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The Brays Bayou Greenway Trail winds along its namesake bayou in southwestern Houston for over 47 miles, connecting neighborhoods, universities, recreational facilities, and cultural attractions.
About the Route
The trail leaves off from its western endpoint just short of George Bush Park, in the Howelville neighborhood. The trail travels east from here, first passing an artificial pond, that is part of the large Bray's Bayou. As the trail continues east, notable sites include Authur Storey Park and Braeburn Country Club.
Roughly mid-trail, Hermann Park offers trail-goers access to the Houston Zoo, beautiful gardens, and the city's museum district. Farther east is MacGregor Park, a popular neighborhood spot with its community center, playground, and pool.
The eastern end of the trail is marked by the confluence of Brays Bayou and Buffalo Bayou, as well as the nearby Mason Park.
Connections
The Brays Bayou Connector Trail meets the main trail in Authur Storey Park.
In South Central Houston, the trail meets the Columbia Tap Rail Trail.
The Bray's Bayou Trail runs between Westheimer Place Dr (Houston) and Brays Greenway Park, 8200 Hockley St (Houston), where parking is available.
Parking is also available at:
See TrailLink Map for all parking options and detailed directions.
The trail is also easily accessible via public transportation on the city’s METRO rail. Bicycles are permitted on trains; please see METRO's website for policies regarding taking bikes on board.
Totally worth the ride! Scenic, challenging, and peaceful! Absolutely love it!
We headed West and the only thing is that sometimes the trail ends and you have to go on the other side to continue but besides that it was a smooth ride, I recommend just be safe and maybe ride with a friend
This was the first time me and my friend rode this trail and we thought it was really nice, we parked at the parking lot on Almeda and rode East but didn't get too far due to some construction but we headed
If you ride through the Rice Ave and Chimney Rock areas you are taking your life into your own hands. Very dangerous due to construction and the contractor and COH apparently don’t care. I ride over that way often but beware. I will let you know when things change.
I Agree with the construction comments. Should have read the reviews before driving 2 hours to ride. The Hockley Street trailhead starts the trail from the east but suddenly stops due to construction. I would advise not trying to start from this location. We took streets to the Mason Park (South 75th Street) trailhead to get back onto the the trail from there westbound it was hit and miss with the construction. Some places could use better signage for what way to go on the detours. For the most part the trail was concrete and asphalt. There were places in need of repair that was rough and if caught you off guard you could take a spill. The traffic on the the trail was very light due to overcast skies, windy, and being a Friday. Overall not a bad days ride and getting out of the house.
Unless you are a local Houstonian, I would not recommend this trail at this time. I met many obsticles and managed to go around, by walking thru mud, hitting a street for about 500 feet and navigating thru barriers. So I suggest NOGO if you are coming from out of town.
And very few signs. It was difficult to follow the route in several locations. It’s still a work in progress
I was looking to do a bike run on this trail this weekend. Since I have a road bike with slimmer tires is this trail concrete or is it gravel? Concerned about punctures since I’m new to riding. Also is the construction ongoing?
The city has done an amazing job with this trail. Not long ago it was impossible to ride a bike in Houston without risking life and limb. But, here, slowly coming together is several miles of very nice bike pa a.
I've ridden the length of the marked Brays Bayou trail from Broadway st. near Hobby all the way west to where Brays Bayou merges with Keegan Bayou. I've continued west on Keegan Bayou to I-69 - but the paved trail keeps going!
Does anyone know how far a marked, rideable trail goes west on either Brays Bayou or Keegan Bayou? And/or East past Broadway St.? The Brays Bayou trail must be upwards of 40 miles of actual rideable trail, end to end.
This is an awesome trail when it is not under construction, and is well-deserving of five stars. I wish this app would let you know when a trail is not completely accessible, or in this case, completely unusable.
I have been all the way from the western terminus (Keegan's Bayou - Kirkwood at W. Belfort) to MacGregor Park. Most of it is fairly pleasant. However, construction at various points is problematic; as of late June 2020, you're looking at wonky intersections at Hillcroft (soon) and Stella Link, and many of the other ones are at angles relative to the trail so that you really have to contort to make the turns (recumbents, beware!) Outside the West Loop there is only one paved underpass (Gessner), the rest are your choice of unpaved dirt/mud or surface-level intersection. The West Loop/Braeswood intersection is a KNOWN DEATH TRAP, so utilize extreme caution here. There is construction east of 288 near Ardmore that is also problematic.
The biggest hazard, though, is west of Gessner. This area is populated by our transient neighbors, particular west of the Keegan's bridge. There is a fair amount of litter near the trail, and here and there are camp sites with tents and ...other things. The I-69 underpass is a No-Go zone if you are not in a group or riding pre-dawn/post-twilight. There is a large transient encampment there, it is not well-lit or near cross-streets, and they sometimes block the trail with debris (carts, lawn chairs, etc) This morning I was also chased by one of their dogs going through.
West of Wilcrest/Murphy the trail is unpaved for about a quarter-mile. There is no parking at the western end, unless you want to go park in the shopping center just south.
This is by far one of the worst bike trails I’ve been on. There’s too much construction. The trail is not clearly defined and you have to make many streets turns to get onto other segments of the trail. Very fragmented and difficult to navigate. There’s no more than 1 mile of straight trail at a time and makes biking very difficult. There’s better trails in Houston¿
Yes some parts are missing or under construction but overall it was a nice ride passing by the medical center and the zoo. Some sections seem newer than others so it’s getting better all the time.
Started from Braeburn Glen Park end and rode into the city. Until you reach 610 all of the road crossings involve going through the intersections and Houston traffic is not great at watching for bicycles. Certainly would be tough with kids. The paths are being worked on still but they are nice and wide where complete. Road and bayou construction breaks up the trail just before the medical center but after that you can ride fairly well in the bayou without so many road crossings. The bayou is a concrete lined channel all the way to MacGregor Park. So don’t expect a picturesque river. There are however fish visible throughout the length of the channel.
Though this is nice by Hermann Park. Getting to the nicer part you have to deal with narrow path and points where you are in the road and crossing traffic and train tracks.
In my opinion it needs to be on both sides of the bayou, wider and paved from beginning to end.
I rode from Gus Wortham Golf Course to the end of the Brays Bayou trail. While there are a few places that one has to cross to the other side of the bayou or where one must use crosswalks, this trail is in good condition on this portion. I park in the overflow lot for the Golf Course. The trail east of the golf course is still being worked on (I assume from Harvey damage), plus there are areas one must use roads. But only east of Gus Wortham Golf Course.
Don’t waste your time here if you want to road bike. Most of the trail is under construction or grass.
New to Houston and have not found many trails for road bikers. This one is great, and will be even more so once all upgrades are completed. (Feb 25, 2018) - while a few spots take some navigating due to trail construction and/or need to pick up the trail on the other side, the path is wide and well maintained. Today, runoff had left a few wet/muddy spots - which left a skunk mark on my back, but that just proves I had fun. I hope future plans include signage to let trail users know what street, sights, and amenities are near each underpass.
Rode today, or tried to ride...
Numerous major detours of closed trail around the medical center area.
Would have been nice to know this info. prior to making the trip.
Perhaps, TrailLink will find a method to keep us current on this pertinent information.
Trail that was open was really nice. Bluebonnets were seen in some areas already.
Eastern sections of the trail from Mason Park to UH and MacGregor Park are so pretty! Very natural with lots of flowers, plants and wildlife. The stretch in the medical center and beyond is more urban, but very functional. Lots of recent upgrades to the trail and more is planned to expand the trail out to the city limits at Eldridge. Overall, I love this trail! #BayouGreenways
Lots of unfinished sections where if they had just paved an extra 20 yards everything would be connected. Trail itself is very narrow with a steep drop off into the bayou around the medical center area. Also must aware of your surroundings be it the homeless that sleep under the bridges or anything east of 288 or further out west gets a little sketchy. I have never had a problem but the potential is there. It does have an underpass in the med center that connects to herman park and its a quick ride to rice university from there or down town.
Nice length, but very disjointed, and pretty ugly trail overall. Not very enjoyable overall.
I was on a road bike so had to get off and carry my bike across some unpaved sections, particularly some uphill sections in the Med Center/Hermann Park section. Turned around just west of Hiway 288 when I would have had to get off and walk the bike for a small rutted dirt spot and a homeless person was sleeping right there....if I could have ridden by I'd have ocntinued but not worth it to practically have to step over him. Sections of the trail under street overpasses in this area are somewhat scarily slanted toward the edge of the trail which just plummets to the cement below. The western end has a few good "fast interval" sections, but there are several road crossings and sharp turns where the trail meets pedestrian bridges.
Not a bad ride from end to end. Some areas of the trail once you make it the west end are older and not as smooth as the newer section on the east side. The west end has more of a park feel with places to rest and refill the water bottle. One section has flowers and honeysuckle in abundance and the smells fill the air.
The Brays Bayou Trail reminded me a lot of the bike trails in Seattle. I rode about 8 miles of the trail and did not see any construction taking place on the path, but I did ride over some newly completed bike bridges. Parts of the trail crosses through some very busy city streets, so those stretches would not be recommend for small children. However, there are may park-like segments of the path that would be just fine. The path crosses over the bayou in several places, so you're never board.
The trail in it's current state isn't great, but it's not horrible either. I wouldn't ride a road bike on it, but a hybrid, comfort bike, or mountain bike type is fine. I rode about 5 miles from McGreggor park, and back, and am working up to the whole trail. There is a lot of re-work going on to upgrade the trail just in those 5 miles, so be just be aware, you might go down the incorrect path, and have to turn around to find the current correct path. Not a big deal, and really sort of fun.
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