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From bayou-side promenades to wooded preserves, here are some of Houston’s most popular destinations for outdoor activities.

Memorial Park: Located in the heart of Houston, the park features walking, hiking and biking trails, as well as shaded areas and covered patios. 

• Length: 1,500 acres
• Surface: natural
• Adjacent Amenities: playgrounds, track, sports fields, tennis courts, volleyball courts, swimming pool, picnic tables, restrooms
• 6501 Memorial Drive, Houston

Buffalo Bayou Park: The park offers several trails, including a paved, winding trail along the bayou for walking and biking. 

• Length: 160 acres
• Surface: paved and natural trails
• Adjacent Amenities: dog park, picnic areas, kayaking, restrooms
• 105 Sabine St., Houston

Levy Park: The park near Upper Kirby features large green spaces, two dog parks and several amenities for children.

• Length: 5.9 acres
• Surface: paved walking trail
• Adjacent Amenities: dog park, playground, picnic tables, pavilion, garden, restrooms
• Accessibility: wheelchair-accessible areas, wheelchair-accessible restrooms, places to rest
• 3801 Eastside St., Houston

Blue Willow Bookshop opened in 1996 and is named after the china pattern, a popular design from the late 1700s that includes white and blue color waves. 

Read all about it: Located in West Houston, Blue Willow Bookshop will celebrate 30 years of business in 2026.

What they offer: The charming bookshop sells a variety of genres, including travel, true crime and thriller. The store also hosts seven different book clubs, such as the Tough Broads Out at Night Book Club and Blue Herring, a new mystery book club. 

• 14532 Memorial Drive, Houston

From volunteer events to parades, there are several events to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the Greater Houston area. 

MLK Lonestar
The Lone Star Community Center is holding an event to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.

• Jan. 19, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Free
• Lone Star Community Center, 2500 Lone Star Parkway, Montgomery

• Jan. 18, 4 p.m.
• Free
• 2200 Lake Woodlands Drive, The Woodlands

• Jan. 19, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
• Free
• Hope Farms, 10401 Scott St., Houston

Houston-area hospitality businesses can now earn points for their sustainability practices as part of a new program that aims to limit environmental harm ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

In a nutshell: The FIFA World Cup 2026 Houston Host Committee launched the “New Year, New Hou” initiative Jan. 12 to mitigate the environmental impact of tourism during the tournament, which will run from June 11 to July 19, per a news release. Roughly 500,000 people are expected to visit Houston to watch the games, Community Impact previously reported.

About the program: Hotels, motels and restaurants—including cafés and bars—based within the Houston-Galveston Area Council's boundaries can participate in the program through Feb. 28, according to the release.

Qualifying businesses can earn badges by implementing environmentally friendly practices pertaining to waste management, energy efficiency and natural resources, according to the committee’s Hospitality Sustainability Toolkit. 

What to expect: Verified businesses will be added to a “sustainable tourism guide” for World Cup visitors, per the release. 

Hundreds of Texas private schools have been approved to participate in the state’s new education savings account program, per a map released by the state comptroller in early January.

The overview: As of press time, 775 private schools and prekindergarten providers had been approved to accept education savings accounts, or ESAs. There are over 1,300 accredited private schools in the state, according to the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission. 

Of the approved schools, there are:

• 233 schools in the Houston area
• 195 schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
• 94 schools in the San Antonio area
• 70 schools in the Austin area