Ray Roberts Lake State Park’s Bluebird Trail is a 4-mile path through forests and fields, and a safe haven for its namesake bird.

The trail begins at the northernmost terminus of the park’s Greenbelt Unit, which encompasses 17.1 miles of trail in a lush corridor along the Trinity River. The Bluebird Trail is a 4-mile stretch of hard-packed gravel winding through forests, fields and wetlands.

“There’s different views of the river as you go along,” says Robbie Merritt, the park superintendent. “The top is largely wooded; as you get farther down, it opens up more field-like, with a few little pockets of woods along the way.”

Keep an eye out for bluebird nesting boxes. In the wild, much larger cowbirds will invade bluebird nests and lay their eggs. When the impostor eggs hatch, they’ll kill off the baby bluebirds and the bluebird parents will raise the cowbirds as their own.

“We’ve put out the boxes so the bluebirds have a safe place to nest,” Merritt says. “The boxes have holes too small for cowbirds to get into, so it’s safe for bluebirds and other songbirds.”

In addition to the bluebirds, wildlife abounds along the trail. “There’s a little wetland that is beaver and otter habitat,” says Merritt. “We also have your typical North Texas wildlife — deer, raccoons, armadillos.”

Other points of interest include two historic bridges — one close to the end of the trail that you can cross, and another old steel bridge over the river called the McKinney Bridge.

“Some people call it the Bonnie and Clyde Bridge, because Bonnie and Clyde may have crossed that at some point in history,” Merritt says.

There’s no evidence to back this up, Merritt says. Still, it’s fun to imagine.

Because of the layout of the Greenbelt, people often hike it in pieces. If you’re hiking down the bluebird trail from FM 455, you can hike the entire 4-mile stretch to FM 428, and then take a slight detour for an overlook over the Trinity River Valley. Follow the Coyote Run trail a mile-and-a-half to the half-mile Overlook Trail. For a shortcut to the overlook, park at the FM 428 parking area and head straight there.