The street is difficult to find, even with a Mapsco. But it’s there, tucked away between Northwest Highway and Park Lane near the Bachman Branch creek, a semicircle that’s no more than two blocks long. It’s one of P.M. Summer’s favorite places to ride his bike, and he’s not even that much of an art lover.

The street is Miron, and on it are homes and buildings belonging to Raymond Nasher’s family. On the other side, in what looks an awful lot like a sculpture garden that would be at any big city art museum, is some of the work that the Nashers, who developed NorthPark Shopping Center, have acquired during the 40-some years they’ve been amassing one of the world’s great private sculpture collections.

“I always tell people that’s there, and anyone can go see it since it’s a city street, but it is hard to believe,” Summer says.

“One minute you’re riding your bike, and that next – boom – is all this great sculpture. And as long as you stay on the street and pay attention to the No Trespassing signs, you can look at it like anyone else.”

Not all of the views from streets in Preston Hollow and the surrounding neighborhoods are that spectacular, but anyone who wants to take a leisurely walk, enjoy a pleasant jog or use their bike to work out the kinks after a long day at work will be pleasantly surprised. Some may feel it’s necessary to load the car to drive across Central Expressway to endure the crowds at White Rock Lake (especially on Sunday mornings), but there are other options closer to home.

Talk to people like Summer, or to Joy Westerhouse, whose weekly bike ride sometimes includes a surprising hilly part of the neighborhood between Royal and Forest, and it turns out there are a variety of neighborhood spots where taking a stroll in the evening is as appealing as it is healthy.

“I always tell people that there are parts of Dallas that don’t look like Dallas, if they only get out and look for them,” says Summer, who oversees the city’s bike plan and bike routes.

“That’s the part of the city, in Preston Hollow, that looks like Connecticut – winding roads, big houses, tree-lined streets.”

Best yet, the opportunities are limited only by the amount of time you have available.

The following are just suggestions, and even the routes that are part of organized events lend themselves to improvisation when you feel like striking out on your own. Parts of some of the routes overlap each other (Preston Hollow isn’t that big, after all), while one part of a longer tour might be enough for an after-dinner walk.

One caveat, though: Obey all traffic laws. That means cyclists must wear helmets, and pedestrians, be they walker or joggers, should stick to sidewalks.

World-class art / One recent magazine story, in an upscale Eastern magazine, identified the art in the Nashers’ front yard with more than a few “oohs” and “ahhs” – and why not, since the pieces include the works of George Segal (some bronze commuters), Calder, Miro and Dubuffet, almost a who’s who of 20th century sculpture.

  • The route: The Nasher site is just a jog off Dallas Bike Route 290, a 10-mile loop from NorthPark to Temple Emanuel at Northwest Highway and Hillcrest. It moves west via Park Lane and several side streets, crosses the Tollway and goes past Inwood to Lakemont, heading north to Walnut Hill, and doubling back. Miron is south of Park Lane, south on Sunnybrook and west on Brookview.
  • The highlights: If some of the best sculpture in the world isn’t enough, this ride also offers a first-hand look at what makes Preston Hollow so unique. Park Lane, with its 1950s-style homes, huge lots and all-encompassing trees, even has reasonably little traffic.

A bird’s-eye view / Ask Norma Lou Bridges about her weekly bike ride, and the point she makes over and over is that it’s not about racing or riding fast or shiny rubber suits. It’s about getting outside, enjoying the scenery and the weather, and seeing things that many people haven’t seen before. That’s why, she says, the route’s official name is the Easy Goin’ Ride.

“We don’t mind stopping at all,” says Bridges, who has been leading the ride affiliated with the Greater Dallas Bicyclists for 13 years and has been riding the routes much longer. “People are always stopping to take pictures of flowers or to admire the view. It’s really a very comfortable ride.”

  • The route: The group leaves from University Park city hall at 9 a.m. each Saturday. Generally, the two dozen or so people cover 18-20 miles in a couple of hours, finishing at Snider Plaza. The route varies weekly, depending on whose house is in the news (she tries to tailor the routes to wheel by the homes of celebrity neighborhood residents making headlines), but usually includes a northwesterly slant into Preston Hollow to Bluffview Park as well as several streets in Preston Hollow before returning to the Park Cities.
  • The highlights: Bridges’ favorite part of the ride comes at Bluffview Park, located in a cul de sac between Lovers Lane and Northwest Highway just west of the Tollway. “I found it by accident,” she says, “just riding back there one day. It’s so interesting to see people’s faces when they first see it. Who knows there’s actually a great big bluff in Dallas you can look down from?

From the heights / Westerhouse has discovered the other high point – literally – in Dallas north of the Trinity River. It’s on a street called Mason Dells, near the old Park Central outdoor theater at Forest Lane and Central Expressway.

“It’s not much of a hill, but this is Dallas, and we have to take what we can get,” she says. “If you want to do any hills, that’s about the best one.”

The Mason Dells section is part of the route Westerhouse takes Sunday mornings with a group of cyclists called the Sunday TEBR (of the Sunday version of the Tuesday Evening Bike Ride). The 30 or so riders leave at 9 a.m. from the Border’s at Preston and Royal, and average 30 miles over two hours. Even though the pace is faster than Bridges’ ride, it’s still a social event, Westerhouse says. It’s not unusual to wait for someone who has to change a flat or to stop and pick up a cold drink in the middle of the ride.

  • The route: It varies, sometimes going as far east as Garland and as far west as Irving. But the core is always in and around Preston Hollow, maybe dipping down to the Park Cities and even across LBJ.
  • The highlights: The scenery figures in just as much as the hills. “I love this ride in the spring and summer and everything is bloom,” Westerhouse says. “There are just some really pretty streets, especially with all of the azaleas and caladiums.”