Show Your Support for the Nature Preserve! Purchase and Personalize a Gateway Section!

Help us give Woodland Park’s nature trails the entrance they deserve!  

Many park-goers and neighbors don’t even realize that there are beautiful, hospitable, and friendly nature trails along Hollywood Bayou (AKA Little White Oak Bayou) in Woodland Park.   One critical reason: there’s no visible “gateway” or trailhead. 

Now is your chance to donate and name one or more 10-foot section(S) of rail with engraved placard for $300 per section! Recognize a loved one, your dog who loves the trails, a scout or school group, or your favorite volunteer!

We are working with HPARD and their fencing contractor to establish a natural-wood, split-rail fence with an two openings offering a “gateway” into Woodland Park’s beautiful Nature Preserve.   It would line the border between the wooded nature preserve and the more developed park (picnic lawn, tennis courts, etc.), with a prominent opening inviting parkgoers to use the trails.  Similar railings exist in Memorial Park Eastern Glades area and in other CoH nature preserves. This project also kicks off our “15 for 15” projects commemorating the 15th year of FWP!

We want all our neighbors and parkgoers to experience the pleasures of the nature trail: herons, egrets, turtles, lizards - and over 170 species of birds in the preserve.  We also want to make sure that the space feels welcoming and secure; the rail will show that these are well maintained and publicly frequented trails.  

– ~$7K gets us 300 feet (from Community Center to Tennis Court) 

– ~$30K gets us 1000 feet (from Community Center all the way to “the Grove” / southwest corner of park on Houston ave

Woodland Park Legacy Fountain Public Art Request

Calling all Artists! The Friends of Woodland Park (FWP) is pleased to offer a grant of $2,500 to beautify a remnant piece of infrastructure—the 11-foot concrete bowl left from a century-old fountain!

Friends of Woodland Park seeks a mosaic (or other sculpture) artist to create a new piece of art using that bowl as its base.  Proposals should be submitted by 11:59 PM Sunday, March 2nd. For more info and to apply, click here!

As necessary, FWP members can also help secure materials (e.g., ceramics and stoneware collected from the neighborhood) Note that HPARD has already approved this process (and the specifications in this RFP), and will only require final sign-off on the approved design to ensure it is not offensive or problematic. 



February Bird Survey & Bird of the Month!

Four intrepid birders set out on February 15th for the monthly Audubon Bird Survey! Although it was overcast, they did manage to find some birds - 28 species in all! Check out the list below and join them on the next Survey, March 15, 2025 at 7:30am.

BIRD OF THE MONTH:

The newest member of the Bird-of-the-Month Club is…..the Belted Kingfisher! What a cutie!

Learn more here!

February 15, 2025 Bird Survey

White-winged Dove  3
Neotropic Cormorant  3
Double-crested/Neotropic Cormorant  1
Great Egret  2
Great Blue Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  1
Red-shouldered Hawk  2
Belted Kingfisher  1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  2
Eastern Phoebe  1
Blue Jay  4
Carolina Chickadee  2
Tufted Titmouse  1
Red-vented Bulbul  3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  2
Northern House Wren  1
Carolina Wren  4
European Starling  6
Northern Mockingbird  2
American Robin  17
Cedar Waxwing  2
American Goldfinch  5
Great-tailed Grackle  12
Orange-crowned Warbler  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler  3
Northern Cardinal  6

February Work Day Delivers LUV!

What a day of LUV for Woodland Park! Over 50 volunteers from all over Houston showed up on a rainy day to WORK! Together, they pulled out over 2500 pounds of trash, built a new trail spur connecting Woodland Park and Freed Park, and weeded the Butterfly Garden and Firefly Field. That’s A LOT OF LUV!!!!

Special shout out to Brownie Troop 122245 who brought 10 volunteers to the bayou! Also thanks to students and scouts from BSA Troop 55 and Troop 30, The Regis School, St Agnes High School, St John’s School, St Thomas High School, Duchesne Academy, KIPP, and the University of St Thomas!

Sign up now for our March Work Day: TRASH BASH! Yes, it looks like Moody Park on the website, but Woodland Park is a Satellite location of the Moody Park site this year! We will still have all the fun, food, and music that you expect from TRASH BASH! We are grateful to our sister organization, Friends of Moody Park, for organizing “Trash Bash 2025 - "Clean It Like You Mean It" with H-GAC!

DATE CHANGE: Hike to Moody Park now March 1st!

NOTE: DATE HAS CHANGED TO SATURDAY, MARCH 1st DUE TO WEATHER AND TRAIL CONDITON

Join Friends of Woodland Park for an incredible hike along Little White Oak Bayou to Moody Park and an (optional) return through Hollywood Cemetery. This annual hike attracted over 70 people last year and was the inspiration for the Hollywood Trail Project currently seeking a major grant for a master plan.

Join us in Woodland Park, 212 Parkview St, at 10am to kick off with coffee donated by Uncle Bean’s Coffee and fill your belly with Shipley’s donuts (this is a Shipleys-to-Shipleys hike (wink, wink - you’ll find out!)

This year, we have shortened up the hike a bit (but not the fun!) for a total of about 2.7 miles. We will have a quick walk through part of the Woodland Park trail system before detouring over to North Street and continuing along Little White Oak Bayou until we reach Moody Park - about 1.7 miles. The newly formed Friends of Moody Park will host refreshments and share the history and vision of Moody Park. This is also a great pick-up point whether by rideshare or friends/family for those not wanting to make the return trip by foot.

For those continuing, we will hike about another mile through Hollywood Cemetery, pointing out a few historic graves as we go on for about 1 mile back to Woodland Park.

Key Info:

  • All are welcome, but no strollers please, and dogs on leashes only. 

  • Hiking is done at your own risk - FWP bears no responsibility for your personal safety.

  • Note that this trail will be “cleared” by volunteers but is unimproved and some “scrambling” along banks may be required depending on conditions. 

  • Bring water and wear close-toe shoes and long pants.

  • Restrooms and parking available at Woodland Park (212 Parkview St) and Moody Park (3725 Fulton Street).

  • Round trip is approximately 2.7 miles, returning through Hollywood Cemetery. 

  • Break point, restrooms, and alternative “stop/pick-up point” at Moody Park, approximately 1.7 miles.

  • Contact president@friendsofwoodlandpark.org for more information.

Eagle Scout Project Removes Heavy Trash!

FWP is so grateful for our scouts! Frederick Rupert from BSA Troop 730 completed his Eagle project last month - Heavy Trash Removal from Little White Oak Bayou. Check out the video of his project here on Instagram, FWP Treasurer and Scout Co-chair Pat Rutledge said “Frederick Ruppert organized a hard working crew of scouts and adults with the goal of removing tires and other debris from the Woodland Park Nature Preserve waterway.  It is something he has envisioned accomplishing for several years ever since he first explored this unique habitat. And he arranged to have all removed tires recycled!  It took three trips to the east side recycler but all tires were kept from the landfills.

FWP is so grateful to HPARD for supporting Eagle Scout service  projects and allowing FWP to supervise the work.  This most recent one represents our third successful, and vastly different, Eagle project! Thank you Frederick! Interested in a scout project at Woodland Park? Check out our Volunteer Projects page for some ideas and reach out to us at scouts@friendsofwoodlandpark.org.

Read below for more from Frederick’s mother, Laura. This was truly a family effort!

“My son just completed his Eagle 🦅 Project. Since 2nd grade he has been apart of Cub Scouts/Boy Scouts. Lots of times he’s wanted to quit but his love for the outdoors kept him engaged. Getting his Eagle Scout is the last step in this journey.

We wanted him to do a simpler project, easier to accomplish- but he never does anything easy:) He has always loved Woodland Park in the Heights. We even have our favorite pet turtle 🐢 from this bayou! He was disgusted by how much trash was in the bayou and wanted to clean out the big stuff- like tires 🛞! He worked with the @fwphouston and @city.of.houstontx to put this project together. His goal was to clean out all the large tires and other items from the bayou then recycle the tires.

And that’s what he did! With the support and help from his Boy Scout troop he cleared out 32 tires, 2 recliners, car seats, car fenders, shopping carts, about a million plastic bags and bottles plus tons of trash from the Woodland Park Bayou. He could not have done it without the support of his fellow scouts and dads and we are so grateful 🙌 My son’s tenacity to start this project and see it through will surely help in life 🤞 And so proud he chose to invest in the Heights neighborhood we all love.”