Discovery Green Houston Texas

Discovery Green is a 12 acre urban park located in the heart of downtown Houston Texas across the street from the George R. Brown Convention Center.  Discovery Green hosts over 600 events and community gatherings a year.  Discovery Green features many different attractions.  Some of the best seasonal attractions include kayaking and paddle boarding  on Kinder Lake, ice skating in the winter ice rink, and summer concerts on Thursday nights.  Check out the Discovery Green calendar for a list of upcoming events.

Discovery Green Features

The park features jogging and walking trails, butterfly gardens, a dog park, playgrounds, putting green, Kinder Lake, a splash pad, fountains, restaurants, sculptures and displays of Art in the Park.  The many faceted park is also improved with tree covered sidewalks with benches for people watching, multiple landscaped gardens, picnic lawns, and large grassy lawns perfect for laying in the sun.  The grassy lawns have been known as gathering places for flash mobs.  Park visitors looking for a more sedate visit, should check out the Houston Public Library’s HPL Express location and the Morgan Reading Room and Powell Foundation Outdoor Reading Rooms adjacent to the Lake House restaurant.  HPL Express offers free WiFi and other library services.  Typical library rules apply to these areas.

Dining in Discovery Green

If you don’t plan on bringing a picnic lunch, you can dine at one of the two restaurants located in Discovery Green.  The two restaurants located in the park are The Lake House and The Grove.  The Lake House serves fast casual Texas cuisine such as burgers, tacos, hot dogs, and salads along with beer and wine.  The Grove is more a upscale restaurant serving what they call “modern Texas cuisine”.  The Grove’s menu includes appetizers, steaks, seafood, rotisserie meats, salads, and deserts along with beer, wine, and cocktails.

Parking and Access to Discovery Green

If you know how to find the George R. Brown Convention Center, you can’t missing Discovery Green as it runs the length of the convention center across the Avenida de las Americas street.  If you are coming from Interstate -45 South take the McKinney St Exit and follow McKinney St until you run in to the park.  The park is built on top of an underground parking garage with entry from Avenida de las Americas.  There is metered street level parking and numerous private parking lots.  Unfortunately, there is no free parking in the area.

Behind the Scenes of Discovery Green

Discovery Green opened in 2008.  The park is a public – private venture of the City of Houston, the Houston First Corporation, and the Discovery Green Conservancy.  The Houston First Corporation is a City of Houston exclusively owned corporation that owns and runs the George R. Brown Convention Center and other public venues and theaters in the City of Houston.   The Discovery Green Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded to finance and run the operation of the park and events it hosts.  The Discovery Green Conservancy is funded by the donations of visitors and friends of the park.  Find out here on how to give a gift to the Discovery Green Conservancy.

Photo Gallery of Discovery Green

We have put together a complete Photo Gallery of Discovery Green in Houston Texas with descriptions of where the photos were taken and what the photos depict.

This article was authored by and all photos were taken by the staff of Houston Prime Realty.  Houston Prime Realty serves the Greater Houston Texas area and can help real estate buyers and sellers to purchase and sell properties near Downtown Houston Texas.  Please Contact Us if you need an experienced Houston real estate agent.

You can find more interesting places to visit in the greater Houston area in our Places To Visit in Houston Texas Directory.