Buffalo Bayou Park When the Skyline Reflects

Buffalo Bayou Park When the Skyline Reflects

Buffalo Bayou Park stretches 160 acres along the bayou between Shepherd Drive and Sabine Street, and it is the $58 million proof that Houston can build a world-class park when it decides to. The hike-and-bike trail runs both banks, the landscaping is native Texas prairie and wetland, and the downtown skyline rises at the eastern end with the particular drama of a city that looks best when reflected in water.

The Barbara Fish Daniel Nature Play Area is the park's best-kept secret for families — a naturalistic playground built from logs, boulders, and sand that lets children do what urban parks rarely allow: get dirty. The bat colony under the Waugh Drive Bridge emerges at sunset — 250,000 Mexican free-tailed bats spiraling into the evening sky in a column visible from blocks away.

Best time: Early morning or sunset. Houston's humidity is real, and the park in midday summer is an endurance test. The bat emergence is best March through November — arrive at the bridge by 7:30 PM in summer.