Buffalo Bayou. Image via Google.Internet users can now take virtual walk-throughs of more than two dozen Houston parks and trails, thanks to a new partnership between the Houston Parks Board and Google.
Among the 31 sites that can now be seen via Google Street View are high-profile spots like Buffalo Bayou Park, Hermann Park and Memorial Park, as well as smaller neighborhood spots like the Heights Hike and Bike Trail and the Westchase Library Loop Trail.
“The new Street View images make Houston’s green spaces accessible in a whole new way,” said Tom Bacon, Houston Parks Board chairman, in a press release.
Typically, Google captures images for its Street View platform through cars -- outfitted with cameras -- that roam the streets and automatically take snapshots. But in the case of the parks and trails, the images were captured via Google Trekker, a wearable, 40-pound backpack that contains cameras and GPS devices used to gather images in areas not accessible to cars.
Houston Parks Board borrowed a Trekker and walked 150 miles of park land and trails to gather the images from November 2014 to April 2015.
The move should help generate buzz around the the Bayou Greenways 2020 project, the Houston Parks Board's effort to create a continuous park system along all of Houston's waterways. Bacon says he hopes the project helps the public get a preview of the project's potential.
Click below for a full list of the parks and trails now accessible via Google Street View.
Bayou Greenway Trails:
Brays Bayou Greenway Trails
White Oak Bayou Greenway Trails
Halls Bayou Greenway Trails
Greens Bayou Greenway Trails
Sims Bayou Greenway Trails
Hunting Bayou Greenway Trails
Other Parks and Trails:
Hermann Park
Memorial Park
Buffalo Bayou Park
Arthur Storey Park
Bill Coats Bridge
City View Park
Columbia Tap Rail Trail
Heights Hike and Bike Trail
Hutcheson Park
Keith Weiss Park
MacGregor Park
Mason Park
Revielle Park
Shady Lane Park
Stude Park
T.C. Jester Park
Terry Hershey Park
Thomas R. Wussow Park
Tidwell Park
Tierwester Bridge
Tom Bass Regional Park
Tony Marron Park
West Houston Trail
Westchase Library Loop Trail