Longview Park Trail Information

Since the city dedicated the new Paul Boorman Trail recently, I thought I would dust off my old mountain bike and check out all the trails in Longview. I rode from my home in Pine Tree on a Saturday morning and went first through Julieanna Park and then rode the walking path at McWhorter Park. 

Riding east on Fairmont, I came to the Paul Boorman Trail at Bill Owens. I rode this path all the way to Highway 80 and back to Fairmont. I found the trail to be flat and smooth and almost completely in the shade. I look forward to the trail being completed to the north loop. If the creek was cleaned out and the water level maintained, we could have a small river walk that would be the envy of every town in East Texas.

Next on my list was Guthrie Parkway at McCann Road. This trail is sunny and could use some of the “ramps to nowhere” that we have in other parts of town. I found that the same could be said about Cargill Long Park. Where ramps do exist, they are not smooth and could cause a bike to fall if the rider was not careful. I intersected Cargill Long Park in the middle and rode south to Teague Park and then north to Fourth Street. 

I found that the parks don’t seem as busy as I would have thought. They are clean and well maintained except for the roughness of Julieanna. Tree roots have buckled the asphalt until it is even dangerous for walking.  When riding back west, I remembered Akin Park between Dellwood and Eden. This is a short but nice little trail.  I took another tour on the Paul Boorman Trail on the way home.

I ended up with a total distance of about 26 miles and it took me a little less than 3 hours. I spoke to everyone I met or passed on all the trails. Almost everyone returned my greeting. I commend the city for giving us these trails, but if we don’t use them we will surely lose them.