Spring Creek Forest Preserve

Located in north Garland, Texas, only 14 miles from downtown Dallas, this old-growth hardwood bottomland forest and native prairie areas along Spring Creek are a haven of towering trees and unusual wildflowers. Scientists, conservationists, and naturalists have studied this forest community and determined it is one the few remaining old growth forest in the Blackland Prairie eco-zone of north central Texas. The Spring Creek Forest Preserve is protected as a biological treasure used for scientific studies and natural enjoyment.The Spring Creek Forest Preserve is owned by Dallas County, Texas with maintenance provided by the City of Garland under the direction of the Society for the Preservation of Spring Creek Forest. The Preserve consists of three parcels of land totaling 100 acres of the larger Spring Creek Greenbelt. Old growth forest coverage varies from one third to two thirds of each tract with the balance in regenerative forest and prairie grass communities.

From counting the growth rings on some of the fallen trees, the tree age has been determined to be 125- 130 years old. The dominant species are shumard oak, chinkapin oak, bur oak and pecan. Other species include American elm, slippery elm, American ash, green ash, hackberry and black walnut. The forest community varies from slope to floodplain bottomland to creek side communities. One of the unusual features of the Spring Creek Forest is the occurrence of chinkapin oak among the dominant species in both the bottomland and the slope communities.