SoPac Trail Mile 3.15 - you seek a preform plastic tube on the side of the trail up a steep slope.
The SoPac Trail Geocaches
Please carefully review the Difficulty and Terrain ratings, as well as the attributes (pictures) for each of the geocaches. I have placed a variety of hides along the trail. Not every geocacher will be able to find and log every geocache. Some are physically challenging. Please do not post a “Did Not Find” log if you decided not to really try to get to the geocache. You may "Write Note" if you wish.
Every cache is log only. Bring your own pen/pencil. You must sign the log to claim the find.
This series is NOT RECOMMENDED at night. If you use a bicycle on the trail, please lock it up when hunting for a cache. There are teenagers in the area and mischief abounds, especially at the northern end of the trail.
The Geocaching History
A tip of the cap to texaslandrover who placed the Mollydawg Challenge series along this “rails to trails” right of way back in the summer of 2008 before the railroad ties were removed and the path was paved.
The SoPac Trail
The SoPac Trail is a five mile segment of hike/bike trail in a heavy rail corridor that is no longer in use. Along with other hike/bike trails, the right of way on which this trail is built is owned by Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). As the name suggests, it was formerly used by Southern Pacific. The trail design is straight with very gradual slopes to preserve the character of the former rail line. Currently 4.8 miles have been completed.
A copy of the SoPac Trail Master Plan can be viewed and downloaded here.
The corridor begins near White Rock Lake's west shore near the end of Lakewood Boulevard extending generally north by north west until crossing White Rock Creek adjacent to the DART light rail trestle bridge north of Royal Lane. It terminates north of Royal Lane and west of Greenville Avenue.
The SoPac Trail connects to the Katy Spur Trail at Lakewood Park. near the Lakewood Boulevard trailhead. The trail also connects to the Katy Trail Extension (a.k.a., Ridgewood Trail), just north of Mockingbird Lane near Fisher Road.
The Katy Trail Extension runs west for 2.1 miles, adjacent to the DART Blue Line to Mockingbird Station. There it meets the University Crossing Trail, which crosses Mockingbird and parallels Central Expressway down to McCommas Ave. Bike lanes can be used for street access to the northeastern terminus of the Katy Trail, about 1 mile from Mockingbird Station. The Katy Trail runs 3.5 miles southwest from Airline Road and terminating near the American Airlines Center at Victory Park.
The Katy Trail follows the path of the old Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, which was known as MKT or the Katy. The Union Pacific railroad, which had bought the MKT, donated the abandoned rail lines to the city in 1993.
The train tracks that are now the location of the Katy Trail formed the major east-bound route through Dallas of the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT or "Katy") Railroad, which shut down this segment of its network in the late 1980s. The stations, which had served Dallas residents on their trips east for so many years, were torn down, but the tracks remained.
In the early 1980s The Katy was initially considered for DART's Red and Blue lines to the Northeast, but the current route beneath Central Expressway was chosen instead.
Sources: City of Dallas, HOK Architects, Wikipedia
The trail has been completed. The city has made provisions for installing lamp posts along the trial, but improvements such as lights, fountains and bike repair stations must be funded by private entities, such as a “Friends of” group. This is the case with other trails in the city like the Katy Trail and Santa Fe Trail.