Dallas, square by square

Dig Into Dallas, One Square at a Time

Neighborhoods, Tex-Mex and the Farmers Market, free museums, trails, family days and day trips, checked against the city’s, museums’ and state parks’ own pages.

Open the dig grid Check your month →

Dallas spreads across the Trinity River, and its character lives in neighborhoods that feel like separate towns: live music in Deep Ellum, small shops in Bishop Arts, museums in the Arts District. If you plan to stay, a local real estate agent can show you what daily life is like in each one.

Much of the best of the city costs nothing. The Dallas Museum of Art has free general admission, the Crow Museum of Asian Art is always free, and the Katy Trail and White Rock Lake are open to everyone. For more ideas, see local guides to Texas travel and weekend trips.

The dig grid

Twelve Squares, Three Strata

Stratum A is the neighborhoods, B is food and free things to do, C is the outdoors and family days. Every square is one guide.

0 of 12 squares dug in this browser · every guide you open is marked

Stratum ANeighborhoodsWhere to start in Dallas: Deep Ellum, Oak Cliff and Bishop Arts, the Arts District, Uptown, and how to choose a neighborhood when you move.

A1Neighborhoods to exploreA practical tour of the Dallas neighborhoods most worth a visit: Deep Ellum, Oak Cliff and Bishop Arts, Uptown along the Katy Trail, the Arts District, downtown’s new parks, the Farmers Market area and White Rock Lake.4 min A2Deep EllumHow Deep Ellum grew from a freedmen’s town by the railroad into a jazz and blues center, faded, and came back as Dallas’s live music and mural district, with tips for visiting.4 min A3The Arts DistrictHow to spend a day in the Dallas Arts District: the free Dallas Museum of Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center, the always-free Crow Museum of Asian Art, the Perot Museum, the performance halls and Klyde Warren Park next door.4 min A4Moving to DallasWhat to sort out when you move to Dallas: city services through 311, trash and recycling, water, the public library, DART passes, and how to judge a neighborhood by trails, parks and commute.4 min

Stratum BEat & ExploreEating well by neighborhood, Tex-Mex and tacos, the Dallas Farmers Market and the best free things to do.

B1Where to eatHow to eat well in Dallas without a list of paid recommendations: the Farmers Market food hall, Deep Ellum and Bishop Arts for independent places, museum cafes in the Arts District, and how to read the city’s food scene by neighborhood.4 min B2Tex-Mex and tacosA plain guide to Tex-Mex for Dallas visitors and newcomers: where the cuisine comes from, the corn, bean and meat dishes you will see on menus, how South and West Texas styles differ, and tips for ordering tacos.4 min B3Farmers MarketEverything you need for a visit to the Dallas Farmers Market: weekend hours at The Shed, the daily food hall, SNAP Double Your Dollars, bag check, seasonal events like Pumpkin Day, and tips for getting the best produce.4 min B4Free things to doThe best free things to do in Dallas, checked against each place’s own information: free museums, Klyde Warren Park’s free programming, the Katy Trail and White Rock Lake, the Farmers Market, and free days at paid museums.4 min

Stratum COutdoors & FamilyParks and trails, Dallas with kids, day trips to state parks and dinosaur tracks, and indoor plans for rain or heat.

C1Parks and trailsA guide to Dallas trails from the city’s own lists: the White Rock Lake loop, the Katy Trail, the Trinity Forest and Cedar Ridge nature trails, downtown parks and dog parks, plus trail etiquette and the emergency marker system.4 min C2Dallas with kidsA family guide to Dallas built from the attractions’ own visitor information: the Perot Museum, the Dallas Zoo, the Arboretum’s Children’s Adventure Garden, free family days at the Nasher, Klyde Warren Park and the best trails for small legs.4 min C3Day tripsEasy day trips from Dallas checked against official sources: Cedar Hill State Park on Joe Pool Lake, the Fort Worth Stockyards, Dinosaur Valley State Park, Cleburne and Lake Mineral Wells state parks, and Waco Mammoth National Monument.4 min C4Rainy dayIndoor plans for a wet or very hot Dallas day: the free Dallas Museum of Art and Crow Museum, the Nasher, the Perot Museum, the Sixth Floor Museum, the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, the Farmers Market food hall and the library.4 min

Month check

What Is Dallas Like in Your Month?

Pick a month for NOAA’s normal high and low, rain and hot days at DFW Airport, and the guides that suit that kind of month.

Average highAverage lowRain in the monthDays 90°F+Days 100°F+Nights below 32°F

Guides for a month like this

NOAA NCEI monthly climate normals 1991-2020, station USW00003927 (Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport). Averages, not a forecast; check the National Weather Service before you go.

Field notes

How to Read Dallas Before You Go

Five layers of the city, from the river it was founded on to the weather that shapes every plan.

Layer 1

The river and the first settlement

Dallas began in November 1841, when John Neely Bryan settled on the east bank of the Trinity River near a natural ford, according to the Handbook of Texas. The river still divides the city. Oak Cliff, on the south bank, was its own town, incorporated in 1890, before it became part of Dallas, and it keeps a separate feel today. Railroads arrived in 1872 and 1873 and made Dallas one of the first rail crossroads in Texas, and many neighborhoods, from Deep Ellum by the old tracks to Oak Cliff across the river, still show the shape of that early city. Start with Best Dallas Neighborhoods to Explore: Where to Start and What You Will Find for a tour of the areas most worth a visit.

Oak Cliff was a town of its own until it joined Dallas.

Layer 2

Neighborhoods as separate towns

Deep Ellum grew up as a freedmen’s town east of downtown after the Civil War and became a jazz and blues center by the 1920s; the Handbook names Blind Lemon Jefferson among the musicians who played there. Robert S. Munger built his first cotton gin factory in the neighborhood in 1884. The 1983 Deep Ellum Plan kept buildings low and streets narrow, which is why it still feels like a walking district of murals and music venues. Bishop Arts in Oak Cliff is a small grid of local businesses where you park once and walk. The full story is in Deep Ellum: Murals, Live Music and the History Behind Dallas’s Arts District.

Deep Ellum: walk it in the evening.

Layer 3

Free culture downtown

The Arts District packs museums and performance halls into a few walkable blocks on the north side of downtown. General admission to the Dallas Museum of Art is free, though every visitor needs a ticket, and the Crow Museum of Asian Art is always free. The Nasher Sculpture Center opens free on the first Saturday of each month. Next door, Klyde Warren Park is a 5.4-acre park with free programming most days. On the southeast side of downtown, the Dallas Farmers Market has operated since 1941, and more than 100 local producers set up in its open-air Shed every Saturday and Sunday. Plan the day with Dallas Arts District Guide: Museums, Concert Halls and How to Plan a Day.

DMA: free, but reserve a ticket.

Layer 4

Trails, parks and the lake

Dallas Parks calls the 9.4-mile White Rock Lake loop the city’s most popular trail. The Katy Trail runs 3.5 miles on a former railroad line between Uptown and Oaklawn, a 26-acre linear park shared by walkers, runners and cyclists, and Cedar Ridge Nature Preserve has about 6 miles of natural-surface trails on 633 acres. Six new downtown parks opened between 2009 and 2022. Dallas trails carry markers that help first responders find you. Routes and etiquette are in Dallas Parks and Trails: The Best Walks, Rides and Nature Paths in the City.

Note the nearest trail marker.

Layer 5

Plan around the weather

Summer decides most Dallas plans. At Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, NOAA’s 1991-2020 normals give July and August an average high of about 96°F, with 28 to 29 days a month at 90°F or more, while January averages a high of about 57°F. May is the wettest month, with nearly 5 inches of rain on average, and October comes second. Freezing nights are few: about 11 in January and 8 in December on average, and almost none from April to October. On hot or wet days, use Dallas on a Rainy Day: Museums and Indoor Places Worth the Trip for indoor plans and keep the trails for the morning.

Summer: outdoors before 10 a.m.

Finds

What People Ask Before Exploring Dallas

Find 01Is the Dallas Museum of Art really free?

Yes. General admission to the Dallas Museum of Art is free, but every visitor, of any age, needs a ticket, which you can reserve online or get at the museum. See Free Things to Do in Dallas: Museums, Parks, Trails and Markets That Cost Nothing for more free places.

Find 02Which Dallas museums are free on certain days?

The Nasher Sculpture Center has Free First Saturdays, with family programming, on the first Saturday of each month. The Crow Museum of Asian Art is always free; it is closed on Mondays and major holidays.

Find 03When is the Dallas Farmers Market open?

The Shed, the open-air market, runs on weekends: Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and it is free to attend. The Market, a 26,000-square-foot food hall, is open every day. Details are in Dallas Farmers Market Guide: The Shed, The Market Food Hall and When to Go.

Find 04How long is the White Rock Lake trail?

The White Rock Lake Park Loop Trail is 9.4 miles, and Dallas Parks calls it the city’s most popular trail. It follows the shoreline and links historic features of the park, several built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Find 05What is the hottest time of year in Dallas?

July and August. NOAA’s 1991-2020 normals for Dallas-Fort Worth Airport give both months an average high of about 96°F, with 7 to 10 days a month reaching 100°F. June and September are hot too. The month check on this site shows every month.

Find 06Is the Dallas Zoo free for small children?

Children 2 and under get into the Dallas Zoo free. For other ages and current prices, check the zoo’s own ticket page before you go. More family ideas are in Dallas with Kids: Museums, the Zoo, Gardens and Parks Families Love.

Find 07Where can I see dinosaur tracks near Dallas?

At Dinosaur Valley State Park, Texas Parks and Wildlife says you can walk in dinosaur tracks in the Paluxy River. Waco Mammoth National Monument shows mammoth fossils still in place. Both are in Weekend Day Trips from Dallas: State Parks, Dinosaur Tracks, Mammoths and the Stockyards.

Find 08I just moved to Dallas. What should I set up first?

Save the city’s 311 number for non-emergency services, which runs 24 hours a day, find your trash and recycling day on the Sanitation Services site, set up water service and get a library card. DART’s GoPass app plans trips and sells passes. The full list is in Moving to Dallas: A First-Month Checklist and How to Choose a Neighborhood.