Craig Johnson, Skateboarding Hall of Famer, Names Bachman Lake in D Magazine

The September 2026 issue of D Magazine carries an interview with Dallas skateboarder Craig Johnson, who was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame at Vans headquarters in Costa Mesa, California this past May. Editor Tim Rogers ran the Q&A on September 3, 2026.

Rogers asked him where the best place to skate in Dallas is. Craig answered:

“Oh, Bachman Lake Skatepark.”

He went on to describe the pool, the serpentine snake run and the street section, and pointed out that it is lit at night, open late and free to everybody. D Magazine linked the answer straight to our Bachman Lake Skatepark page.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW AT D MAGAZINE

CRAIG JOHNSON AND BACHMAN LAKE GO BACK 40 YEARS

This is not a coincidence of geography. Bachman Lake is where Craig came up. In the 1980s the site was home to Skate Time, the Blue Ramp and the world famous Clown Ramp, and the skaters who came out of that vert ramp included Craig Johnson, Jeff Phillips, Dan Wilkes, John “Tex” Gibson and Mike Crum. Craig rode for Zorlac, the Dallas skateboard company whose Pushead graphics put Texas skateboarding in front of the rest of the country.

Forty years later the City of Dallas built a 45,600 square foot public concrete skatepark on that same ground, and Craig Johnson and Mike Crum were among the very first people to skate it.

Craig Johnson at the Bachman Lake Skatepark, May 17, 2025

WE TALKED TO CRAIG AT THE GRAND OPENING

Skateparks for Dallas interviewed Craig at the Bachman Lake Skatepark grand opening celebration on May 17, 2025, the morning the park opened to the public, and posted the interview to our Instagram. He has also lent his name to the scene for years through the Craig Johnson Bowl Jam, which 4DWN Skatepark hosted in The Cedars in 2018.

For the full story of how the park got built, read the Bachman Lake Skatepark grand opening recap.

WHAT’S NEXT

Bachman Lake is one park. The skateboarder needs assessment found Dallas should have roughly 16 skatepark locations. The next one is the Oak Cliff Skatepark at Westmoreland Park, which will be the first public skatepark south of the Trinity River.

Thank you to Tim Rogers and D Magazine for the coverage, and congratulations to Craig Johnson on the Hall of Fame.