McKenzie Park's Amenities Edit page

The Harris County Greenway Trail System - Bike or Walk miles of paved trails. The trails are accessible through the pedestrian gate at the back of Tres Lagos. The key code is available to McKenzie Park residents.

Summary
This article is intended to inform residents and prospective home buyers about the benefits we receive for our HOA dues, and the value our community has to offer. This article is also intended for residents to better understand the major cost drivers behind the HOA dues.

The McKenzie Park common community amenities include greenbelt areas, 3 lakes for the enjoyment of all McKenzie Park residents, creeks, gazebos, a pool and shaded playground, a pavilion, and a 72-acre nature preserve with a walking trail. Our community is next to a major trail system with forested nature preserves for your family to enjoy with paved trails, so that you can walk or bicycle for several miles. We adjoin the Spring Creek Greenway paved county trail system which is ideal for bicycling (direct trail access for all residents is at the back of Tres Lagos). Sections have video at the entrance for security.

Tres Lagos is a gated section. All sections have security camera monitoring at the entrances.

The Lakes and The Creeks
A primary amenity is the 3 lakes. Being artificial lakes with fountains and landscaping, these lakes offer scenic views and fishing. The lakes are owned by the MUD district, and the HOA is bound by 30-year contracts with the MUD to provide lake maintenance. The lakes also provide an important function for flood control, in conjunction with county preserve land behind the big lake, where there are additional sand pits in low areas and forest preserve areas for runoff. During Harvey, the lakes held a tremendous amount of water, with no flooding of homes in Tres Lagos. Likewise, The Creek section has a small creek behind the section that handled all the water of Harvey with no flooding of homes in The Creek; the east creek is buffered by trees on county land for erosion and flood control - The Creek is about 20 feet down and the street is on a hill; during Harvey the creek did not overflow its banks and processed a lot of rapidly-flowing water (the creek behind the east side of Creek Park Drive originates by the railroad tracks at 99 and only handles neighborhood runoff). The Creek and The Lakes all interconnect to Willow Creek and Spring Creek downstream during high water events.

The front lake on Mossy Oak is open to all Encanto Real Utility District residents which encompasses several neighborhoods. The back lakes are located inside the Tres Lagos section and they are only open to McKenzie Park residents. All residents of McKenzie Park may use the lakes; access to the lakes is restricted by a vehicle gate for Tres Lagos residents, and a pedestrian gate for access by residents of other sections of McKenzie Park. Fishing is allowed for residents only. Boating and swimming is not allowed due to insurance and concern about drowning risk (under-draft with the fountain suction), plus dangerous aquatic wildlife such as a known alligator, snakes, and snapping turtles.

"Chomper" the Alligator made a quick meal of this bird! (October, 2020)

Walking Trails
Beginning with sidewalks in front of each house, you can walk safely through each section of the neighborhood without having to walk on the street. (Tres Lagos, being gated, does not have sidewalks in all parts because there is very little traffic). From 2 entrances within The Preserve, there are sidewalk trails that go through the 17.5 acre Forest Preservation Area, which is a scenic section of woods and a creek, with gazebos off the trail. The trail comes to a pedestrian bridge that crosses the creek and connects the trail. This trail is in a low-elevation section that has an important function for storm water retention, as parks and trails often serve a dual purpose of flood control and park trails.

From Mossy Oaks, there is a sidewalk trail for the front lake that interconnects to the pedestrian bridge. There is also a sidewalk along Mossy Oaks that ends at Rothwood at the entrance of the Fox Hollow subdivision. Many residents sometimes walk along Rothwood a short distance to take the first left into Fox Hollow West on Fox Hollow Blvd., which is an established neighborhood with mature trees and landscaping.

The developer's original plans for the subdivision included walking trails within Tres Lagos. An additional trail section was installed in November 2020 which connects the West (front) lake to Tres Lagos. A second section was installed inside Tres Lagos that connects to the Harris County Greenway Trail System access road via a pedestrian gate. The third section was installed in August 2021 to connect the pedestrian gate at the front lake to the gazebo at the back lake and on to the pedestrian gate for the county trail system.

Harris County Greenway Trail System Access

Our neighborhood is near the Greenway Trail System.

Residents are amazed at the natural beauty of the trail system and the length of the trails that run through forest and by creeks, and at what an incredible asset we have right in our back yard. Neighborhoods which adjoin the county trail system have often seen an increase in home values. The trails are for non-motorized use only; they are asphalt and wide enough for 1 vehicle so that an ambulance and maintenance vehicles could gain access if required.

Through the construction of an extensive trail system and additional parks, Precinct 4 is creating connectivity along Cypress and Little Cypress creeks. The Cypress Creek Greenway (CCG) will eventually connect a series of parks stretching from west of Hwy. 290 eastward to the Spring Creek Greenway (SCG) at Jesse H. Jones Park & Nature Center near Hwy. 59. As with the SCG, this greenway will create natural floodplain buffer zones, contiguous trail connectivity, and linear wildlife habitat.

Being adjacent to a forest preserve, wildlife is present in and around McKenzie Park. Bald Eagles have been sighted at the lakes, in addition to numerous bird species. Hawks and Owls are commonly seen and heard. There are also deer, coyotes, bobcats, foxes, and unfortunately wild hogs in the adjoining forest preserve, not to mention armadillos, racoons, skunks, snakes, lizards, squirrels, rodents, insects, and opossums. Stray dogs and cattle could also be encountered. Crime is a concern anywhere that people are present. Please, enjoy these trails, but also consider your personal safety when using the public county trails - buddy system, animal repellant, etc..



Juvenile and Mature Bald Eagles at McKenzie Park

The trail access is immediately behind the 2 back lakes, on the other side of the fence. Residents have direct access to the park from our neighborhood walking trails. Another access point is the gate at the end of Fox Hunt Drive in Fox Hollow. The county is building a park at this entrance, named Rothwood Park. According to a MUD official, plans are under way for Mossy Oak to connect to Fox Hunt Drive for park access (plans are undetermined for further extension of Mossy Oak at this time). There is a parking lot shortly past the entrance. The county said that the park will be open land and forest preserve space, not sports fields nor playgrounds. There is a small building at the parking lot for county equipment storage, and a public restroom. The park is manned, which includes trash pickup with trash cans.

The grand opening of the trail from Rothwood Park to Springwoods Village was June 26, 2021. The replacement fence sections along the access road and the large lake are now completed.

Eventually, the trail will be connecting around the Exxon campus to extend that segment of the trails into Kingwood so that the trail runs contiguous to the other open sections of the trail near Pundt Park. It will be exciting to have these trails eventually connect. The County is currently working with Exxon on a trail route. There is a plan to extend the trail the other direction from where it begins at the MUD plant; the bridge crossing Willow Creek is in design. Once the bridge has been installed HC can start working on the trail headed towards Gosling. 

We have heard that the trails will eventually extend and connect into trails within The Woodlands, and Tomball. When completed, the trail system in Harris County is expected to be the largest network of paved trails in the United States - and it's right in our back yard!

Greenbelts
One reason our neighborhood looks so nice is that we have a massive amount of open greenbelt space, for a relatively small number of houses. This greenbelt extends from Gosling and Mossy Oaks, and into each subdivision section. The HOA is obligated to maintain this property and it provides visual appeal. We also have attractive monuments at both entrances of the subdivision as well as the entry into each section. There is around 94 acres of land to maintain. There are attractive wood fences and walls along Mossy Oak, fences along the back of Tres Lagos, and stonework at the bridge. There are hundreds of trees, and landscaping to irrigate and maintain. We are adding more trees, in partnership with Harris County so that we can add beautiful young trees, adding visual street barriers at low cost. Your HOA dues go in large part to maintaining the visual aesthetic of the neighborhood.

Community Pool and Playset
There is a community pool open to McKenzie Park residents which offers panoramic lake views. It is controlled with security card access and has video surveillance of the entrance for security purposes. It also has a phone for 911 calls, as required by law.

Security Cameras
Security cameras cover the main entrances to McKenzie Park (Tres Lagos, The Trails, The Preserve, The Creek) as well as the pool entrance. The HOA has the ability to pull video of incidents.

Gazebos
There are several gazebos for McKenzie Park residents. These are available first come, first serve, with no reservations or additional fees required.

Tres Lagos
The entrance to Tres Lagos is gated with video surveillance. Being gated, the roads are private roads which are the HOA's responsibility to maintain (other sections are not gated due to being county public roads). Due to the additional costs associated with the gates, security, and road maintenance, the dues are higher in the Tres Lagos section. The vehicle gates are restricted to Tres Lagos residents and authorized personnel. Tres Lagos also offers great views of the lakes and attractive landscaping.

Pedestrian access to Tres Lagos is available through the pedestrian gate at the front entrance. Any McKenzie Park resident is welcome to walk Tres Lagos by using their security code at the pedestrian gate to gain access (contact Chaparral Management to obtain your code).

Access
McKenzie Park is only 3 minutes from Grand Parkway 99, 10 minutes from The Woodlands, and right off of Gosling. New shops and restaurants are coming up all the time, and we have so much within 10 minutes drive.

Covenants and Architectural Standards
Enforcement of covenants and standards helps to assure that all residents maintain property standards and upkeep. Your home value is based upon not only the condition of your own home, but also the condition of surrounding homes. Maintenance issues affect the aesthetics and values of everyone's property. Enforcement of covenants and architectural control is a primary benefit of living in our neighborhood. Neighborhoods that do not have restrictive covenants can experience eyesore properties that drag down everyone's values.