Trinity Groves and the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge

The stretch of the Trinity River just west of downtown is where Dallas photographs best and where the city has quietly built one of its most enjoyable free evenings. The landmark is the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and opened in 2012: a single, soaring white arch with cables fanning down to the roadway, visible from all over the city and especially dramatic when lit at night. Running parallel just downstream is the Ronald Kirk Pedestrian Bridge, the former Continental Avenue road bridge converted for people only, with shade structures, seating, games, room for events and daily food truck stops — and the closest, most photogenic view of the Calatrava arch with the downtown skyline rising behind. Below, the Trinity River runs between wide grassy levees, and the Trinity Skyline Trail stretches nearly five miles along them as the first hard-surface trail with river and downtown views, good for an easy walk or a bike ride. Trinity Overlook Park, on the west side, frames some of the best views of downtown in the city. At the western foot of the bridges, Trinity Groves is a 15-acre restaurant, retail and entertainment district in the historic La Bajada neighborhood, with more than a dozen restaurants and bars ranging from brioche doughnuts at La Rue Doughnuts and live jazz at Soiree Coffee Bar to barbecue and blues at Babb Bros BBQ and Blues, the steakhouse Winsome Prime and the rooftop lounge at Saint Rocco's. The whole area is free to walk. Caveats: it is car-centric, summer days on the levees are hot and shadeless, and the river itself is a working floodway rather than a riverwalk.

The bridges are the first built pieces of the long-running Trinity River Corridor project, the city's plan to turn the leveed floodway between downtown and West Dallas into a great urban park. The Calatrava bridge was intended as the signature of that vision, and the conversion of the Continental Avenue bridge to a pedestrian park was one of its most popular results. The Trinity Park Conservancy now leads further park work along the river, so expect the area to keep evolving.

Practicalities: the Ronald Kirk Pedestrian Bridge can be reached on foot from the edge of downtown and from the West Dallas side, with parking around Trinity Groves and the West Dallas end of the bridge. Trinity Groves restaurants keep their own hours, with most open for dinner and many for weekend brunch; popular spots fill on weekends, so book ahead where possible. The levee trails have little shade, so carry water in warm months, and note that the floodway can close after heavy rain.

How to do it well: arrive about an hour before sunset, park at Trinity Groves, walk out across the Ronald Kirk bridge toward downtown and back as the sky colors and the Calatrava arch lights up, then settle in for dinner with a skyline view at one of the district's rooftop or patio restaurants. Photographers should shoot the arch from the pedestrian bridge at dusk. For a daytime version, cycle part of the Trinity Skyline Trail, then lunch in Trinity Groves or head to Bishop Arts, about ten minutes south.