In a series of blog posts throughout the year, we will highlight the progress made along each of Houston’s Bayou Greenways as part of the Houston Parks Board’s Kinder Foundation-supported Bayou Greenways 2020 project. This is the second in a series of posts.

Sims Bayou Greenway stretches nearly 20 miles from Milby Park to Blue Ridge County Park in Southwest Houston. The trails will offer walkers and bikers opportunities for recreation through new connections to neighborhood parks, schools, and community centers along Sims Bayou.

On June 8, Houston Parks Board (HPB) hosted a ribbon cutting to mark the completion of a new segment of Sims Bayou Greenway. The 2.6-mile stretch from Heatherbrook Drive to Buffalo Speedway connects into a previously completed trail segment that runs west to Hillcroft, and marks the latest achievement of the Houston Parks Board’s Bayou Greenways 2020 project. The Kinder Foundation contributed $934,000 to the $6.9 million total cost of this Greenway segment. In addition to the hike / bike trail, the segment features directional and educational signage, trash and recycling bins, benches, ornamental design features, landscaping, and a new trailhead entrance at South Post Oak Boulevard as well as other neighborhood gateway connections. 

The public celebration will also commemorate the first completed project from the HPB’s Beyond the Bayous initiative, its effort to advance the development of park and greenway systems beyond Houston’s waterways. Through a partnership between HPB, City of Houston and CenterPoint, the recently-completed 1.5-mile hike-and-bike trail west of Hiram Clarke Road connects the Sims Bayou Greenway to West Airport Road currently being reconstructed by TxDOT to include a dedicated bike lane.

Further east, HPB recently completed the Sims Bayou Greenway from Milby Park to Glenbrook Park. This 2.3 mile segment includes gateway features, two new bridges and the installation of an allee of donated live oak trees along Old Galveston Road. Houston Parks Board is also working with partners on a connected Sims Bayou Greenway trail system through the Houston Botanic Garden  to communities west of  1-45.

To view other trail segments which have been completed or are in the works along Sims Bayou Greenway, visit the Houston Parks Board’s website. Read about Sims Bayou Greenway and stay tuned for updates and highlights on the remaining Bayou Greenways.