Houston’s “Running Mecca” Memorial Park Gets A Facelift Full of History & New Amenities
Do you really know Houston’s most famous place to run, Memorial Park and why it’s called Memorial Park?
Houston runners know it as the 3-mile crushed granite trail that circles the Memorial Park Golf Course. For many of us runners in this city, it would be hard to count how many miles and gallons of sweat we have logged along this beautiful green space in the heart of the city.
Memorial Park’s total land mass is twice the size of New York City’s Central Park, with more daily usage and runners than New York’s famous park. Going back in time, Memorial Park has been home to Native Americans, an orchard, grazing land, a logging operation, and a military base for 34,000 soldiers who served in WW1 and made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Camp Logan used a huge portion of what we now run and play golf on as a training ground for soldiers before they headed off to war in Europe, many bravely dying while fighting for our country. And there lies the rest of the story and the “Memorial” that Memorial Park is named after.
Memorial Park’s total land mass is twice the size of New York City’s Central Park, with more daily usage and runners than New York’s famous park. Going back in time, Memorial Park has been home to Native Americans, an orchard, grazing land, a logging operation, and a military base for 34,000 soldiers who served in WW1 and made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Camp Logan used a huge portion of what we now run and play golf on as a training ground for soldiers before they headed off to war in Europe, many bravely dying while fighting for our country. And there lies the rest of the story and the “Memorial” that Memorial Park is named after.
In recent years, thanks to a combination of public funds and private donations from the Kinder Corporation, park expansion has added the Clay Family Eastern Glades, Hine’s Lake, Kinder Land Bridge & Tunnels, Cyvia & Melvyn Wolff Prairie, The Cullen Running Center, and The Roy Cullen 400-meter timing track. In 2025, work has started on the final phase of the master plan for the park’s development. The new section on the far west side of the park is called the Memorial Groves. This tract of the park will be a living memorial to the WWI soldiers who trained at Camp Logan, with gathering spaces for reflection and education among the century-old camp remnants.
To view the original announcement and rundown of park improvements that have now come to life, view the 18-minute video above.