Restrooms Along Brays Bayou Trail

For those of us who have been saying that we won’t live long enough to see the Brays Bayou Greenways Trail completed, let’s get our affairs in order, because the contractor is about to break ground!   Survey stakes marking the center of the pathway are going in now.  Brays Trail will be extended West from Braeburn Glen Park to Arthur Storey Park (west of Beltway 8) and then will continue West through Alief all the way to Eldridge Parkway.   The trail already meanders through ArchBishop Fiorenza Park and continues across Hwy 6 to the headwaters of Brays (not to be confused with the headwaters of the Nile, but that is another story!).   

One of the agencies that operate the trail got ahead of itself..   There has been, for several years now, a sign on Brays Trail, at South Gessner, pointing to Arthur Storey Park.    OK, so sign painting is a little less intensive than bull dozing and pouring concrete.    Along that line, let me offer a tour of restrooms to be found along the trail, including that part that has yet to be constructed.

I am a 69 year old, fat diabetic on a bicycle.   I make it a point to know where the closest restroom is, at all times.

Following the bayou almost to the ship channel, Mason Park offers restrooms in the community center.   The park itself is a very nice place to play and relax with friends and family.   Several miles upstream is MacGregor Park.   It also has a community center, but I have never found it open.   There are clean porta-potties in the parking lot.   There is also a B-Cycle station there.

Hermann Park has a number of restrooms, but the one closest to the Brays Trail is on Almeda on the East edge of the park.    Cross the Bill Coats bridge, take the Columbia Tap trail South to Dixie.   A very pleasant detour.

I have not found another public restroom for some distance, but many of us believe there is a city ordinance requiring all cyclists to stop at 3 Brothers Bakery, 3036 South Braeswood and buy a Hamantaschen, a delicious cookie shaped like a three-cornered hat.Everything else is good, but very filling!   Once you buy a cookie, you can use the restroom without guilt!

West of 610 Loop, construction is wrapping up on the South Rice and Chimney Rock bridges.  I estimate that the trail will be whole again this Spring.

Stein Family Park is a hidden gem, across the bayou next to United African Seventh Day Adventist Church on Brays Bayou Drive.   Clean restroom, about 20 parking spaces.   

Braeburn Glen Park, at the current Western end of Brays Bayou Trail. I think there are restrooms by the tennis courts

Now, assuming you are adventuresque, or don’t mind driving, Arthur Storey Park is one of the more used parks in Southwest Houston, located just South of the Home Depot, on Beltway 8.   Restroom is at the entrance to the park.

All the way West, and a wonderful gem of a park, is ArchBishop Fiorenza Park.   I am talking about the one West of Eldridge Parkway.  Restroom.   Extensive system of trails, in and outside the park.   There is a short stretch of trail on either side of the bayou, just Northeast of the park.   

I don't claim these are the only restrooms along the trail, but, aside from the bakery, all are open to the public. With the exception of Mason Park, I have used all these restrooms.

Riding East from MacGregor Park

 My friend Don and I drove over to MacGregor Park, off of MLK Blvd and just South of University of Houston.  We took the bikes down from the car and headed East.    Note to everyone:  MacGregor Park offers parking right by the trail.  Also available are restrooms (presently clean porta-potties), water, and A B-Cycle station, so if you want to rent a bike, you certainly can.   This portion of Brays Bayou Greenway Trail is fairly new; Google maps still show bare earth in many places.   I wanted to see this first hand as the trail dips down under the Metro line and does a cloverleaf up and over the bayou to a beautiful entrance to University of Houston.   By the way, right by the corner of UH is the fifth air pump/bike maintenance post that I have seen on Brays Trail.    Air the tires before you go much farther.  This is a great idea, and I imagine this is part of our tax dollars at work, but it, and the occasional water stations, sure make for a nicer ride.

We were curious, as several of my online maps, and the city's trail map, show several points on the trail, that go under road bridges, to be closed for construction.   The suggested detour is over 3 miles long and takes one along Hwy 90a (Wayside) North of Gus Wortham Golf Course before you get a chance to get back to the trail.   Now, I am a law abiding citizen (mostly) and I have been known to do what I am told, but as a Texan, if you don't want me to drive down a perfectly good road, you better dump a load of dirt in my way or dig a big hole, or both, or I am going right around all those "road closed" barriers, which I did.    

The first signs, around Telephone Road were bypassed, with no adverse affects.   There was no construction (on the way back I could see piles of dirt, etc on top of the bridge, so.....) and we sailed right along.    This part of the bayou looks rather natural, not a lot of concrete embankments and a serious effort is being made to grow native grasses.

The second set of barriers was a different story.   The Lawndale bridge over the bayou has been torn down and construction really is ongoing.   Did that stop us?   Nope.   We took a short detour left, then crossed Lawndale, intending to follow it West and around the golf course, but we spotted a family going around the construction on the other side of the street, so we bumped over a little dirt and followed them back to the pathway.   Not crowded (many people minded the signs, I guess)  and we rode on to Mason Park.   There are two bridges that will take you to the South side of the bayou and to Mason Park.   This is an old city park (est 1929) and actually has something that resembles terrain!  One of the bridges has a dedicated bike lane, the other is an architecturally interesting foot bridge.   We biked to what is truly the end of the trail..    A railroad trestle stands in the way, but work is being done to rebuild the railroad and extend the trail several hundred feet to a final section of the trail that is pretty much not accessible at this time.

So, with just a little caution, you really can ride from Braeburn Glen Park off of Gessner (parking) all the way to Mason Park    One more piece of the trail, and we really will be able to ride all the way to Buffalo Bayou!    And, I read that work should start this year (sure it will) on the Brays trail Northwest of Bissonnet, on to Arthur Storey Park, and maybe, on to Hwy 6 (several parks along the way already).

This is a well maintained trail, a little bit of ups and downs (as a 67 year old fat boy, I need to learn how to effectively use these gears!) and the scenery is quite nice.    I am pretty sure the bayou at this point is either brackish, or its salt water, as this ditch empties into the ship channel in about a mile, which would put this at sea level.     I saw one spot marked as a place to launch a canoe.   

Here, in the midst of a great urban area, and close to the super-busy ship channel, you can still see nature.   Wildlife

and not so wildlife.

Along Brays Bayou

I made a major goal Tuesday.    From my house in Alief  (Southwest Houstonm, outside the Beltway) , along Keegans and Brays Bayous, to MacGregor Park just South of University of Houston is 20 miles.    292 pounds of 67 year old couch potato made it!  MacGregor Park is one of the few spots along Brays Bayou with parking for those who DON'T live just a few blocks from one of these bayou greenways trails.   You can bike through the park, play in a pickup game of roundball, or bike on through the park and on farther down stream on the bayou.

Just a small mention of the Covid-19 mask.    My wife ordered me a set that are specifically for athletic endeavors.   Replaceable charcoal filters.   I can actually breathe while wearing one.   We won't mention that my wife recently found a review of said mask that said they are pretty much useless, because the inlet ports that give me enough air also move unfiltered air in AND out.   As Scarlett said, "I'll worry about that tomorrow, at Tara.   After all....."    

Between Texas 288 and MacGregor Park is a little bit of construction (eventually all bridges across the bayou will be rebuilt for flood control/survival), and a whole lot of very stately homes from many years back.   I smell old money.   The Brays Trail runs along both sides of the bayou.  On the South bank of the bayou, almost to MacGregor Park, is a high-quality exercise pavilion with bike racks, water, and a number of exercise stations.   Technically, it's closed because of the Pandemic, but.....   There are two foot bridges for bikes, so you can go down one side and come back on the other.  The Westernmost bridge is part of Colombia Tap Trail.   There is construction here right now.     I ignored the detour; probably shouldn't have.

Columbia Tap Trail just South of Brays Bayou Trail.    If you head South, across 288, and turn right, you can take a quiet city street to Parks and Recreation @ Brays Bayou.

There is a new H-E-B at the corner of Brays and 288.  At the corner by New Hope Baptist Church (historical marker) is a stop for Bus 4 that can take you to the TMC transit center and all the way the other end of Alief.   $1.25 

There are two Metro stops close to MacGregor.   I wanted to bike to the one adjacent to UH, but the trail does a cloverleaf down and up (which is cool) and my legs rebelled against even that slight incline by this stage of my journey, so I boarded at MLK @ Old Spanish Trail.   Went two stops, by the stadium and rode a block to my bus stop at Scott and Alabama, where, by the way, someone has placed something called "Rookies Cookies!"   I managed to avoid it - this time, but I see a side trip in my future!   Makes sense doesn't it?   End a 20 mile ride with ice cream and cookies!   Ask me why I can't lose weight!

Not sure how much farther we can go at the present time.   Website maps show Brays Greenway Trail is closed at Hwy 90a and the detour is not something I am interested in.   The problem with world class bike trails  -  it can be a mess building them., and the mess is there for some time.   I am considering driving to MacGregor and doing a fairly short exploration of the bayou from there.