<\/p>\n
White Rock Lake and the Dallas skyline can be seen from a trail at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden in Dallas.<\/p>\n
Shaban Athuman\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n
White Rock<\/a>\u00a0Lake, one of the jewels of the Dallas parks system, is unlike any other place in the city.<\/p>\n This urban oasis offers a retreat from city life that is hard to find anywhere else in Dallas. Its appeal has helped develop surrounding neighborhoods like Lakewood and Lake Highlands over time.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s your guide to northeastern Dallas:<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Fast facts<\/p>\n Population: 192,556 Race \/ ethnicity<\/p>\n One race, white: 45.4% Educational attainment<\/p>\n For ages 18-24 (roughly 8.6% of the population)<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Less than high school degree or equivalent: 15.4% For ages 25+ (roughly 67.7%)<\/p>\n High school graduates (or equivalent): 16.3% Housing<\/p>\n 97,956 units; 86,808 occupied (88.6%)<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 30,428 owner occupied 30,150 1-unit detached Median home value: $433,400 Compiled by staff researcher Rachel Friend. Data from U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-Year Estimates Subject Tables, Tables S0601, S1501, S1903, S2301, DP04.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A couple kayaks at White Rock Lake in Dallas.\u00a0<\/p>\n Elias Valverde II\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n A brief history<\/p>\n The area where White Rock Lake sits today was originally a tree-lined valley where settlements emerged in the 1840s, according to non-profit For the Love Of The Lake<\/a>. One early community was Little Egypt, a freedmen’s town that was developed just north of the lake after the Civil War, according to the Texas State Historical Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n After the turn of the century, Dallas’ explosive growth led to a water shortage and eventually spurred the creation of White Rock Lake. The land was purchased in 1910, with a dam and spillway completed a year later, according to the White Rock Lake Conservancy. Following the lake\u2019s completion, residential construction increased nearby, according to TSHA.<\/p>\n By the early 1930s, the Dallas Park Board began to develop the lakeshore into a municipal park. Nearby\u00a0Lake Highlands was mostly cotton fields and farm houses connected by dirt roads until after World War II, according to the Lake Highlands Advocate. Residential development reportedly grew as people moved to the area after the war.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Today, northeastern Dallas is home to some of the city’s most sought-after neighborhoods, in part because of its proximity to White Rock Lake.<\/p>\n Notable neighborhoods<\/p>\n Audelia Arboretum staff planted 500,000 tulip bulbs after Thanksgiving one year. The so-called early tulips are blooming impressively.<\/p>\n Staff Photographer<\/p>\n Notable landmarks<\/p>\n White Rock Lake: Arguably the defining feature of eastern Dallas. You can\u2019t swim here, but there\u2019s no shortage of things to do across more than 1,000 acres of park land.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden: Located on the south shore of the lake, the Arboretum and Garden opened in 1984. It now hosts a bevy of events and classes on its 66 acres.\u00a0<\/p>\n Keller’s Drive-In on Northwest Highway in Dallas has changed very little in its 75-plus years. That’s a good thing.<\/p>\n Tom Fox\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n Things to do<\/p>\n Bars and restaurants<\/p>\n Burger Schmurger Food writer Imelda Garc\u00eda contributed to these selections.<\/p>\n Parks and trails<\/p>\n Flag Pole Hill Park A bald eagle feeds its eaglets a fish at White Rock Lake in Dallas. There is a variety of birds in the area that draw bird watchers.\u00a0<\/p>\n El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n A fun fact<\/p>\n White Rock Lake often draws bird-watchers to its shores with a variety of birds including herons, egrets and pelicans, according to Audubon Dallas. The area made headlines in 2026 when a bald eagle and two eaglets were spotted near the lake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"White Rock Lake and the Dallas skyline can be seen from a trail at the Dallas Arboretum and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[732,107860,102,104,103,49,5964,15680,92725,96859],"class_list":["post-322515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-article","tag-arts-entertainment-things-to-do","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-food","tag-listicle","tag-newcomer","tag-tp-lake-highlands","tag-tp-lakewood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
Median age: 34.2
Median income: $74,237
Unemployment rate: 4.4%<\/p>\n
One race, Black or African American: 24.7%
One race, American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.7%
One race, Asian: 6.2%
One race, Native Hawaiian: 0.1%
One race, some other race: 9.2%
Two or more races: 13.7%
Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race): 23.5%
White alone, not Hispanic or Latino: 41.6%<\/p>\n
\nHigh school graduates (or equivalent): 28.4%
\nSome college or associate’s: 31.5%
\nBachelor\u2019s degree or higher: 24.7%<\/p>\n
\nBachelor\u2019s degree: 31%
\nGraduate or professional degree: 20.4%<\/p>\n
\n56,380 renter occupied<\/p>\n
\n3,395 1 unit attached
\n64,411 multi-unit<\/p>\n
Median rent: $1,458<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nCasa Linda
\nLake Highlands\u00a0
\nLakewood
\nVickery Meadow
\nWhite Rock
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nDesperados Mexican Restaurant
\nHello Dumpling
\nHudson House
\nKeller\u2019s Hamburgers
\nMariano\u2019s Hacienda
\nMeridian
\nNamak Indian Restaurant & Bar
\nResident\u00a0Taqueria
\nRestaurant\u00a0DeGolyer
\nSmokey Rose<\/p>\n
\nLakewood Park
\nRidgewood Trail
\nSanta Fe Trail
\nSoPac Trail
\nWhite Rock Creek Trail
\nWhite Rock Lake Trail
\nWhite Rock Lake Park
\n<\/p>\n