Best Trail Improvement (In Progress) 2014 | Kiest Park | Best of Dallas® 2020 | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Dallas | Dallas Observer
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Best Trail Improvement (In Progress)

Kiest Park

Kiest Park had a fine tree-lined, shaded running and biking path, a favorite spot for South Oak Cliff residents to exercise and people watch. In fact, it was becoming so popular that it would be uncomfortably crowded on good-weather days. The asphalt was cracked, buckled and even missing in a couple patches. In short, it was in need of a serious makeover. And that's what it's getting, as the city tears up the old blacktop and lays down fresh concrete, widening the paths and adding some new ones while they're at it. The temporary fencing blocking off areas still in progress is ugly and inconvenient, but it looks like it will be worth the wait.

Best Bike Shop

Transit Bicycle Co.

A good local bike shop is like a good local coffee shop. Other than the coffee, people go for the atmosphere and the staff, who should know the best time of year for Peruvian beans but don't rub it in if you can't taste the difference between brewed and pressed coffee. The same principle holds for bike shops. The employees should be able to direct customers to the best frame but not make them feel dumb for not knowing the difference between Presta and Schrader valves. They should spend as much time tinkering on their own bikes as they do on customers' but explain it in a non-technical way. Transit Bicycle Co. has such a staff. As it says on their website, "Air and advice are always free." And, like the best coffee shops, Transit offers an intimate environment.

Best Running Store (Tie)

Luke's Locker and Run On

Serious runners have a choice: Run On or Luke's. Both provide expert evaluation of one's running style and foot structure. Both offer a comparable selection of gear. Both are locally based and have outposts at Mockingbird and Central Expressway. Both are wonderful. Which one runners patronize is entirely a matter of personal taste and whether they choose to turn right or left from the Central Expressway service road.

Best Canoe Rental

White Rock Paddle Co.

White Rock Paddle Company offers several ways to get out on White Rock Lake without the expense and enormous bother of owning a canoe, kayak or paddle board (when looking at them to buy in the store, always ask yourself, "And I store this where?"). You can rent a single kayak for about 15 bucks an hour, canoes for about five bucks more an hour, paddle boards for 20 bucks an hour. After the first full hour, you can rent by the half hour. The people at White Rock Paddle Company also offer lessons for 40 bucks an hour, but an inexperienced paddler on a calm day can usually figure it out. If you're going to take to the lake when there's strong wind blowing or waves and you've never done it before, then, yeah, get a lesson. And don't go out on a super-hot day without a hat. You know what: Just don't go out when it's super hot.

  • 315 E. Lawther Dr., Dallas, 75218 Map

Best Park for Nature Lovers

Cedar Ridge Preserve

Formerly the Dallas Nature Center, the Cedar Ridge Preserve occupies 600 acres of relatively untrammeled hills in southwestern Dallas County blanketed by native wildflowers and, of course, cedar trees. It boasts an extensive network of hiking trails, which connect ambitious walkers to the Dogwood Canyon Aububon Center and Cedar Hill State Park, plus a two-story observation giving an expansive view of southwestern Dallas County. There's no better place in the city to commune with nature.

Best Sports Bar

The Owner's Box

It's not in a particularly great neighborhood — in fact it's actually pretty isolated — but for pure game-watching nirvana, there isn't a better sports bar in Dallas than the Omni Convention Center's The Owner's Box. A 16-foot screen for the biggest games of the day and private tables with isolated sound if you're a poor soul who just wants somewhere to watch your wretched alma mater lose by 50 in peace. It's worth dodging all the inevitable conventioneers for sure.

Best Actual Sports Team

Dallas Stars

Bear with us here. Your Cowboys are at best average, the Rangers are apocalyptically bad and FC Dallas are no great shakes either. That leaves the Mavs and the Stars, and the Mavs are relying on a somewhat-past-his-prime Dirk. The Stars, however, have the two most promising young players in the NHL, a recently acquired superstar and the hunger and desire to go further than their first-round playoff exit last year. It's going to be a big year at the AAC for both teams that play there, but the Stars really could go all the way.

Best "Non-American" Sports Bar

Trinity Hall Irish Pub

Free your mind, America. Cast off the shackles of American Sportsball and embrace the weird shit the rest of the world came up with while you were perfecting rounders and ruining rugby so there could be more commercial breaks. At any given time in Trinity Hall you can see sports like hurling (which is very different from curling, in that there's no ice or brooms, just furious Irishmen), Aussie rules football, rugby, cricket and that strangest of non-American enigmas, soccer. Soccer all the time. Soccer for breakfast, soccer for dinner, obscure games from countries you had no idea existed. All here, alongside a remarkably good food menu.

Best Entirely New Sport

Footgolf

Yes. It's a real thing. Basically, it's golf, on a real golf course, but you replace the club with your foot and the ball with a soccer ball. Obviously the holes are much bigger, otherwise the whole thing would be a Sisyphean endeavor. The first course in Texas just opened up at Lake Park Golf Club in Lewisville, and it's really, really entertaining. Over nine full-size holes, you can boot the thing to your heart's content, even under floodlights to ensure you don't burn to death from daytime footgolf. Also, you can hire a golf cart. So, you know, it's basically golf without being crap.

Best Hiking Trails

Isle du Bois Unit Trail

It's the perfect summertime date trail, with a fantastic view of the lake in the evening. Isle du Bois has a fancy French name, which makes it feel just a little more exotic than other local trails. It is part of the Lake Ray Roberts State Park and runs along the side of the lake. People can and do jump in the lake when it gets too hot, but there are plenty of designated swimming areas and overnight camping grounds as well. There are tons of horseback riders along the trail, and park staff offers a nifty bird checklist. Canoeing, boating and fishing are also popular activities. This place has it all.

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