Distinctly Irving

Want to spend time outside? Gondola Adventures, Inc.,  Stand Up Paddle North Texas, and Aqua Cycle Water Trikes offer visitors excursions on the Mandalay Canal and Lake Carolyn. 

Las Colinas, Irving's master-planned community, welcomes visitors with a magnificent Flower Clock, a working timepiece adorned year-round with fresh blooms and greenery. Measuring 27 feet across, the clock is covered with over 650 shrubs. To accommodate the colossal 12-foot-long minute hand, flowers planted beneath it must be of a miniature variety, as must the greenery that comprises the inner star, since there are only 14 inches of clearance between the face and hands. 

One of the oldest African-American communities in Dallas County, the Bear Creek township in west Irving, began to develop in the late 1850s when a mix of free blacks and whites and their slaves began settling along the upper reaches of Bear Creek. After emancipation, freed slaves began moving into the area, which developed into a rural African-American enclave during the era of racial segregation.

Three museums comprise the Jackie Townsell Bear Creek Heritage Center which tells the history of this community, especially of African Americans and their experience from emancipation through the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s-60s.

The scenic Campion Trails are comprised of north and south sections of wide, flat, and paved pathways, which when connected make up a 22-mile greenbelt along tributaries of the Trinity River. Hosting scenic views, drinking fountains, restrooms, picnic shelters, grills, and athletic fields, these trails are part of a larger regional effort to join trail systems across Irving, Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Arlington, and Dallas. 

Water Street is a mixed-use development, strategically located on the shores of the 126-acre Lake Carolyn, just across from the Mustangs of Las Colinas sculpture and museum.  Featuring almost 60,000 square feet of dining and retail opportunities, the development also includes 300 luxury apartments, all located convenient to DART's Orange Line light rail. For some urban greenery, Water Street features a park for special events, such as a farmers market or festival, and pathways for the public to enjoy access and views of Lake Carolyn. Shops and restaurants include: Big Little Market, Ciel Nail Lounge, Cork & Pig Tavern, Creamistry, Flirty Girl Lash Studio, Go Fish Poke, GQ Tailor, Homegrown Hounds, Hugo's Invitados, Pacific Table, Pax & Beneficia, The Gents Place, The Ginger Man, Waxing The City, We Yogis and WellHealth.

Perhaps the most recognizable attraction in Irving, the Mustangs of Las Colinas is a breathtakingly realistic sculpture of nine bronze mustangs galloping across a granite stream. At the nearby Mustangs of Las Colinas Museum, visitors can learn about the story of African wildlife artist Robert Glen and his creation of the Mustangs.  As shown in the museum's guest book, people travel from around the world to marvel at the sculpture and visit its museum.