In the nearly seven years since launching this series, I’ve written about more than 70 trails and parks within a day’s drive of San Antonio. While all of them have been worth visiting, a few truly stand out.
San Antonio’s trail network has exploded since my first post on April 2018 on the Medina River Natural Area, a piece of open space on the South Side that offers hiking, biking, paddling and camping. At the time, the greenway trail that began at the parking lot extended about 7 miles east before stopping near the south bank of the Medina River.
Since then, the greenway trail network has grown by another 7 miles, plus a 4-mile connector attaching it to the Mission Reach. Plus, the expansion of the West Side Creeks greenway system has connected the Mission Reach to neighborhoods west of downtown.
These trail expansions mean I can ride nearly 30 miles from my house near Woodlawn Lake to Medina River Natural Area almost exclusively on concrete, off-street trails. Seven years ago, I would never have dreamed that would be possible so soon.
The Trailist has chronicled several adventures outside of San Antonio, such as Colorado Bend State Park, the Llano River near Junction and the Colorado River near Bastrop. Still, I’ve worked hard to set shoe, tire, or paddle to every scrap of trail in Bexar County. That’s been a challenge, as the number of trail miles had expanded significantly.
Aside from the greenway expansion, new parks have proliferated across Bexar County — the San Antonio River Authority’s Trueheart Ranch and Hendrick Arnold Nature Park and the city’s Classen-Stuebing Park, to name a few.
All of this is critical to a growing city and county where the public increasingly requires outdoor access. Getting outside and being in nature is a basic human need, one that San Antonio’s longtime residents deserve and newcomers expect. Our local governments have prioritized adding more trails and public spaces, and it’s up to us to continue stewarding these resources while pushing for more.
One thing I hope Trailist readers have come to appreciate is Bexar County’s biodiversity — the subtle beauty of our softly shifting mosaic of landscapes. We don’t have any Grand Canyons or Yosemites here, but if you were take a few square miles of Bexar County and count every plant and animal in that swath, you would find an incredible variety of species. We live at cultural and biological crossroads of North America’s north and south, east and west, and I hope people can learn to see and cherish this web of life we have in our collective backyard.
All that to say, the monthly Trailist feature that I’ve been writing since I was a full-time reporter at the San Antonio Report has reached a stopping point.
Now that I’ve traversed much of the county’s trail network, it’s your turn. You can explore all of the past Trailist articles — and see them in map form — here.
Here are the top Trailist posts that convey what’s special about San Antonio and its surroundings. They don’t all represent the most adventurous journeys, but they best convey what readers can find if they’re willing to explore.
(Note: With a recent spate of violent crimes on the greenway trail network, avoid going alone, if possible. Also, let someone know exactly where you’re going, when you plan to return, and consider using your device to share your location with a loved one).
1. Riding a 62-mile loop on San Antonio’s Salado and Leon creek greenways
This loop I call the Northern Crescent showcases the best of San Antonio’s long-established Salado and Leon creek greenways, which in October 2021 were joined at Eisenhower Park on the North Side.
Seeing this much of the city all in one go makes me appreciate how the dominant trees and plants shift. From Brackenridge Park, the route begins on roads that climb through the Broadway corridor and past Fort Sam Houston, where it connects with the Salado Creek Greenway on Rittiman Road.
The greenway section starts with the lush and forested areas along Saldo Creek, past the boardwalk over wetlands near Nacogdoches Road, through open spaces near McAllister Park, and starting to creep into rockier Hill Country terrain north of Phil Hardberger Park.
The winding descent from Eisenhower Park past the Rim takes that ecological journey in reverse, though all of Leon Creek is rockier and more desert-like than Salado Creek. The journey ends in the heavily urbanized landscape of the West Side Creeks and the Mission Reach, which returns you to downtown.
Currently, stitching this together as a loop requires about 15 miles of on-street riding. The most dangerous part extends from the Ingram Transit Center along Ingram Road under Loop 410 and through a hilly commercial and residential area that is not too bike-friendly.
But with plans to connect the West Side Creeks to the Leon Creek Greenway and Salado Creek to the Mission Reach, a time will come in the not-too-distant future where I can ride some version of this loop all on greenway trails.
2. The upper Medina River in early fall will take your breath away
The day I spent alone on the upper Medina River in September 2018 is etched in my memory as one of the most sublime outdoor experiences I’d ever had.
A few relatively rainy years had left the river flowing with crystal clear water, and paddling along it felt like being held aloft on a current of flowing glass. I could see every plant, rock, fish and turtle below me.
I went on a weekday and saw no one all day and spent the 15-mile stretch listening only to cicadas and the sound of the water flowing across limestone. On a day like this, there is no better place to be than a Hill Country river.
The flow that day was 300 cubic feet per second, a perfect level to push me downstream over 6 and a half hours while creating some fun mini-waterfall and riffles to splash me but not tip me over. I made the journey on my old inflatable kayak, compact enough to pack on the back of my bike and ride back to my car.
That kayak is long gone, with a leak sprung on a paddling trip back home in Colorado, and the river hasn’t flowed consistently at that level in years. I checked the gauge on Thursday and found the flow at a little over 4 cubic feet per second, where the flow has been parked for most of the past three years of drought. If we ever get some consistent rain again, you’ll know where to find me.
3. Medina River Greenway extends 17 miles through rural South Side
At risk of putting too much Medina River on this list, the Medina River Greenway south of San Antonio deserves a mention here. That’s because it offers a connection from the Mission Reach to most of the best outdoor spaces the South Side has to offer.
A 4-mile connector trail to the Mission Reach completed in 2020 passes by Cassin Lake, a large waterbody for the area. It then passes by TJ Maxx’s distribution warehouse before ending at a crosswalk across Highway 281. This is the worst part of the greenway, as it’s just a sidewalk along Del Lago Parkway and then Club House Drive before the trail truly begins at the trailhead at Mission Del Lago Golf Course.
From there, the trail cuts through the course itself (watch out for flying balls) and past a few neighborhoods on its way to Mitchell Lake. The former sewage dump turned bird sanctuary is worth a visit on its own, though visitors will see plenty of avian life from the trail.
The trail then crosses Pleasanton Road and becomes truly rural, departing from all nearby roads as it twists and turns along the Medina River. Prepare for multiple steep switchbacks, though you won’t see nearly as many people as along the Salado and Leon creek greenways. The habitat ranges from river-side forests to prairies to South Texas brush country, with lookouts on the tall, sandy embankments over the river. From Pleasanton Road, it continues about 10 miles to the parking lot of Medina River Natural Area on Palo Alto Road.
I like this greenway because it allows for long rides through unspoiled scenery with no crowds, with enough shade to make it accessible during summer months.
4. Lose yourself on Leon Creek’s mountain bike trails
I started mountain biking in San Antonio at McAllister Park, but Leon Creek Greenway offers the best trail riding in the city.
The trails here are varied and extensive, and in the near-decade I’ve lived here I still don’t think I’ve seen all of them. I also still get lost almost every time I ride here, a testament to how many mini-loops and cut-through exist here.
I typically start my rides at O.P. Schnabel Park, which has its own offroad trail network, before dropping into the greenway from the bluffs overlooking the terrain. More adventurous downhill riders take some dangerous drops into the greenway, though I typically stick to the easier route at the southeast edge of O.P. Schnabel.
From there, the trails wind both north and south, though it’s better to head north. After climbing a small hill, the main trail reaches a small pump track called the Monkey Loops, then another at Oxbow Park. It passes a pond at Buddy Calk Park that never seems to run out of water, then begins to branch out into a bigger network at the more expansive Bamberger Nature Park and Fox Park.
The mountain bike trails branching off the greenway go all the way north to Loop 1604, with enough trail to keep me always coming back for more.
5. Beacon Hill residents spent years pushing for stormwater channel’s rebirth as a park
The 0.6-mile trail network in Beacon Hill, north of downtown, is the shortest trail I’ve written about in this series, but I add it to this list because it’s also the most inspirational.
The trail extends from the Beacon Hill Community Garden diagonally through the neighborhood to Hildebrand Avenue, cutting through streets and empty lots and crossing behind backyard fences. It exists because of residents petitioning the city to make better use of a formerly unsightly stormwater channel.
I spent a day exploring the trail with a longtime member of the Beacon Hill Neighborhood Association, which spent years pushing the city for funding. I imagine what San Antonio look like if all the city’s neighborhoods had these small connections that create public space close to people’s homes.
Hopefully, the trail will one day connect to the Martinez Creek trail under Interstate 10, joining it to the larger Westside Creeks network. These kinds of visions are making our city better, one trail at a time.
