George Bush Park/Eldridge - 10 Things to Know Before Visiting

At George Bush Park visitors can go on a hike or bike ride on one of the many trails, have a picnic by the lake, go fishing, or play on the playground. The park also has a dog park, where visitors can bring their furry friends to run and play. In addition, the park hosts a variety of events throughout the year, including concerts, movie nights, and festivals. The park is also home to a variety of athletic fields and courts.

Westheimer Parkway bisects the park and a variety of recreation facilities are available along its way including soccer and baseball fields, a shooting range, and model aircraft flying fields. The park is also a popular geocaching destination.

The jogging and biking trails around the park are surrounded by swamps, forests and bayous. Many of these trails follow Buffalo Bayou- a slow-moving body of water. The biking trails are well known for their flexibility in biking levels. The trails are not on a loop so most bikers will have to retrace their route.

There is also a large bridge that crosses the Buffalo Bayou at the park. Dubbed "the Boardwalk", it was built in 2004 mainly to cross the swampy Buffalo Bayou. There is also a wide variety of wildlife that exists in the park. Depending on the time you are in, you might encounter snakes, alligators, all kinds of spiders, birds, ducks or some wild boar.

Throughout the early 1900s, cattle and farms occupied the area of George Bush Park until it became parkland in the mid-1940s. The park is situated entirely within Barker Reservoir, a large flood control structure constructed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in the 1940s to control the flooding along the Buffalo Bayou.

Initially, the park was named Cullen–Barker Park untill January 1997 when Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack proposed the name George Bush Park in honour of the 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush. The opening ceremony of the park with its new name was held in the presence of the former president in May of the same year.

George Bush Park is especially gorgeous after it rains because the land transforms into a pond with trees stretching out of the water. At other times, it is fine to visit at any time of the year. As the park is large, it generally doesn't get crowded.

1. Pets are allowed only on a leash at the park, except at the dog park.
2. No alcohol is allowed inside the park.
3. Out of the six baseball fields in the park, four of them are reserved for the West Oaks Little League, and only two are open to the public.
4. Near the southeast entrance of the park, the American Shooting Centers reserves 563 acres (2.3 km2) of land to provide shooting fields, a gun rental/purchase shop and lessons.
5. The trails are prone to flooding, even when it hasn’t rained in weeks.
6. Please keep the park area clean, there is a lot of garbage thrown in the swampy areas.
7. As the amount of space the park offers is huge, it is an ideal place to fly drones.

1. The park was known as Cullen–Barker Park until 1997.
2. George Bush Park is located inside the Barker Reservoir, which provides flood control for the city of Houston.
3. In 2011, during the 2010–13 Southern United States and Mexico drought, a significant wildfire broke out within the park, consuming over 1,500 acres of reservoir grassland.

Visitors can spend anywhere between 2 hours to a full day at the park depending on the activities planned.

George Bush Park is located on the outskirts of Houston. From the city centre, it takes 30 minutes to reach the park by car(36 kilometres)

There is no entrance fee for George Bush Park. If you are trying to reserve a pavilion or do some activities at the shooting range, there will be additional costs. You can find more information about reserving from the park's website.

George Bush Park is open from 7 AM to 10 PM daily.