• Hike and bike trail (9.33 miles)
• Audubon Society-designated bird watching area and wetlands site
• Numerous scenic picnic areas - call (214) 670-8740 for reservations
• Three rental facilities: Winfrey Point, the Dreyfuss Club, and Big Thicket - call (214) 670-8740 for reservations
• Fishing piers for catfish, sunfish, and bass fishing Special events, including the March of Dimes Walk America, White Rock Marathon, the White Rock Lake Trash Bash, and numerous sponsored runs - call (214) 670-8890 for information
• White Rock Bath House Cultural Center - 521 E. Lawther Drive

Before Dallas County was settled the land on which the lake was built was a shallow, tree-lined valley in Native Americans hunted for the bison that came to drink from White Rock Creek and graze its grassy banks.

In the 1840s, while Texas was still an independent republic, white settlers began establishing homesteads on the high ground surrounding the White Rock Valley. Among them were the Coxes, the Dixons, the Humbards, the McCommases, the Fishers, and many others. In the late 1840s some of the men went off to fight in the War with Mexico with Col. John Coffee "Jack" Hays. Others joined the Confederate Army when Texas seceded from the Union in 1861. Some of those veterans are buried in the old Cox cemetery, established in 1848 when the daughter of Solomon and Lydia Dixon (for whom Dixon Branch is named) was buried there.

Following the Civil War, Freedmen and their families established a community named Egypt on what is now the northeastern shore of White Rock Lake. There, in addition to their homes, they had a church, a school, and a cemetery, now all gone.

Another nearby community was Calhoun, later named Fisher, on the northwestern side of the present-day lake. It too is gone but its name survives in Fisher Road, which still runs down to the edge of White Rock Lake.

Named for a Swiss family, the community of Reinhardt sprang up alongside railroad tracks near present-day Casa Linda Shopping Center. Like the town of Fisher, Reinhardt was eventually absorbed by a growing Dallas. It's name survives only in an elementary school that stands near the former center of the town.

In the 1890s another Swiss immigrant, Jacob Buhrer, established a dairy farm, most of which now lies beneath the waters of White Rock Lake. His family's home stood on a hill, now bare, that overlooked the White Rock Valley and a picturesque bridge over which travelers crossed the creek on their way to or from Dallas.

*Bike Trail *Dog Park *Jogging Trail *Sailing & Boating *Picnic Areas