105 Sabine Street, Houston, Texas 77007
If you ever see photographs of the Houston skyline, most of them are taken from this park. It is one of my favorite parks in Houston. It can be hard to find good outdoors activities in Houston, but this park has miles of trails and plenty of activities.
Buffalo Bayou Park runs along Buffalo Bayou, to the west of Downtown Houston. The park has excellent walking and biking trails, and is part of a much larger trail system.
The park runs roughly between Sabine Street to the east and Shepherd Drive to the west.
Park hours are from 6 AM – 11 PM. Portions of the park with no lighting close at dusk.
The park has many amenities that make it a great place to visit. There is a dog park, a skate park, a children’s playground, and multiple pavilions. You can rent a bicycle or take photos in front of the skyline.
Visitor Center
Open daily from 9 AM – 7 PM.
The Visitor Center is located at the Water Works building on Sabine.
Parking
Parking at the park is very limited, and almost none of it is free.
There are limited parking spots at the Water Works on Sabine near the visitor center.
City Lot H is on Memorial Drive between Sabine Street and Houston Avenue. The back side of the lot has a access to the park. It was previously free parking, but now it requires payment through an app.
There are metered parking spots along the south side of the park along Allen Parkway between Sabine and Taft. These metered parking spots are frequently closed.
There is some limited street parking in the area. Keep an eye out for no parking signage.
Safety
The Houston Police Memorial has a guard booth for a police officer. Security guards also patrol the park in golf carts. There are lights on most of the trails in the evenings.
Trails
There are many miles of trails through the park. There are pedestrian bridges over the bayou throughout the park. Some of the trails are for bicycles and pedestrians, and some of them are only for pedestrians.
Bike Rentals
Bayou Bike Rentals rents bicycles from the Water Works building on Sabine.
Houston BCycle has rental bike stations throughout all of Houston. You can rent bikes from them for thirty minutes at a time, or do a monthly pass. There are several rental stations around the park.
Food Trucks
There is a food truck area located in front of the Water Works building on Sabine. Friohana Shaved Ice is nice on a hot day.
Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark
Open daily from 9 AM – 10 PM.
The skatepark is located near the Water Works building on Sabine Street and is free to enter. It is a very big skatepark and has views of the downtown skyline. The walkway to the skatepark is lined with decorative graffiti that makes good backdrops for photos.
Barbara Fish Daniel Nature Play Area
Open daily from 7 AM – 8 PM.
This is the children’s playground. It is fenced off from the rest of the park.
The play area has a big slide and lots of space to run and play. The playground is nature themed and has lots of things to climb on. It is on the side of a hill and has a view of the skyline.
The playground is located close enough to the Water Works building on Sabine to have easy access to the restrooms and drinking fountains.
Waugh Drive Bat Colony
Bat flights are everyday at sunset, especially in the summer.
Waugh Drive is a street that passes over the park. Over 250,000 Mexican Free-Tailed Bats live under the bridge. At sunset the bats leave their roost and fly off to go eat their dinners. You can see huge swarms of bats flying over the bayou, especially in the summer.
The bridge is at the intersection of Allen Parkway and Waugh Drive. There are a series of trails and sidewalks on either side of the bayou. From these trails you will have a very clear view of the bat flights.
There is no fee to watch the bats, and you do not need to do anything to make a reservation. During nice weather the area can be crowded, so come about thirty minutes before sunset to find a good spot to watch from.
Sabine Bridge
Sabine Street has a bridge that goes over Buffalo Bayou. The bridge has decorative railings and lampposts and wide sidewalks on both sides of the street.
The bridge offers a good view of both the park and the Houston skyline. It is a popular location for photographers doing graduation or engagement photos.
The Water Works building is located on Sabine Street near the bridge. It is where the visitor center, cistern, and food truck area is.
Access to the skatepark and the playground is near the bridge.
There is a Houston BCycle station along the bridge, as well as a place with tools to repair bicycles.
Dogs in Buffalo Bayou Park
Dogs are allowed throughout most of the park. Dogs must be on a leash, except for in the dog park. Owners must pick up after their dogs.
There are dog waste stations frequently throughout the park.
Some of the drinking fountains in the park are for dogs. There is a dog drinking fountain located near the visitor center on Sabine.
Johnny Steele Dog Park
Open daily from 7 AM – 8 PM.
Johnny Steele Dog Park is located in Buffalo Bayou Park, near the intersection of Allen Parkway and Montrose Boulevard.
If you bring your dog to this dog park, bring some towels so you can wash your dog at the dog washing station in the park before you leave. The park has a lot of dirt and gets very muddy.
There is a large pond for dogs to jump in to cool off or swim around, and plenty of room for dogs to run and play.
The park has a section for large dogs and a different section for small dogs.
Buffalo Bayou Cistern
Open Wednesday through Sunday 10 AM – 6 PM for tours.
Advance reservations are required and group tours are $10 per person.
The cistern is located in the Water Works building on Sabine. The entrance is near the visitors center.
The cistern was built in 1926 to serve as a water reservoir for the city. In 2007 it stopped being used for the municipal water supply and in 2010 work began to open it to the public. It is 87,000 square feet and held up to 15 million gallons of water.
Statues in the Park
There are many statues throughout the park.
Houston Police Department Memorial
Located at 1400 Memorial Drive, Houston, Texas 77019.
The memorial is in honor of Houston police officers who died in the line of duty. The monument was built in 1990 and was designed by artist Jesus Bautista Moroles.
The monument is a series of stepped pyramids. The center pyramid is raised up, and the ones on the side are inverted and sink into the ground. The top of the pyramid has a small reflecting pool. At night the monument is lit with blue lights.
There is a manned police guard shack near the police memorial.
Wortham Fountain
Located along Allen Parkway near Waugh, the fountain is often called the dandelion fountain. It was made in 1978 by artist William T. Cannady.
This distinctive fountain sprays a mist of water in the shape of a dandelion puff. It’s a nice place to sit and take a break when walking in the park, especially on hot days. At night it is sometimes lit up in different colors.
Tolerance Statues
Located at 2121 Allen Parkway, Houston, Texas 77019. These statues are by artist Jaume Plensa and were installed in 2011.
There are seven statues of kneeling men that are formed out of characters from different alphabets from around the world. At night the statues are lit from inside, casting shadows from the different characters that make up the statue.
These statues are visible from Montrose Boulevard, and are located along a running trail.
Word Sculptures
Monumental Moments is an art installation by Anthony Thompson Shumate from 2015. There are six different statues of words throughout the park that reflect the landscape around them. You can see the signs that say reflect, listen, pause, emerge, explore, and reflect. The words are thought the entire park, and make a great photo opportunity. They also function as a bit of a scavenger hunt in order to try and find them all in the park.
Steel Canoes
At the entrances to the park are canoe sculptures by John Runnel.
Much of the park is located below street level, along the banks of the bayou. These statues make it clear where stairs and ramps going to the park are located.
Large Spindle Piece
Large Spindle Piece is an abstract sculpture by artist Henry Moore. It was created in 1969. The sculpture is located in Buffalo Bayou Park.
Volleyball Court
There is a sand volleyball court in the park. It is located in a section of the Buffalo Bayou Park that is called Eleanor Ainsley Park.
Love Lock Bridge
Houston’s Love Lock Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that runs from Eleanor Tinsley Park over Allen Parkway.
While you will see some locks affixed to other bridges in the park, this is the main one. The other bridges have railings that are too thick for most locks to clip around. This bridge has chain link that runs over the pedestrian area which is small enough for locks.
The bridge has a view of the Houston skyline.
Kayaking in Buffalo Bayou
The Buffalo Bayou Paddling Trail is 26 miles long and has ten access points through Houston. This longer paddling trail has a portion that runs through Buffalo Bayou Park. There are alligators in the bayou, and the water is not suitable for swimming.
There are a number of different companies that offer kayak rentals and shuttle services.
Bayou City Adventures has kayak rentals in the park and also in Discovery Green Park.
Buffalo Bayou Kayak Tours has kayaking packages.
Restrooms in Buffalo Bayou Park
Open daily from 8 AM – 8 PM.
There are bathrooms located on Sabine Street at the Water Works by the visitor center and at Lost Lake by the restaurant.