---

Wilson Creek Trail, Texas

The Wilson Creek Trail system winds parallel to Wilson Creek through the City of McKinney, spread out across 500 acres through several extraordinary community parks, creating a multifaceted hub with a wealth of recreational diversity and naturalist adventures.

The existing trail system features many intertwined trails, trail segments, and loops measuring about 10 miles of concrete and natural trail surfaces and plenty of amenities and recreation opportunities for all ages, abilities, and interests.

The McKinney park system was constructed along Wilson Creek, so the trail system winds through several significant community parks, such as the Grady Littlejohn Softball & Baseball Complex, Towne Lake Park, Alex Clark Memorial Disc Golf Course, Al Ruschhaupt Soccer Complex, and Bonnie Wenk Community Park. The breadth of the trail allows hikers and bikers to take a scenic journey to one of the many amenities on the trail. Along the Wilson Creek Trail, McKinney offers a wide variety of traditional recreation activities, as well as unique recreation opportunities such as disc golf, sand volleyball, lacrosse, cricket, horseshoes, fishing, and kayaking. Visitors can also enjoy amenities such as pavilions, play structures, picnic tables, grills, restrooms, a splash pad, an all-abilities playground, an outdoor fitness court, and a dog park. The Recreation Center at Towne Lake is also on the trail system and hosts basketball, pickleball, racquetball, ping pong, billiards, and a plethora of recreational offerings. The collection of leisure and entertainment cannot minify the natural beauty that surrounds the entirety of the trail, such as lakes, ponds, native Blackland Prairie foliage, open green spaces, and colorful crape myrtles lovingly beautified both by the City of McKinney and volunteers from the McKinney Parks Foundation.

Running through the heart of Collin County, the Wilson Creek trail system provides a series of veins that branch out into the surrounding cities of the county. Collin County's Strategic Plan places high importance on a bevy of connected, multi-functional, and interconnected systems that ultimately meet the needs of residents who expressed the desire to prioritize trails, active community parks, floodplain greenways, and regional prairie parks. The threads of the Wilson Creek trail system are the foundation of the trail that will spider out to the edges of McKinney to join with Collin County's "Big 6" ultimately forging the links to the Six Cities Trail, a countywide trail network. The entirety of this trail system embodies every goal set forth by both the Collin County Parks and Open Space Strategic Plan and the Six Cities Trail Plan. It goes above and beyond towards McKinney's goal of creating a "String of Pearls and Gems" interconnected by trails and bikeways that serve to unify the city, heighten community companionship, and provide additional transportation paths requested by residents. Collin County and the City of McKinney value quality, variety, beauty, and inclusivity in their trails, all of which are exemplified by the Wilson Creek trail system.