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Bird's Fort Trail Park

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Features

  1. 57.99 Acres
  2. Campion Trails Dedication Marker
  3. Campion Trails Gateway Monument
  4. Canoe Launch
  5. Concrete Unlighted Surface Trail
  6. Eight Tables
  7. Lake or Stream
  8. Large Pavilion
  9. Parking
  10. Picnic Areas
  11. Portable Restroom
  12. River Overlook
  13. Shelter or Building
  14. Trails
  15. Two River Overlook Shelters
  16. Water
To protect new settlements in the Republic of Texas, General Edward Tarrant, the namesake for Tarrant County, commissioned Major Jonathan Bird to construct a fort near Caddo Village on the West Fork of the Trinity River. The location of the new Fort Bird would be on Caloway Lake, a now privately owned lake in today's Arlington, Texas.

Upon completion of the new fort, Major Bird and his crew of 36 volunteers blazed a wagon trail back to the old Fort Inglish, creating the Bird's Fort Trail. Fort Bird became the first official settlement in today's Tarrant County.

General Sam Houston, president of the Republic of Texas, traveled the Bird's Fort Trail in the summer of 1843 to Grape Vine Spring. There his officers negotiated the Treaty of Peace and Friendship with 10 Native American nations.

Now, Bird's Fort Trail Park has a variety of features including Trinity River overlook, trail, shelters and a canoe launch. The Trinity Coalition provides an interactive paddling trail map which includes directions, water level updates and potential hazards at the Bird's Fort Trial Park canoe launch.

Subfacilities

  1. Bird's Fort Trail Shelter

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