Mountain Biking at Big Bend Ranch State Park This is Passport to Texas Texas Parks and Wildlife’s recreational trails program develops new pathways in the state through a competitive grant program. Trails allow visitors to enjoy scenic vistas, pursue recreational sports, escape find solace and explore areas that might otherwise be inaccessible. We fund everything from natural surface single-track mountain bike trails to twelve-foot-wide concrete trails that are accessible to everyone. Erick Hetzel is the State Park Trails Coordinator for Texas Parks and Wildlife That’s a really important aspect of the program. We want to serve a broad spectrum of the population of Texas. Trails provide access to natural environments in an increasingly urban landscape. They’re providing recreational trail experiences for people who need them. And the population of Texas needs them. We don’t have a lot of public land and we’re able to drop these little recreational trail experiences into these sometimes small communities that really need a trail around the local woods. Trails also provide connection. They can have experiences with nature and experiences with the outdoors right in their own community. And, that’s one of the biggest positives about our program. There are over 1,100 miles of state park trails waiting for you to explore. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti