Town Green Park The Woodlands Texas

Flags on lake Woodlands Dr in front

This is an important park visited by many people but mostly for events along the Woodlands Waterway. It is rather simple but a pretty grass park that connects Lake Robbins Drive  frontage to the waterway. It is located adjacent to the Cynthia Ann Pavilion. Parking is simply anywhere you can find it. The Waterway can be crossed from the pavilion parking lots, so the Green or Orange parking lots are close by, as well as nearby street parking. The closest place to park near the entrance on Lake Robbins Dr is the library parking lot.  Runners in Town Center frequent this park along with the waterway pathways.

Entrance sign

Children's hands at entrance

Bathrooms

Grass park with waterway taxis in back

Walking the pathway into the park, one finds the restrooms on the west or right side of the entrance.  When inside the park, there will be plenty of grass.

Outdoor amphitheater

water fountain next to amphitheater

You can arrive and leave via the trolley which stops right behind the park on the waterway path.

Like all Woodlands parks, visitors may walk their dogs in the park but must follow the rules for pets. Two years ago, this park had special rules. Now those rules are in place at all Woodlands parks. Please! Honor the rule for no "park poop".

There is also a seating view overlooking the waterway, a children's garden and a sculpture garden. 

Map

Alden Bridge Park

A major park in The Woodlands Texas, Alden Bridge deserves your visit. It is a beautiful park with an abundance of water. I've been told it is not the best fishing place around, but one can fish there. I saw teenagers net fishing. That can never be good for the fish population!The swimming amentity is placed next to the large pond that spans Alden Bridge Rd, the main artery in the Village of Alden Bridge.

The tranquil feel of the scenic views around the lake, even though the park is so very close to the main road, provides the visitor a calming early morning place to relax with a cup of java and/or a walk in the park. Notice the twin pavilions and their location. This is facing southwest from behind the swimming pools facility.

Twin pavilions

Abundant parking is available through three entries from the main road. Parking spaces are shared with a church next door.

Like almost all of The Woodlands parks, a creek passes through it. The parks are generally located on land that is unsuitable for commercial locations or residences due to flooding risk.  This creek is dammed up to create the pond or really it is a lake.

This view of the creek is on the east side of the road passing from the lake onward.

Walking back from the east side of the road, you can see part of the park and the beauty of the bridge built from masonry bricks. One of the things I noticed about this park is an excellent integration of the pathways that blend in with the park. Notice the pathway bridge in this photo. 

Similar to all major parks, this swimming facility is beautiful, clean and has a great pool house. On this hot Sunday afternoon in August, several families were getting their respite from the heat.

Volleyball court

Soccer field

On this day, the volleyball court was open for someone to play, as well as the soccer field.

Tennis courts - 4 of them

Bathrooms

Getting there:


GPS coords:
30.210163, -95.514708
Located on Alden Bridge Rd near Green Gables Cr. If coming from Research Forest Dr, turn left (west) into the park, not right.

Bear Branch Park, The Woodlands Texas

This large park is easily accessible from Research Forest Drive. Located adjacent to Bear Branch Creek, it features a rink for roller hockey, is wheel and dog friendly and has natural trails to the creek. This park also has a combined soccer/baseball field and a volleyball court. Entrance to the dog park. On entering the park from Research Forest Dr, turn right into the parking lot and the dog park will be to your right. This is its entrance. There are two fenced areas, the right for small dogs and the left for large dogs. The large dog area. Very spacious. Its beautiful swimming pool. Small childrens playgound. Large pavilion is ideal to rent for group events. Its skateboard facilities include two separate boarding rinks. Five tennis courts It's hockey rink provides an unique amenity for all ages. One can walk on the pathway system over Bear Branch Creek or maybe explore some natural paths in the park. The Longleaf Pine is propigating along the creek bed. Even in dry season, Bear Branch Creek normally has water flowing down it.

How to get there
It is located just west of the bridge over Bear Branch Creek, on Research Forest. The entrance is on the north side of Research Forest, between Shadowbend and The Woodlands High School, across the street from the Bear Branch sports complex.
Google Map

Harpers Landing Park

There are some great trees and lots of dense forest in this park. I liked the swimming pool there and apparently there are many people who share that sentiment with me. It was busy for a Friday at noon. A visitor can enjoy the picnic benches. I saw at least two places where two families could share an area (two tables in close proximity). There is a toddlers park within this park, on the side opposite the pool. The park is bound by four streets and has walking paths on three sides. Two parking lots provide plenty of parking space. A soccer/baseball field is available, as well as tennis courts. This is a wheel friendly park. To see details in these photographs, make sure you click on the photographs themselves because every one is substantially larger than what you see here.

To get there, go east on highway 242 from I45. Take a left at the first street after Trade Center Parkway, Donwick. Go to Trade Center Parkway and take a left. The park will be obvious on your right at Harper's Landing Drive, where you will want to turn right in order to arrive at the parking lots.

Google Map

Tamarac Park The Woodlands Texas

I visited this park for the first time today and was pleasantly surprised at its "friendliness". The restrooms are located near the entrance, so you know where they are, from the start. Access to the normal amenities are at the front also, such as the tennis courts and the basketball courts. There are some interesting and very old trees such as those covered in vines. I noticed two pines "kissing", a phenomenon when two trees are planted or seeded too close together. The park is full of mature trees of various species. To me this place felt like an old established park, such as Herman in Houston. That is a compliment, not a criticism. Sitting on a bench and enjoying this place is quite the thing to do. In fact, if you are with your spouse or friend, there is a swing under a large old tree that you might want to visit. There is some rich history at this location as noted on this sign dated July 4th, 1984.It is in the heart of the old logging site. This sandy floor volleyball court is located up front as well. The pavilion is about in the middle, on a small pond. I counted three tables inside. There are actually two ponds located here. I like this location with two tables right on the "point" where a picnic can be assembled right in front of the fountains. One pond is rather large with tri-fountains having a high trajectory of water and producing plenty of white noise for visitors. Not all paths are concrete. This park has several dirt paths for the children to explore and even for adults to get to picnic tables. This one leads to the tri-fountains. In this pond, there are large Koi. The playground equipment here is clean and ready for the little ones. This is a skate friendly park. I saw about 10 youngsters practicing there on their skateboards while I was walking through the park.

This is also a dog friendly park. It is the newest park in The Woodlands to provide a dog social and play area. Click here for article on that part of the park.