Today was the first time I hiked at the Dogwood Canyon Center and I found it confusing. The parking lost is shared with the Cedar Mountain Nature Preserve. While I thought I was on a Dogwood Canyon trail, I was not. As a rule, if you are on a paved surface, you are not on a Dogwood Trail. In fact, when you get to the parking lot, head to the building to the west of the parking lot (it is hard to miss). You access the Dogwood trials via the building. Once we found out we were not on Dogwood trails and actually went to the building, we actually walked the West Loop trail. It is an enjoyable walk and I recommend it. I will attend and now I know how to access the Dogwood Trail, I am sure I will find it more enjoyable.

Great hiking trails and bird viewing zone. They care for the environment and are great people.

I love this trail....it is well thought out and designed. There are a lot of trees to provide shades on the trail. It is wide and clear. It was not very busy when I was there. It is a good place to take kids.

About 2 miles of mostly shaded trails. Fairly dteep incline to the ridge. Free admission, donations encouraged. Indoor and out door bird blinds. Kestrel on display.

Beautiful place but interesting staff

Perfect place for your Run,walk,Bike

We loved this place so much! The 1.7mi west loop trail goes up to the canyon rim and does a loop before returning down the same path. The trails are well maintained and a fun hike! Our four-year-old love it! There is also a half mile (round trip) hike down to the canyon floor that we havent done yet. They have a really nice picnic area with a natural playground that was really neat to explore after our hike. The Audubon Center is a really nice building with a neat observation deck to watch the birds come to the feeders. Even the gift shop is nice! Highly recommend this place.

We had such high hopes for a nice Sunday morning hike here. I dont mean to sound like a total city slicker, buuuuuut the narrow trail we took from the Audobon Center parking lot was completely lined with poison ivy and so thick with spider webs (complete with absolutely giant spiders in them) literally blocking the trail, making it impossible to make it past even more than a few hundred feet and really make it into the preserve. Giant mosquitos, gnats flying in our faces... Its a really beautiful area, just incredibly dense with bugs and poisonous plants, made all that much closer to you by the narrow nature of the trail. Its very natural, yes. But for our 4 and 6 year olds, it just wasnt the family friendly hike we were expecting.

One word: amazing!! I had no idea the Hill Country was so close. Really a great hike worth the drive! Please enjoy but bear in mind this is a nature preserve and it deserves our respect.

My wife and I hiked this enclave of nature years ago, finding the quiet of the rolling forest behind the science center to be romantic and photogenic. We sweated, but enjoyed the fresh air and views from the top of the hill. Beautiful and secluded sanctuary, just beyond the noisy streets of several suburbs!

Good place to hike though dont be disappointed by the name. One trail bearly enters the canyon (i.e. valley) but the other circles the crown of an adjacent hill. The dogwoods are not the species you find farther east but are the less impressive Rough-Leaf Dogwoods. (Correspondingly, there is an adjacent preserve named Eagle Mountain, more appropriately described as crow hill. It has a trail that only goes part of the way up the mountainbefore getting tired and going back down.)

I hiked here on a beautiful weekend and found it surprisingly peaceful! The trails and views are outstanding! I hiked all over it in about an hour, so there isnt much for advanced hikers. However, for a casual stroll, it will help get your mind off the hustle and bustle of the city. Cannot wait to go back.

Visited a few times. Always beautiful. Wish there were more preserved natural spaces in our area.

This review is to help anyone thinking about planning a birthday party for a young child at this center. We were assessed a $100 “cleaning fee” because there were a couple smears of frosting and pizza sauce on the chairs and some spilled juice on a door mat. We were provided with no cleaning supplies (not even so much as a paper towel) to clean the room and I apologized for missing the spots of frosting when I cleaned up with baby wipes from my diaper bag. I suggested that a $100 cleaning fee is a bit excessive for 5 minutes worth of cleanup work and was then given a list of children’s behavior that inconvenienced their staff and justified the high fee. They accused us of leaving children unattended in the gift shop (said children were not with our party), breaking a white board (the white board was already broken when we arrived and “broke” several more times throughout our party and required about 30 seconds to fix) that they obviously knew was already broken, and drawing on their walls (I didn’t witness any children doing this, but their staff did think to leave the room well stocked with dry erase markers within children’s reach but claims they couldn’t leave a sponge, paper towels, hand broom/dustpan, soap, or any other type of cleaning supply on the countertops in the room for “safety reasons”). When I pointed out that their accusations about the unattended children and broken white board were false, instead of apologizing as any mortified false accuser would, they suddenly began to insist the fee was solely about the 5 minutes worth of cleanup work and not the rowdy children. This party was for a child turning 5. There were children as old as 7 in attendance. The staff has low tolerance for young kids and for admitting fault (the complete absence of cleaning supplies suggested to me that they wouldn’t be overly concerned about a missed smear of frosting). Their staff and facilities are poorly equipped for dealing with young children in light of their expectations about how the room should be left. Save yourself some money and book somewhere else!

My family had an amazing time hiking the trails. The views at the view points were breathtaking. We took our kids but would also be a great thing for couples just to get away, relax, and enjoy nature.

Lot of neat stuff to see. Only got to experience the short hiking trail. We will definitely be back to check out the long one. Nice facilities.

The up hill trail is really enjoyable. It is a great learning experience for students. The kids really had fun in the play area.

They have 2 trails one is very short and the other is a 1.5 mile loop. They allow dogs ONLY on Saturdays. They also have a nature play area for children 5+.

We can always make more money. We cannot make more of the beautiful gifts (LAND) Mother Nature has for us to respect and appreciate! Embrace it, get out and breathe it in!

Went there for the first time last weekend to hike. The trails are not that long, but they are very pretty. Feels like your in the woods and nowhere near the city. Nice place to spend part of the day.Highly recommended.

Beautiful, quite place near Cedar Hill and Dallas. Great place for a walk that will get your heart rate up.

Great trails. Easily accessible for young & old. Trail markers are best in DFW area so far. Great events!

Nice little hiking trail, totally free. Right inside dfw. Who woulda thought...

Never got to see the trails because of the park being closed. However the pavillion with the old communications dish array and the childrens area was really cool. We will be coming back

Completely surprised by this gem. Great trails.

Great place to birdwatch from an enclosed space with feeders and views around.

Very nice long walk. Beware of inch worms early in spring.

Enjoyed the walk here. A lot of trees that provide shade.

Its a very good place but lots of bugs

Nice little trail to hike for an hour or so. We walked it one direction then turned around and went the other for around a 2.5 mile hike.

Alot of activities maybe not the most fun but a good learning experience

Nice trail and they offer various classes here

The trails were all shady, which is important in the Texas summer time heat. The only thing that was kind of strange is that they require hikers to sign in, and out.

Great place to enjoy nature with children

Great trail!

Beautiful place for Hiking!!!!

Nice walking trail, knowledgeable staff.

Great place to visit

Great place to hike!

Always try to go on Sundays with my puppy!

Nice trails, free.

I look forward to going again!

Amazing trip

It is a good walk

Great place for a short walk in the woods

Beautiful!!!

Great nature adventure

My hot spot for climbing and cardio.