Fort Worth, TX Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)

Under Fort Worth City Code § 24-18, it is unlawful to use a bicycle, roller blades, skateboard, or any other wheeled vehicle or equipment, self-propelled or motor-assisted, in a designated park or recreation area, or any portion of one, where that use has been prohibited and posted with signage. The rule is sign-triggered rather than a blanket citywide skateboard ban: the Park and Recreation Department designates which parks, trails or plazas are off-limits to wheeled equipment and posts notice there, and the prohibition only attaches to the areas actually signed.

This traces to 1964 Code § 27-19(20) and has been amended repeatedly, most recently by Ord. 27255-10-2024, § 7, passed October 29, 2024, effective November 6, 2024, and before that by Ord. 15599, § 11 (2003) and Ord. 11541, § 1(c) (1994). The section sits in Chapter 24, Article I (General Provisions), alongside companion rules for the same posted-park-areas scheme covering alcohol (§ 24-17) and athletic activity inside the Botanic Garden (§ 24-16), all enforced by park and recreation department signage rather than a separate permit process.

Because the ordinance regulates park and recreation property specifically, it does not reach skateboarding on ordinary city sidewalks or in commercial/business districts; general street use of wheeled non-motor devices is instead addressed by the older § 22-16 roadway provision, which does not mention skateboards by name. Riders should look for posted signs at park entrances, trailheads and paved plazas before assuming a spot is open to boards or blades.