are fun to observe. I also go here to get my mistletoe for Christmas! I love this park. The playground is very nice, it’s a great playground with sand and pea size gravel. There is also a pavilion, but I’ve only used it to workout under.

Overall, I love this park for exercise, leisure activity and the playground.

Other things to know about this park:

Not the cleanest restrooms, but honestly, we’ve never had to use them.
If you plan to use the pavillion for a birthday party/event, you might want to reserve it through the city or get there early because it get’s used frequently for a variety of different things.

3. Blue Bonnet Park

If you want to: Nature hike, fish, have a birthday party (nice large pavillion), enjoy some nature.

Ohmygosh, another GREAT PARK! Beautiful, well kept, it has a nature trail that’s not real long but great for young families. A huge grassy area for picnics or football, a great place to host a birthday party under a huge pavilion. You can fish here in the pond, we did once but I won’t do it again…mainly because the turtles are used to being fed, and we caught a turtle on accident, it did get off of the line, but the experience scared me…because, I love turtles.

Other things to know about this park:

- Across the parking lot is our baseball and softball complex…VERY busy there (at the complex) in the springtime.

4. Jaycee Park (also known as the “duck park”).

If you want to: See the ducks, exercise, play tennis, volleyball, fish, picnic, paddle, go sledding (in the rare occasion of snow in Texas).

Ohmyword, another favorite park of mine! I love to come here to take a leisurely stroll with my kids and exercise. This park has swings, a very small playground (so I wouldn’t come here if that’s your main purpose), small picnic gazebos, a paved walking trail around the pond, a sand volleyball pit and a double tennis court. This park is another jewel in Ennis.

Other things to know about this park: No restrooms, the ducks and geese are used to being fed so you may have to shoo them away and also, there can be lots of droppings from them…I usually put my kids shoes in the trunk or in a bag after this park. I also like to have wet wipes and hand sanitizer here because of the duck and geese droppings and my kids picking stuff up around the shoreline.!

5. Veterans Memorial Park

If you want to: Schedule a play-date with friends, let your kids bike ride, take a walk, play a game of soccer or football with the family, picnic.

This is another great park that my friends and I often meet at to let our kids play on the playground while we sit in chairs and catch up. My family also likes to come here and play some football with their friends. There is a walking path that winds around the park, this is a good park to let the kids ride their bikes on.

This park ALSO features a memorial to our Veterans. It’s a great place to take your kids and talk about the ones who have sacrificed for our freedom.

Other things to know about this park: There is very little shade, bring sunscreen, hat’s, umbrellas and water. Also, this playground is tall, so it’s not my favorite for small children. For small children I recommend Lion’s Park.

*Kachina Prairie

If you want to: Observe nature, teach your kids about tall grass prairies.

Here’s an extra place I wanted to add, it’s not really a park but an example of a “tall grass prairie” or “wild scape”, and it’s my mom’s PERSONAL FAVORITE.

It’s so pretty, so what you get here, practically speaking is a mowed down nature trail, it’s a remnant of a Blackland Prairie in Texas. Except for the path, it’s never been mowed down or plowed. So, I take my kids here to truly observe birds and nature. They love walking or running the path and pointing out plants, insects or birds of interest. It’s just a fun, easy thing to do. Oh and there are also benches along the trail if you need to rest or journal, pray, meditate, 😉 you get the idea.