Most of my walking is done in North and East Texas. Most recently I have been exploring wooded areas near Cedar Creek lake/Gun Barrel, TX. As far as parks go, currently my two favorites are Dinosaur Valley (because it's so large and has a decent amount of creeks plus the river running through it) and Cedar Creek (because it's so close to home and there are some great off-tail hikes along the lake and a couple of largely unknown creeks). At these parks I am always off-tail unless the wife and son are with me, in which case you'll actually find me along the trails most of the time. I also do a few hikes a year on a 4k acre plot I have sole (minus two ranch hands) access to down in the "badlands" near Del Rio Mexico and a once a year hike up in the the Sierra Nevadas near lake Tahoe, CA/NV. I enjoy hiking quite a bit. I'm what most would probably classify as an ultralight hiker. I am also often barefoot, cept down on the ranch I referred to as being in the "badlands" near Del Rio. Nothing but cedar, mesquite, and prickly pear down there. I have pretty thick leathery pads on my hoofs from doing lots of barefotting, but I still dont make it more than 30 yards barefoot down there without screaming/crying for a pair of shoes. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I have plans to start spending some time checking out N Padre Island though too. My wife has family near the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge down there and I here there are lots of places on Padre Island to hike where others have rarely set foot for many years.