Both trail systems closest to the Memorial Villages are partly under construction this October. Memorial Park's closure runs into 2027. The repair work at Terry Hershey Park is measured in weeks. The usual workaround is to move to another trail, and that gets harder too: between now and November 7, almost every week has a race, a festival or a reservation that takes over one of those other trails for part of the time.
As a result, the fall trail map here works more like a calendar. The sections below start with the closures that won't change, then go through the routes that stay open and the dates that affect each one.
The closure that stays put
Memorial Groves is the reason for the long closure. It's the Memorial Park Conservancy's 100-acre project along West Memorial Loop Drive. When it's done, it will include a visitor center designed by Moody Nolan, a playground, restrooms, parking, and a memorial landscape about Camp Logan and Houston's role in World War I. Construction started in spring 2026. The Conservancy's project page, updated in late September, still gives late 2027 for completion.
For trail users, two things change while it's built. On the Conservancy's maps and parking page, the western portion of the Outer Loop Trail is listed as closed until 2027. The Outer Loop is a 2.34-mile crushed-granite trail. The Conservancy doesn't say how much of it is still usable during the closure.
The second change involves the Seymour Lieberman Trail. About 0.7 miles of it, roughly 3,600 feet, is being moved farther from West Memorial Loop Drive. That opens up space for Groves trees between the trail and the road, plus grassy Camp Logan Historic Street Lawns and new fitness stations. The Conservancy's April 17 construction update says the trail will stay open the whole time and remain a loop of about three miles. It also says some benches and some of the existing fitness stations will be off-limits during the work. Water fountains are meant to stay accessible, with any downtime kept as brief as possible, and free parking along West Memorial Loop Drive will remain available. No published update yet says which sections of the realignment are finished. The most recent project description still treats the shift as work in progress.
That leaves the Seymour Lieberman Trail as the dependable three-mile loop in a park where one of the other long routes is partly fenced off. For the same reason, it's the trail that gets most crowded when an event takes over the park.
Terry Hershey's shorter clock
To the west, the closure comes from repairs, not new construction. Terry Hershey Park covers 496 acres and has 11.05 miles of trail along a roughly six-mile stretch of Buffalo Bayou. Harris County Precinct 4's park page currently has an alert saying two bridges are closed for safety upgrades.
| Memorial Park | Terry Hershey Park | |
|---|---|---|
| What's affected | Western Outer Loop Trail; a 0.7-mile Seymour Lieberman segment being realigned | Southeast wooden bridge; northwest bridge between I-10 and Memorial Drive |
| Why | Memorial Groves construction | Safety upgrades |
| Posted start | Spring 2026 | Sept. 16 and Oct. 7 |
| Posted duration | Outer Loop closed until 2027; project done late 2027 | About two weeks and about three weeks |
| Open meanwhile | Seymour Lieberman stays open as a three-mile loop | Not specified in the alert |
Both bridge timelines are estimates, and the county says they hold "barring unforeseen delays." If the second repair stays on schedule, the northwest bridge would be done around the end of October. The alert still lists both bridges as closed, though, so it's best to check the page before planning a route that crosses either one. The park is at 15200 Memorial Drive and is open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, except Thanksgiving Day, Dec. 24 and 25, and Jan. 1.
The alternatives, and the date each one has a conflict
When the Seymour Lieberman Trail is busy, the Conservancy points people to the park's south-side natural-surface trails and the Picnic Loop. Those are the right substitutes. Each one also has a specific condition or date that takes it out of the rotation this fall.
- Bayou Wilds. The Conservancy describes seven multi-use dirt trails totaling more than eight miles. It lists them as Green at 2.05 miles, Purple at 1.56, Aqua and Blue at 0.89 each, Orange at 0.84, Yellow at 0.81 and Red at 0.25. They can close after heavy rain. The GHORBA Race Speed Series also reserves parts of Bayou Wilds and closes some areas to the public from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. on October 17, October 24 and November 7.
- Coastal Prairie Trail and South Land Bridge Trail. The Coastal Prairie Trail is a 1.56-mile gravel path. The South Land Bridge Trail adds 0.57 miles of dirt. Gravel holds up better after a storm, which makes the prairie trail the natural backup on mornings when Bayou Wilds is closed for rain.
- Clay Family Eastern Glades. It has 2.5 miles of accessible walking paths, including the 0.45-mile gravel Oval Promenade, the 0.44-mile Hines Lake Trail on gravel and boardwalk, and a 0.19-mile boardwalk. From Friday, October 16, through Friday, October 23, parts of the Eastern Glades and its parking are reserved for the Chord Energy Houston Corporate 5K.
- The tracks. The Roy H. Cullen Timing Track is a 400-meter track with five lanes. There's also a quarter-mile asphalt track north of the Tennis Center. Neither is on this fall's event calendar, so they're the simplest option for an interval workout during a crowded week.
- Picnic Loop. During park hours, vehicles, road cyclists and skaters all share this road. Slower traffic keeps right and passes on the left. It's closed for general park use this week for the Bayou City Art Festival, which is on through Sunday, October 11.
On the Conservancy's trail pages, the Commuter Trail along Memorial Drive is described as paved on one page and gravel on another. A rider with surface-specific tires may want to look at it in person first.
October and November, week by week
Put together, the dates show how this works in practice. The long closure stays where it is, and the conflicts move to a different part of the park each week.
- Through Sunday, Oct. 11. The Bayou City Art Festival is at Picnic Loop. The Picnic Loop, Sports Complex and Fitness Center lots are closed to the public October 9 through 11. Other parking areas are open.
- Through late October. The Terry Hershey northwest bridge repair, between I-10 and Memorial Drive, began October 7 with an estimate of about three weeks.
- Friday, Oct. 16. The Corporate 5K reservation starts at the Eastern Glades. That same evening, the Conservancy has a free screening of Coco at Clay Family Eastern Glades from 7 to 9:30 p.m. RSVPs are encouraged but not required.
- Saturday, Oct. 17. GHORBA race in Bayou Wilds, 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Oct. 20 to 22. The 10th Chord Energy Houston Corporate 5K runs around the Seymour Lieberman Trail. The Conservancy's event page says more details on park impacts are coming.
- Saturday, Oct. 24. Another GHORBA race morning in Bayou Wilds. Closer to home, the Memorial Villages Recycling Event runs 8 a.m. to noon at 9219 Katy Freeway, next to Hedwig Village City Hall, with access from Piney Point Road.
- Saturday, Nov. 7. The last GHORBA race date on the Conservancy's current alert list.
After November 7, the alert list reviewed for this post shows nothing else affecting the trails this year. The Conservancy posts changes on its trail status page, and the list can change on short notice. On the village side, the next date on the calendar is Bunker Hill Village's 10th annual Twinkle Light Parade on Thursday, December 17, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. It starts at Frostwood Elementary and reaches Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church by 7 p.m., with rolling street closures along the way.
Parking around the work
Memorial Park's free parking is along Memorial Loop Drive and in Picnic Loop. The Eastern Glades, Land Bridge and Prairie, Tennis Center, Fitness Center, Running Trails Center and Sports Complex lots charge $2 per three hours, with meters running from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The Running Complex and Picnic Loop lots close every night at 9 p.m. and reopen at 4:30 a.m. The gates let cars out after closing. Because the free spaces along West Memorial Loop Drive stay open through the Groves construction, they're the most dependable free parking on the side of the park nearest the villages.
Memorial Groves' new south parking lot will sit next to the playground and picnic pavilion when the project opens in late 2027. Until then, the western Outer Loop stays closed, and the Seymour Lieberman Trail is the three-mile loop that remains open on every date listed above.
Construction schedules like these affect more than a morning run. They change access, traffic and timing along the Memorial Drive corridor for months. If you're weighing how projects like Memorial Groves could affect a property near the park, the team at Ferguson Real Estate Consulting is glad to talk it through. Get in Touch.
