DFW Veloweb: Connecting North Texas, One Trail at a Time

Exciting plans are afoot to create a Regional Veloweb, as the disparate trails in North Texas are connected, allowing for uninterrupted access across DFW! 

Anybody who has tried to bike across town in North Texas has quickly realized that while we may have a lot of trails, they are not connected.   Fort Worth has always been ahead of the curve with the Trinity Trails network, but on the Dallas side of the house, historically it’s been multiple trails separated by miles of roads.   Progress has been made with the addition of the Katy Trail, and the efforts to connect the trails around White Rock Lake in East Dallas, but those one serve very specific neighborhoods.

That’s where the Regional Veloweb comes in. You may have heard the name on social media, in the news, or mentioned by other bloggers. Spearheaded by the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), the Veloweb is a bold vision: a vast, interconnected trail system allowing cyclists to ride from McKinney to Lake Benbrook, or Denton to the Trinity Forest, without ever needing to battle car traffic. It’s an ambitious undertaking that spans cities, counties, and years of planning; not to mention major funding to bring this vision to reality.

And it’s not happening in isolation. The Loop, a separate but complementary 50-mile trail system, is stitching together key areas of Dallas like White Rock Lake, Uptown, the Trinity River, and the Great Trinity Forest. Together, these efforts are transforming how we move through the region whether by bike, foot, or even rollerblade.

In this article, I’ll break down the major components of the Veloweb including The Loop and Trinity Trails in Fort Worth, so you can see where the network already exists, where the gaps are, and what’s coming next. These aren’t the only projects in the works, but they represent the most significant steps toward a safer, more connected trail system across DFW.

Biking across the Metroplex is about to get a lot more exciting!

North Central Texas Council of Government’s Trail Efforts

Source: NTCOG Website

DFW Discovery Trail

If you’ve not heard of the Regional Veloweb, you’ve probably seen or heard of the DFW Discovery Trail.  Earlier on, there was a naming contest, and it got quite a bit of press and fanfare once they got approval and funding to move forward with this part of the Veloweb. Some articles at the time include: this one, this one and this one.

This trail, once completed, will extend 63 miles from Panther Island, west of downtown Fort Worth, along the Trinity River, all the way across the metroplex to the Santa Fe Trestle Trail, just south of downtown Dallas, along the Trinity River.  

The DFW Discovery Trail will connect the Trinity Trails in Fort Worth, River Legacy Trails in Arlington, the Rock Island and Lone Star Trails in Irving, the South Campion Trail and Delaware Creek Trails in Irving, and finally to the Trinity Skyline and Santa Fe Trestle Trails in Dallas.   You can see the map here to understand how those connections will look.    

Per the NCTCOG website, they expect most of the construction to be completed in 2026!  

Denton to Dallas Regional Trail Corridor

While the DFW Discovery Trail has East to West covered, the Denton to Dallas trail is going to connect North to South.  This trail corridor will be 52 miles long once complete, but over 38 miles exist today (as of July 2025).

The main transit between Denton and Lewisville has already been built, along the A-Train railway. This is an example of a Rails with Trails route, as the trail was built along with the railway as developers planned for this route from the start.  Once the A-Train trail is built out to Hebron Station, then the trail will connect to the Campion North trail, extending down to Los Colinas.  Irving plans to connect the North and South Campion trails, likely in 2027 per a recent conversation with the city, and at that point the Denton to Dallas route will connect on through the DFW Discovery Trail.  

You can see the map here.

Dallas to McKinney Regional Trail

Another North to South trail, just on the other side of Dallas, this path will connect McKinney through Allen, Plano, Richardson, and Dallas all the way down to White Rock Lake.  This 79-mile trail will connect several paved trails already in existence, including Wilson Creek Trail and Eldorado Parkway Trails in McKinney, Cottonwood Creek in Allen, Oak Point Park and Bluebonnet trails in Plano, the Preston Ridge Trail in Plano and Dallas, the Central Trail in Richardson, and then to the SOPAC and Cottonwood Trails in east Dallas. Those trails already connect into the broader White Rock Lake trail networks, which then allow access to downtown Dallas and, in the future, to southern Dallas via The Loop.  Based on the information available on the NTCOG website, not all of these connections are funded, so dates are TBD on when this section may complete.   As I hear more information, I’ll update this article. 

You can see the map here.

Cotton Belt Trail Corridor

Another Rails with Trails project, the Cotton Belt Trail will connect Plano to Fort Worth, following along both the TexRail in Fort Worth and the Silver Line DART rail corridor.  This will extend through Downtown Plano, City Line in Richardson, Addison Circle, Downtown Carrollton, Cypress Waters, Old Town Coppell, and Downtown Grapevine.     This will be a fantastic east to west trail across the northern suburbs of Dallas.   Some of the segments exist today, most notably between Grapevine and Iron Horse Station in North Richland Hills. The completion of this trail is still at least out until 2027.

The construction of this trail will also link up Preston Ridge and Marni Kaner Trails, allowing a four-mile triangle loop, expected to complete in 2027. 

You can see the map here.

Southern Dallas County Regional Veloweb Trail

Finally, for the NCTCOG side of things, is the Southern Dallas Regional Veloweb Trail.  This trail will connect seven cities across the southern sector, linking Grand Prairie near Joe Pool Lake, through Cedar Hill, Duncanville, DeSoto, Lancaster, and Wilmer.   This trail will run 32.8 miles and is another east-west route.

You can see the map here

The Loop – Creating Connection in Dallas

The Loop is not formally associated with the Regional Veloweb activities of NCTCOG but will form critical connections for Dallas to the rest of the developing trail network.  The Loop was started to connect multiple disparate trails in Dallas, especially in underserved southern Dallas communities.   

Much of the Loop is in use today, as they are using existing trails like the SOPAC Trail, University Crossing and Ridgewood Trails, Katy Trail, Trinity Strand, the Trinity Skyline Trail, and the AT&T Trail in the Trinity Forest.  From there, the Loop is creating connections from the White Rock area to Trinity Forest via a new Trinity Forest Spine Trail, Pemberton Hill Road Trail, and a Trinity Forest Trail.  Along with their work to connect trails, they’ve also facilitated the creation of a new DORBA dirt trail and skills area at Creekside, just south of White Rock Lake.  They’ve also done innovative work to facilitate some of these trail connections, including the Hi Line Connector and Plaza where the Katy Trail and Trinity Strand trail meet, and a new bridge to cross riders over I-30.    

You can see the map here.

Trinity Trails in Fort Worth – Already Built

I put Trinity Trails in Fort Worth at the end, solely because it’s already built out!   Fort Worth residents have long enjoyed the Trinity Trails network of over 100 miles of trails to get across the city.  You can set out from all corners of the city and bike across.  To downtown Fort Worth, to Panther Island, to Airfield Falls, to Clear Fork, there is artwork, food trucks, restaurants, and bars galore to enjoy and explore.   

I keep meaning to get out to Fort Worth to really explore it, but it’s so massive, I struggle with how to even start and then write about it. I have been out multiple times to enjoy the Trinity Trails, and it’s such a wonderful resource for the residents of Tarrant County to enjoy!

You can see the map here.

Summary

As a longtime Dallas resident, I remember when paved trails in the area were few and far between—limited mostly to White Rock Lake, White Rock Creek, and eventually the Katy Trail. Other paths existed, but they were scattered, disconnected, and often hard to access. Meanwhile, Fort Worth’s Trinity Trails seemed like a dream: a cohesive system we simply didn’t have on our side of the metroplex.

But after years of planning, collaboration, and investment, North Texas is finally stitching together a true regional trail network, one that spans city lines and county borders. Thanks to all the efforts across multiple municipalities and government agencies that long-awaited vision of connectivity is becoming reality.

Whether you’re craving a quick afternoon ride or an epic cross-city cycling journey, the future of trail riding in DFW is brighter and more connected than ever. So hop on a bike and explore what’s already out there… and stay tuned as even more links fall into place!