There’s a new interactive map of White Rock Lake that is part of a pilot program that the City of Dallas Park and Recreation department is considering for parks and trails around town.
Visitors can use a mobile device or laptop to access a digital map using QR codes found on 911 markers around the lake and on the trails. That should take you to the map where you can click on icons or enter a marker number and get your bearings. You first heard about this from editor Renee Umsted after she covered the most-recent Park Board meeting.
“We are hopeful this will be well received and continue to evolve and improve,” says Maria Hasbany, a member of the Dallas Park and Recreation Board representing east Dallas and White Rock Lake communities.
Hasbany worked with For the Love of the Lake to provide funding for this project.
“For the Love of the Lake has been a longtime supporter of the lake both financially and with trash pick-up. With their assistance and that of the park and recreation staff and an area design firm, the map includes everything from park entrances to pavilion locations,” Hasbany says.
At a glance, the map includes well-known markers such as the Bath House Cultural Center, Winfrey Point and T. & P. Hill along with some lesser-known amenities such as tennis courts.
There are a gazillion points of interest around the lake — some that could eventually be added, and others that most certainly won’t. I am recalling a story from our archives for which I rounded the lake — also hitting some surrounding areas — on foot and noted things such as bathroom murals and weird shrines and a place where people build clandestine teepee huts … you get the idea.
Then there are the unofficial markers fit neither for print or City-sponsored maps, but I will do it anyway — for example, there’s a place where members of my running club meet called BSC. That stands for Bird Sh*t Cove. If you are familiar with the trail you know where this is. We’ve also referred to it in this publication (a dozen years ago) as the Putrid Pathway. (And the area in question has migrated only slightly in that period).
Well, test out the map. Since it is a pilot program I am sure the creators will be taking feedback.
Engage with Dallas Park and Recreation Department and For the Love of the Lake on Facebook.