SEEKING SOLACE IN AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT

BY CHRISTINA HUGHES BABB

While it might not rival New York or Chicago’s urban pandemonium, Dallas is a bustling city with its share of high-stress professions, crowded scenes, road rage and those intermittent heartaches to which no human is immune. If you know where to look, you’ll find our neighborhood offers respite from the daily grind or occasional trauma in the form of peaceful nooks, comforting crannies and uplifting activities. Here, find a guide to our readers’ and our own favorite escapes.

White Rock Lake

There are those who tap their inner calm sitting still in a quiet place. Others’ serenity emerges during strenuous repetitive activity. For both types, as well as those in the middle, White Rock Lake offers solace.

For pedestrians and cyclists, a 9.2-mile paved trail encircles the lake (that trail connects to White Rock Creek Trail, which runs through Lake Highlands, to the Cottonwood Trail and North Dallas). Trail-using trekkers — from hardcore marathoners to sauntering birdwatchers, cyclists and in- line skaters — pass the historic Bath House Cultural Center (521 E. Lawther), the oftgushing spillway, the old filter building, a dog park at 8000 Mockingbird (which is undergoing close to $1 million in improvements), scenic bridges, piers, and enviable multi-million-dollar residences, among other sights.

White Rock area resident Dave Dozier circles the lake frequently. He’s done it some 9,000 times, he guesses. While he finds solace during quiet mornings, he finds it most comforting on busy Saturdays.

“I stop and talk a lot. I know everyone out there,” Dozier says. Jogging is the path to peace and happiness, insists Dozier, a former competitive runner who now ambles. No matter the speed, “a lot of lives have changed out here,” he says.

West of the lake, step off the beaten path and explore a circuit of nature trails at the Old Fish Hatchery, whose entrance you’ll find between the spillway and the pump station (2810 White Rock).

Or leave land entirely and savor the water via sailboat, kayak or canoe. Those who don’t store a vessel at the boathouse or the sailing club can rent, inexpensively and hassle-free, from local outfitters such as White Rock Paddle Co., located lakeside at Mockingbird and Buckner.

Advocate reader Julie Burch Webber says she recently tried canoeing for the first time, paddling under the Northwest Highway bridge.

“Felt like I was not in the middle of Dallas. Beautiful, and great spot for checking out a variety of bird species,” she notes.

One Lake Highlands engineering hobbyist, Dean Smith, built his own steamboat for exploring the lake and creek. The architect by trade is happiest when his boat is humming and he’s on the water. “I’ve been around White Rock Lake for many years, but it wasn’t until [I built the steamboat] that I’ve been on the lake, seen it from this perspective,” Smith says, his gaze on the water. “This is the part I like.”

Despite housing a high school populated daily by some 2,000 students and staff, the Lake Highlands North area offers quick, quiet and free getaways. Attached to a newly spruced-up playground at Faircrest and Church is a winding path that, about .1 mile in, features a spouting fountain. On a quiet morning (go before 8 a.m. or after 9:15 a.m. when school is in session) you’ll encounter only sounds of trickling and chirping and perhaps the mumblings of a fellow walker or two. The more adventurous and less allergyprone can access the bubbling creek behind the trees from various manmade pathways — among the flora you’ll find myriad birds and spot the occasional rabbit.

Also of note, across Church and north of Lake Highlands High School, a freshly paved concrete trail is open. It runs along the north side of the school, behind the track and baseball fields, and continues to Fernald. It doesn’t offer the natural thickety landscape of the other nearby trails, but it is soothing to hike or bike without needing to dodge crowds and cars.

Watercrest Park

Dallas Park and Recreation Department authorities have compared Watercrest Park at Lake Highlands Town Center (7100 Wildcat Way) to the picturesque Lakeside Drive in Highland Park. “This is really a first-class linear greenbelt,” says Willis Winters, who, as the park department’s director, is an authority on the topic. Sprawling behind the new Haven apartments at Walnut Hill and Skillman, the paved walking trail at Watercrest flanks a little lake and is adorned with sculptures from local artists.

more than a mall. The 1.4-acre garden at the retail giant’s center features canopies of 45-year-old live oaks and red oaks (90 trees in all) as well as colorful blooms. It’s common to find people lounging on the lawn with a blanket and a book. Kristen Gibbins, NorthPark’s publicist, says the quietest times at the mall are during afternoons. CenterPark Garden the only place to escape the crowds.

“There’s a hidden spot within the food plaza,” Gibbins says.

Right in the middle of the mall’s busy food court is the compluvium, an outdoor eating area enclosed in glass and open to the sky.