The Katy Trail's South End Used to Be a Wall. Now It Leads to the Design District.

"I want it to be a place where people say, 'meet me at the Loop Plaza and let's walk to the Katy Trail Ice House, or let's meet at the Loop Plaza and take our bikes down the Trinity Strand Trail,'" Jodi House, a principal designer with TBG Partners, told KERA in September.

That sentence describes a meeting spot at the trail's south end, which is new for the Katy Trail. The Friends of the Katy Trail count the mile markers from the American Airlines Center end. For years, walkers and riders on that end met a dead end and a retaining wall at Victory Avenue and Houston Street. On October 20, Loop officials held the opening celebration for The Loop Plaza, which D Magazine reported included a performance by Cara Mía Theatre. With the plaza open, the Katy Trail's south end leads straight into a one-mile walk to the Design District.

They took out the wall

Philip Haigh, executive director of the nonprofit Loop Dallas, told KERA how the crew handled the wall. "We actually took that retaining wall and blew it out," he said. "We removed it and where there was once fill dirt and a wall is now a bridge that continues the Katy Trail use, but then creates two new plazas and a ramp that goes through that space."

So the plaza works on two levels. According to The Loop Dallas, an elevated pedestrian and bike bridge carries the Katy Trail over the plaza. Underneath, there's room to sit and gather, and an ADA-compliant ramp connects the trail to the plaza below. Weathered steel sculptures curve over the gateway. The metalwork is modeled on the exposed escarpment along the Katy Trail and on the exterior of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. House told KERA the steel is meant to give people a "you have arrived" moment, making the plaza "an actual spot instead of just a movement zone."

The plaza was built by The Loop Dallas, the City of Dallas, and private donors working together, with naming support from the Addy Foundation. It's also the first major project to carry the improvements around the American Airlines Center and South Victory onto North Victory Avenue. Haigh calls it "a mixmaster" for trails, tying Uptown to the Design District.

The scale of what it connects

The Loop Dallas puts Katy Trail use at about four million visits a year. All of that traffic now has a marked, accessible route from the Katy Trail's elevated path down to the Hi Line Connector. The Loop calls the plaza the "front porch" of its planned 50-mile trail system around the city.

Here's the route, starting from the Katy Trail:

1. The Loop Plaza, at Victory Avenue and Houston Street. Take the ramp down from the elevated trail to the plaza level.
2. The Hi Line Connector, one mile long on a 12-foot-wide path with lighting, updated traffic and pedestrian signals, and signage. It runs under I-35E and the active DART and TRE rail lines between Victory Park and the Design District, and there's a mural at the DART overpass.
3. The Trinity Strand Trail, with 4.7 miles of finished multi-use trail through the Design District and Medical District. It follows the original channel of the Trinity River, links toward the Trinity Skyline Trail, and passes galleries, restaurants, breweries, and hotels along the way.

The Hi Line Connector is the piece that matters most. With the plaza open, the Design District starts one mile past the Katy Trail's south end.

What's waiting at the Design District end

The Dallas Design District's own October guide reads almost like a trail itinerary. It covers the whole day, from your first coffee to your last cocktail. Here are the stops that work best for someone arriving on foot or by bike:

Several of these are new this year. The Design District welcomed La Lupita in June as its newest food spot. AM/FM and Delilah were on The Dallas Morning News list of 2026 openings, with dates in early February. D Magazine listed both as open in its June check-in. So the trail connection landed in the same year a group of new places opened at its far end.

The guide names more options too: pizza at Pie Tap or Delucca, Culinary Dropout for a long lunch, Mediterranean food at Alara, Italian at Ospi, Wagyu and sushi at Jo'Seon Wagyu Steak House, and dinner and cocktails at Evelyn or Commons Club. A gallery loop and a taco stop can fill a Saturday afternoon on foot, and the walk back to the Katy Trail is one mile.

Where to start depends on how you're getting there

The plaza gives you two good starting points, one at each end of the route.

Starting from the Katy Trail side. The south-end parking lot is at Reverchon Park, near the baseball fields at 3505 Maple Ave. The Friends of the Katy Trail also mention street parking near Katy Trail Ice House, Cambrick Plaza, and Snyder's Union. The Katy Trail is open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., so that's your window for a dinner at Delilah followed by the walk back.

Starting by train. DART's Victory Station, at 2525 Victory Ave., is the closest stop to the plaza. It serves the Green and Orange lines and the TRE, and it lists the Katy Trail as a nearby destination. It has no public parking. If you need a place to leave the car, Market Center Station, at 4301 Harry Hines Blvd., serves the same Green and Orange lines and has 238 free spaces. One option is to park there, take the train a stop or two, and walk back through the plaza and down the Hi Line toward dinner.

Pick your end based on where you want to finish. If the day ends with cocktails on Hi Line Drive, park on the Katy side and make the Design District your destination. If it ends with a drink at Katy Trail Ice House, which is the walk House described, start in the Design District and go the other way.

December puts the route on the calendar

The Design District is now a one-mile walk from the Katy Trail, and next month it holds its own holiday night. Deck the District, the district's second annual tree lighting, is Thursday, December 3, from 5 to 7 p.m. at 1617 Hi Line Dr. That's one address number away from Delilah. The program includes live music by Kirk Tatom of Deep Blue Something, food and drinks, a holiday market with local vendors, raffles, and giveaways.

Two days later, on Saturday, December 5, Klyde Warren Park holds its Tree Lighting Celebration from 4 to 7 p.m. at 2012 Woodall Rodgers Freeway. The listing includes the lighting of the Mayor's Tree, photos with Santa, story time with Mrs. Claus, and performances. The park also hosts The Boho Holiday Market that day, from 4 to 9 p.m.

The Hi Line event falls on a weeknight, so it's an easy after-work walk from the Katy Trail through the plaza. With the trail open until 11 p.m., you have plenty of time after the 7 p.m. finish to walk back the way you came.

If you're thinking about how trail access and walkable dining fit into your next move around Uptown, Victory Park, or the Design District, Cardinal Realty Group is happy to walk through it with you. Schedule a free consultation and get your instant home valuation.