Dallas Rambler is a 10,000 mile (at least!) exploration of Dallas where I share my experiences walking, rucking, and running through the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas. It's where I share my experiences of each place: what I've learned about its past, the area as it currently exists, and ideas on how we might collectively change it for the better.
Who decides that hiking all of the streets and paths Dallas has to offer is a good idea? Someone like me, of course. Hi — I'm Justin.
In June of 2023 I found myself reading an article about the streets of Dallas Overspending and Unchecked Work: This Is Why Dallas Can't Have Nice Streets for another project I was working on at the time. When the author mentioned that Dallas contains 11,755 miles of streets my first thought was: oh, that's doable, I can walk every mile of streets Dallas has to offer and document my experience along the way.
Two days after reading the article I had completed the first route, along with a post describing my short adventure in the area, coupled with a bunch of photos made along the way. I quickly changed my mind on traversing every street within Dallas, and opened it up to natural areas as well as expanding it all surrounding cities as well.
This idea has been brewing for years. I've always loved to explore. I've always loved to share things about place. If you love exploring local areas as much as I do, then this site is for you.
This all began over 20 years ago when a few friends and I decided to walk across our hometown. We stashed snacks and drinks along the route before embarking on this most treacherous of adventures. And by treacherous, I mean, completely underwhelming five mile walk through the city completed in under two hours. It turns out the city in which we spent all of our time wasn't very big at all -- but I still have fond memories of that walk and so many others during that time.
My interest was sparked again a few years ago when I decided to run around the city where I now live (a suburb north of Dallas), visiting all of the parks the city has to offer along the route. This was in the middle of the COVID pandemic, on one of the hottest days of the year, and took 7.5 hours and over 28 miles to finish. Stupid fun with friends and family.
Last year I began to develop a more keen interest in place, in Dallas, my home. So while working on a similar project that led me down the rabbit holes of city planning, naturalism, and the history of the area, my perspective changed on two things that I now cannot unsee.
One is that it's absolutely ridiculous that often the only safe, reasonable way to get from place to place in Dallas and the surrounding area is by automobile. This is by design, and it's not necessarily because that's what citizens actually want.
And two, repeating landscapes full of plant species that suck up water and require fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides are contributing to an ecological disaster.
I think we can do a lot better on both counts to build a much stronger, vibrant community full of interesting, connected places. And I'll be sharing what I learn on these topics and so much more as I continue this project.
But first and foremost I'm here to explore, observe, document and share my adventures as I go, one walk/hike/ruck/run at a time. My hope is that this project translates into others advocating for more walkable places, and more natural places to explore the outdoors close to home within and around Dallas.