Bike touring Houston, Texas is a great way to see the city from a completely different angle — one most visitors don’t get to see. We’ll explore how to get out and find some of the best places to ride, and explore some of the best places to cool off after your ride. Read on to find the best of Bikes and Breweries in Houston, Texas including how and where to rent bikes, links to trail maps and more.
For many business or leisure travellers visiting Houston, Texas, the city is an endless tangle of freeways and concrete jungle. For most, the only chance of getting some saddle time in during a business trip to Houston is on the Peleton in the hotel gym.
Once you get to know the city, however, there are plenty of great areas for recreation including hiking, walking, running or bicycling. Follow that up with a fantastic selection of places to refuel and cool off afterwards with a locally brewed cold beer. Hopefully, this guide will inspire you to find that epic ride on your next trip. If you’re not into biking, skip down to see my top 4 favourite brewpubs in Houston!
You might also be interested in my other articles on bike touring:
Bike Touring Canada – Amazing Vistas in the Frigid Rocky Mountains and
Bike Touring Holland – Stunning Sand Dunes From The Hague to Noordwijk.
About Houston and Navigating the City on Bike
Affectionately nicknamed ‘Bayou City’, ‘Space City’, and ‘H-Town’, Houston is home to America’s space agency NASA, the Port of Houston, and popular Galveston Beach, among many other attractions.
Located on the Gulf of Mexico it’s home to large bio-medical-health services providers, manufacturing, as well as the hub for international Oil and Gas majors and their service companies. That makes Houston — the 4th largest city in the United States — a hugely popular destination for both business travellers and those seeking leisure.
Houston is serviced by two major airports, George Bush Continental Airport (IAH) and William P. Hobby Airport (HOU).
Houston – Becoming a More Bikable City
Houston is working towards becoming a much better city for biking with initiatives like the Houston Bike Plan, adopted in 2017. The program was a year-long initiative focused on increasing cycling infrastructure, raising safety awareness and promoting Houston as a “safer, healthier, and more bike-friendly city”. Over 1200 miles of bikeways are in service or planned for the city.
The Houston Bike Plan map shows the extensive trail network of both on-street and off-street pathways.
Bike Touring Houston’s Museum District
Houston’s expansive Museum District just south of the Midtown area and near Rice University has an impressive 19 museums, a Japanese Garden, a golf course and houses the Houston Zoo. The area is good for leisurely biking and has extensive dedicated trails and street paths.
On Thursdays many of the museums offer free hours, e.g., Houston’s Museum of Fine Art is free all day, the Museum of Natural Science is free after 2 pm, and the Children’s Museum is free after 5 pm.
Hermann Park and the Houston Zoo by Bike Share
Hermann Park, a 445-acre oasis near Houston’s city centre is a multi-use park with plenty of Biking and hiking trails, outlined below on the map in dark green. The park is located in the centre of the Museum District where you can pick up a share-bike and ride between attractions.
1. Hermann Park/Rice Metro 2. Health Museum 3. Centennial Gardens 4. Hermann Park Lake Plaza 5. Hermann Park Bill Coats Bridge
Buffalo Bayou Park – Inner City River Valley
Buffalo Bayou is the main river flowing through the city, slowly meandering through the middle of Houston. It roughly follows the line of the I-10 Katy Freeway from east to west.
Buffalo Bayou Park is a very popular area for cyclists. hikers and nature lovers. The site is a 160-acre lush, well-landscaped park that sits just inside the 610-loop close to downtown. The area features plenty of pathways, many prominent Art sculpture installations, a skate park, and natural areas with benches and picnic pavilions. The pathways offer the most scenic views of Houston, and form over 15 miles of connected pathways.
Trail types: Paved, light hills. Good for Leisure or road biking on paved paths. Cyclists are required to stay off the Ashphault walking paths.
The Park features restrooms at the Lost Lake Visitor’s Centre on the ground floor, and Water fountains at a couple of locations along the way. Patrolled by security on bike.
Cool Fact: The Waugh Bridge Bat Colony, located under the Waugh Bridge in Buffalo Bayou Park is home to 300,000 bats which can be viewed as they fly out all at once at dusk from under the bridge, returning at sunrise. I found it bit creepy walking or riding under that bridge!
Where to Find Parking at Buffalo Bayou Park
The most accessible parking I found was along Allen Parkway on the North side of the street near Gillette Street, facing the Spindle Sculpture. There are plenty of angle parking spaces there. Parking is metered and costs $1.
More parking can be found at the Buffalo Bayou Parking lot at the Lost Lake Visitor’s Centre.
Memorial Park and The Bayou Wilds
Houston’s Memorial Park is one of the largest urban spaces in Texas and has a lot to offer the inner-city cyclist. The park features over 30 miles in total of paved, natural and single-track Mountain Bike specific trails. Colour coding marks these trails based on difficulty.
There is a BCycle bike rental station located in the very middle of the park at the south picnic loop. Also important, the park features restrooms and water fountains. Find directions here: Google Maps
Where to Find Parking at Memorial Park
There are a number of free and paid parking stalls ($1 for three hours) available just off Washington Avenue where you can park. Memorial Park’s parking information website has a map and listing of where to park for free or paid parking.
Where to Rent a Bike in Houston
BCycle – Bike Share Rentals
Houston’s BCycle is a non-profit bike share program available throughout the city. You can rent a bicycle from any of its stations and return to any other station 24 hours a day. The service offers traditional bikes and e-bikes available at 155 stations in 14 Houston neighbourhoods.
See the station map or see real-time availability within the BCycle app for your phone (available on both app stores). Prices per trip are $5 for 30 min or $7 for e-bikes. Monthly memberships including unlimited hour-long rides are $25 (add $1 per 30 mins e-bike supplement).
Bike Barn Bayou Rentals and Tours
Bayou Rentals is a Local bike shop chain with several locations in Houston, with a convenient location in the NE corner of Buffalo Bayou Park. Bayou Rentals offers various styles and sizes of bikes including cruiser style, hardtail mountain bikes and e-bikes and even Tandoms! They also offer local bike tours as well (must be booked 48 hours in advance).
Starting at $19 per 2 hours | 713-955-4455 | 105 Sabine St | Website
Four Brewery Taprooms to Relax at After (or During) Your Ride
Karbach Brewing’s Karbach Pub and Biergarten
The Karbach Pub and Biergarten are located on the grounds of the expansive Karbach Brewery. This impressive brewery, pub and biergarten are located about two miles north of Memorial Park. Karbach also has an impressive gift shop where they sell everything beer-related plus their own branded line of Bicycles!
The Biergarten at this German-style brewery has plenty of open seating, outdoor games and of course incredible beer. The venue itself is almost like a festival grounds as it has many areas for seating, both covered and uncovered, with a massive outdoor sports screen outside. Inside you will find the Karbach Pub with a full menu. My favourite beverage at Karbach is their famous Hopidillo IPA.
$$ | 2032 Karbach Street | Website
Platypus Brewing
An Australian-inspired Brewery taproom in the hip up and coming Midtown area of Houston, only a few blocks north of Buffalo Bayou Park, close enough to make a nice pit stop on your ride
Platypus serves an excellent selection of in-house brewed craft beer as well as tasty food and features a large outdoor covered patio area. This has been one of my local favourites in Houston since it opened in 2016.
$$ | 1902 Washington Ave, Houston, Texas | Website
St. Arnold Brewing Company
St. Arnold is Texas’ Oldest Craft Brewery, having been in operation since 1994. The brewery is located just outside of downtown Houston. The site has great views of the city from its massive, partially covered-outdoor beer garden. Inside, there is plenty of seating in the Beerhall.
Pizza, Burgers, wings and Pretzels are served up alongside some exquisite brews. Check out some of their limited edition high-test beers that are now available like the Baltic Porter Aged in Port Barrels at 12.4 % ABV!
$$ | 2000 Lyons Ave, Houston, Texas | Website
Eureka Heights Brew Co
Eureka Heights taproom is just a fun spot to hang out and enjoy a refreshing break from the sun. Located in Houston’s lively Heights neighbourhood, the spot has a fun and unassuming charm. Check out their website for a schedule of food truck appearances to complement the great beers they have on offer.
I’m partial to the Space Train IPA and the 713 German Pilsner. Also, check out the trivia night Wednesdays!
$$ | 941 W 18th St, Houston, Texas | Website
Conclusion
It’s great to see Houston becoming a lot more bike-friendly and shedding (somewhat) the image of a car-only city. With up-and-coming inner city redevelopment bringing bike-friendly infrastructure, this gives travellers a great alternative to seeing Houston’s core by bicycle which is a great way to tour this interesting destination.
Be sure to leave a comment if you know of other great places to ride, or fantastic local bike shops to consider. We’d love to hear about them!