Entry No. 8 — the Dallas file — filed under: secret
Coombs Creek Trail Tiny Doors & Gnomes
Along this quiet creekside trail in Kessler Park, someone has been quietly installing tiny arched doors in the crooks at the bases of trees - little portals to imagined gnome homes - plus a separate, scrappier 'Game of Gnomes.' Local artists, neighbors, preservationists and even a councilman's wife were asked, and nobody knows who makes the doors; the creator has stayed completely anonymous.
The move: Start at Kessler Parkway and slow-walk the shaded trail together hunting low on the tree trunks for the rounded little doors and hidden gnomes - whoever spots the most wins. Bring a coffee and make a scavenger-hunt of it.
📍 Before you go The trailhead sits in the Kessler Park neighborhood of North Oak Cliff; start where Kessler Parkway meets Edgefield Avenue, where the paved path runs along both sides of the road (if you reach the tennis courts, you've gone too far). There's no dedicated lot, so you'll park on residential streets nearby and keep things respectful and quiet. The loop is short, roughly a mile-plus, and the tree canopy keeps it walkable even in Texas heat, though spring and fall are loveliest. This is a beloved anonymous community installation, so look and photograph but leave everything intact for the next person. Bishop Arts District, minutes away, makes an easy food-and-shops pairing afterward.
- 📍 Kessler Park / North Oak Cliff
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Low-key
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: Kessler Parkway near Edgefield Ave, Dallas, TX 75208 (Coombs Creek Trail)
Hours: Public trail, daylight hours; doors are unmarked and you have to hunt for them
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: oakcliff.advocatemag.com · raisingoakcliff.com
last checked: 2026-06-06