Organization Spotlight: Greenspace Dallas

Healing the Trinity River one green space at a time

You may have come across Greenspace Dallas over the past years, whether by visiting one of the trail systems that they work on, doing a trash pick-up with them or seeing them on the local news. Greenspace Dallas is a leading organization in the area protecting and enhancing the limited green spaces available in Dallas, with a key focus along the Trinity River.

See the companion “Ten Questions” interview article with Casey Cutler, the CEO of Greenspace Dallas here.

History of Greenspace Dallas

Greenspace Dallas was originally formed in 2004, as Groundwork Dallas. The environmentally focused nonprofit was created not support young people and educate them about nature. Not only did they work to clean-up local parks, they have also been inspiring residents to take ownership of their local natural resources to establish a sense of environmental stewardship. Focusing on beautification and sustainable programs, they established trails and removed trash amongst other improvement activities.

In 2023 the group underwent a rebrand, becoming Greenspace Dallas. This name change also came with an expansion of scope and mission, to build national park quality recreation spaces within the Trinity River Corridor.

The Trinity River has unfortunately been historically neglected by its residents, resulting in pollution and trash along many parts of the waterway. Greenspace Dallas has made it a core focus to clean up once neglected natural spaces, allowing wildlife and people to return to these forgotten areas. By transforming former trash dumping grounds into areas where native plants can thrive, and adding trails and other amenities, Greenspace Dallas is creating new spaces for outdoor recreation and appreciation of our local nature.

This kind of work doesn’t come easily. To make these things possible, Greenspace Dallas relies on ‘boots on the ground’ to make change happen. While they rely on volunteers, they also work on educating the next generation of environmental leaders. Partnering with the Trinity River Conservancy, the groups host a collaborative summer conservation program called the Trinity River Crew (TRC). This seven week paid conservation program for high school students from underserved communities educates them on the importance of nature, water quality testing, plant surveys and financial literacy. They also lead a trail building program, the Lone Star Trail Building School, to teach people how to design and create their own trails safely and effectively.

Major Accomplishments

Greenspace Dallas has left their mark on the city, with multiple major accomplishments under its belt. Some critical successes include:

Keep Dallas Beautiful: Keep Dallas Beautiful is a program formed with the City of Dallas to combat litter and promote urban greenery. While Greenspace Dallas holds trash pickup events in Dallas’s multiple green spots, residents can also borrow trash grabbers and receive trash bags and gloves through the Keep Dallas Beautiful program for their own trash pick-up endeavors.
Trash Pick-up: Greenspace Dallas has removed over 1 million pounds of trash, debris and tires from Dallas area parks.
Educational Programs: Greenspace Dallas educated future leaders through the Trinity River Crew and Lone Star Building Schools both mentioned above
Trash Blocking Booms: The organization installed 3 river booms along the Elm Fork of the Trinity River in 2022. These booms keep trash from flowing downstream, and kept almost 5,000 pounds of trash out of the river in 2023 alone.
Park Creation / Restoration: Greenspace Dallas has been working to create and maintain parks and trails in multiple locations across Dallas. More on that below!
Recognition / Awards: Along with the Trinity River Conservancy, named a 2020 Conservation Wrangler for the Trinity River Crew Program with Texan by Nature. The Conservation Wrangler program is an accelerator for conservation projects, helping ecology minded programs to succeed in their missions with operational and marketing support. They were also a finalist for the Midsize Non-Profit of the Year in D CEOs Nonprofit and Corporate Citizenship Awards in 2025.

Park Spotlights

As a result of the work by Greenspace Dallas, Dallas residents have multiple spots to enjoy nature, in places that residents either didn’t know about, or didn’t feel safe exploring.

A few of these spots include:

Hines Park: One of their first projects was to reclaim a city park, restoring over 11 acres of wetlands into a robust habitat for local wildlife. This park includes a short loop trail, an observation deck, an amphitheater and multiple benches.
Frasier Dam Recreation Area: This 115-acre preserve on the Elm Fork of the Trinity, is located south of Loop 12 off I-35, accessible via Harry Hines. The area had long been neglected, being used primarily as an illegal trash dump. Once Greenspace Dallas had completed their restoration work, residents can now enjoy over 3.2 miles of natural trails ideal for biking and hiking. It’s also an ideal spot for launching a paddle to explore the wetlands surrounding it.
Bachman Greenbelt: In partnership with the Friends of Bachman Lake, the two organizations have done extensive work to restore a 58-acre greenbelt located just east of Bachman Lake. Relatively unknown by many, this spot had been overrun with impassable 15 to 20 foot high privet. Greenspace Dallas cut a one mile loop trail through the greenbelt, and continues to support restoration efforts in the greenbelt with native plantings and trash pickups.
Kiest Conservation Area: Located in Oak Cliff, this nature preserve has loop trails and spots to enjoy nature. In 2024, Greenspace Dallas through a partnership with WFAA Channel 8 and Dallas Parks & Rec, extended the trails by adding 3 miles of trails into the park. Other additions include a trail markers, benches and an outdoor classroom.
LB Houston Nature Trails: This one is special to me, as it was the first mountain bike trail I ever rode on. LB Houston is located near Las Colinas, near California Crossing, along the Trinity River. The park flooded, and for various reasons the existing trail system was eventually reclaimed by nature. Greenspace Dallas has been working to restore this area by clearing the area of trash, re-establishing the trail system, and adding improvements to the area including a fishing dock and kayak launch.

How to Support Greenspace Dallas

Greenspace Dallas has been doing important work to improve the trail system, recover lost natural assets and improve habitat for the wildlife that lives in the area. They don’t do this alone, if you’d like to help them continue their mission, please consider donating your time or money to them. You can sign up to be notified of their events on their Meet-Up page, or donate via their website or during North Texas Giving Day.