RSS
Home
The Seabrook Trail is one of Houston's hidden running routes
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Seabrook is located just south of Houston and on the bay. If you've ever gone to enjoy the day or evening at the Kemah Boardwalk, you were a stones throw away from it; it's right across the Kemah Bridge. Why hidden? It's extremely under-utilized.
The city took it upon themselves to link all the city parks together with a crushed granite trail, similar to Memorial Park, but only half as wide. It may be narrower but it's longer. In fact, with a complete round trip you can add about eight miles to your log.
The easiest way to get to the trail is to take I-45 South from Houston. Turn left (East) on Nasa Rd. 1. When it hits Highway 146 turn right. Next turn left, towards the bay, on North Meyer. Travel 0.6 miles and turn in at Miramar Park. The city swimming pool is right there and has a good size parking lot.
Home of the Seabrook Lucky Trails Marathon
The Clear Lake Fitness Club first staged the Lucky Trails Marathon in 2004 and has expanded the race menu every year since then. It happens in March, making it an ideal event for runners coming off the winter marathon season and looking for one more finisher's medal before the summer heat sets in. The course is flat, so if you've been neglecting your hillwork training, no worries.
This year the CLFC turned it into a weekend extravaganza with a full marathon, half marathon, and a four person relay. Up for a challenge? Here are a couple of challenges featured:
- The Pelican Challenge. This involves running a half on both Saturday and Sunday and receiving $10.00 off the total entry fee.
- The Trail Challenge. This one involves running the half on Saturday (as a training run?) and the full on Sunday. Once again, a $10.00 savings for the brave.
The starting and finishing line is right at Miramar Park, referenced above, but parking is not limited to that spot.
Trail running in Hester Park
The Miramar Park has the city swimming pool, covered basketball courts, and a skate park, but that's not the only place to jump on the trail. The key to finding the other parking lots is Todville Road, which follows the coast and is peppered with an assortment of eclectic homes, many of which are currently being repaired in Hurricane Ike's wake.
The next park down the trail is Hester Park. It was originally a nursery, owned and operated by Joe Hester from 1925 to 1993. The city commissioned it as a park in 1993. This is a forested part of the trail with much of the original vegetation left over and gone native from the nursery, including bamboo and crepe myrtles. There is a small parking lot here on Todville. It can accommodate about eight vehicles.
This is a great place to get off the granite trail and get lost in the forest. There are primitive trails shooting off at various points 
that make for a challenging run. Beware, it's easy to get lost.
Next stop: bathroom break at Baybrook Park
This isn't really much of a park, just tennis courts and a playground for the kids. But it does have a bathroom and a good sized parking lot. The trail from Hester to here runs alongside Todville and leads to the next parking area, Robinson Park, where about ten cars can park and you can refill your water bottle.
Onward to the bay
At Robinson Park the trail leaves the road again and really gets interesting. This is where the wildlife lives, including alligators and javelinas. The trail meanders through a wooded area before crossing Todville and ending at the best park of all, Pine Gully Park. This is the best place to begin and end your run. There's plenty of picnic tables with barbecue pits. Hopefully, the fishing pier will be rebuilt soon. What more could a runner ask for?
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
