IN BRIEF
Memorial Park, which is the largest urban park in Texas, is often called the Central Park of Houston. It includes an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, baseball and softball fields, football/soccer fields, picnic sites, a three-mile jogging trail, swimming pool, croquet, volleyball, in-line skating, cycling and hiking. The 1500-acre park was acquired by William C. Hogg from the U.S. government in 1918 who subsequently turned it over to the City of Houston. While the park contains many hiking and biking trails, currently there are plans to add additional trails over the next several years. All the wooded areas on the south side of the park are criss-crossed by trails and many of them run along Buffalo Bayou and other smaller creeks. The west trails of the Ho Chi Minh trail start from the first parking lot that you reach when entering the park from the west going east. 

Description

Start the west trails of the Ho Chi Minh trail behind the parking lot and to the right of the trail map. Go over the bridge and then turn left to get on the trail. There is a large football/soccer practice field to the right of the trail with the woodlands on the left. The trail surface is dirt with some old asphalt at the beginning but once you get into the trees, it remains predominantly dirt with exposed tree roots. These trails are used heavily on weekends by cyclists so take caution and move to the right of the trail when you hear them coming. Often they will change gears to indicate their presence and you can just step to the side. Once past the football field, the vegetation gets dense on both sides of the trail and stays that way creating a very shady and often cooler than the surrounding area environment.

             At the intersection, there are color-coded markers with a red marker pointing right, purple marker pointing left and yellow marker pointing straight ahead. Follow the yellow marker and go straight. These mixed pine and oak woodlands, which are fenced in by urban sprawl from all directions, contain a diverse population of birds including the yellow crowned night heron, the pileated woodpecker, and during winter months, the great horned owl. While pine, oak, and hickory trees surround most of the trail, you can also find parsley hawthorn, American beautyberry, snowdrop tree, sweet bay magnolia, eastern red bud, Texas mountain laurel, coral honeysuckle, coral bean, and southern wax myrtle. Animals to look out for include Virginia opossum, gray squirrel, eastern mole, fox squirrel, evening bat, nine-banded armadillo, raccoon, swamp rabbit, coyote, and venomous snakes including coral snakes and copperheads.

            The yellow trail narrows some at the beginning and winds back and forth through dense woodlands. Continue past another yellow marker on your right and look to the left to see the red trail as it briefly runs parallel to the yellow trail. There is a deep ditch to your left so stay on the trail to prevent stepping off the loose embankment. The trail continues to go back and forth with a creek bed now on your left. The 4 foot wide trail is not wide enough for hikers and cyclists at the same time so look ahead and listen from behind at all times. Stay on the trail past another marker on the left. The vegetation on the right is dense with a steep drop off on the left. As the trail winds to the right considerably, you go away from the creek before the trail winds left again. Continue as it winds back towards the creek and down hill over tree roots. Watch your footing as some of the roots are quite large. Go past another yellow marker on your right and down hill steeply to a small bridge. Cross the bridge and then head straight up hill and to the left. As the trail winds right, it heads back down hill slightly before winding back and forth towards the creek. Continue past a yellow marker on your right as the trail winds back and forth.

            Go past a marker on the right and cross a small channel that feeds into the creek on the left. The trail heads right and up hill before coming to a washed out part of the trail. The center is deeper than the sides and has considerable water damage for about 15 yards. Past the damaged area, the trail heads down hill and to the left over a small bridge. Continue to the right to get back on the trail and go past a marker on the right before going down hill. Hike around a tree in the middle of the trail before heading down hill steeply to the right and then back up hill. Go through the intersection past a yellow marker and head down hill very steeply. Again, watch your footing and take this section slowly if you do not have on proper hiking shoes. Cross a bridge and head up hill to another yellow marker. Go right to get on a wider more road-like part of the trail. This section is much straighter and you can see in the distance for quite some distance.

            Pass a yellow marker on your right and head to the right back onto a narrower trail. The trail winds left and down hill before winding back and forth. Go across a small cement bridge and then up hill. Continue past the next yellow marker and then head to the left. The trail is now only about 3 feet wide here but is still easy to follow. You are no longer hiking along a creek and the trail surface is much flatter with very little elevation change. Cross another bridge and then head to the right to stay on the trail. At the intersection go right and follow the yellow marker. The trail is much wider now and heavily used by bikers. Follow the markers for the purple trail. You can hear the hum of traffic on Loop 610 just west of Memorial Park. This is one of the most traveled roads in the United States.

            Follow the purple marker and head right to a flatter part of the trail void of tree roots. Once you reach the initial intersection from the beginning of the hike, head right and follow the red trail marker. The trail is now winding back and forth and has narrowed considerably. You are back hiking along the creeks and ditches. Hike past a red marker on the right and look further to your right to see the yellow trail. At the intersection, head straight and down hill. Cross a small bridge and then head up hill on a very, very steep incline. You can see the baseball field lights over the tops of the trees to the left of the trail. The trail goes right and down hill before going back up hill and over another long bridge followed directly by a shorter bridge. Follow the blue trail marker and head straight. The trail winds sharply to the right and then back and forth. Cross another small bridge that seems to be built for cyclist fun only since it does not traverse anything. Continue past a blue marker on the right and then a red marker on the left. Follow the red marker to the right down hill over additional tree roots. The creek is now on your left and the trail winds right. Go past another red marker on the right and continue on the trail straight. Once the trail takes a big bend to the right, look to your left and you can see a stone wall that was erected to help with erosion. Go left at the intersection and head down into a creek bed before ascending up the other side. You can now see the baseball fields on your right as you head back to the initial intersection. Continue to the right at the next intersection and then head left at the red marker. Head left at a small fork in the trail. Go right at the next intersection and then straight until you see the red marker up ahead. At the red marker, go slightly right and head down the trail. At the last red marker head left and take a quick right to head back towards the parking lot and past the football/soccer field on your left. At the trail map head over the bridge and into the parking lot to end the hike.

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