A proposed new stretch of the River Walk that would wind through the University of the Incarnate Word’s campus and include the headwaters of the San Antonio River is nearing the final stage of its design phase.
This stretch, known as the Spirit Reach, will extend the River Walk by connecting to the existing Museum Reach, which is part of the 13-mile San Antonio River Improvements Project, completed in 2014.
Discussions surrounding the creation of the Spirit Reach began in 2020 after the land around the San Antonio River’s headwaters became protected under a conservation easement. Named for the sacred significance of the location for native populations and modern-day residents, the project is a collaboration between the San Antonio River Authority, UIW, the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word and the Headwaters at Incarnate Word.
Today, the project’s design phase is 60% completed, said Kathleen Rubin, the capital improvements program manager for the River Authority.
“We will be in the final design stages in the spring of 2025, and we’ll bid the project and head into construction later in the spring of 2025,” Rubin told the San Antonio Report. Construction is expected to take two years.
Design planning in partnership with the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation and Bexar County ground to a halt in March 2020 as attention and funding shifted to pandemic relief efforts. However, those discussions and efforts resumed in April 2023 under a new agreement.
The Spirit Reach is expected to have two trails, one leading to the Headwaters Sanctuary and the other leading to the Blue Hole, the spring that is the source of the San Antonio River. On the other side of the Blue Hole, a hike and bike path with increasing elevation will run along U.S. 281 and over Olmos Dam.
The trails will highlight the history of Blue Hole and the origins of the San Antonio River. They will also be a part of the Great Springs Project, which aims to connect the four major springs of Central Texas: San Antonio, Comal, San Marcos and Barton Springs.
Meanwhile, upkeep continues at the protected headwaters sanctuary, said Executive Director Pamela Ball. Ball said she, along with the help of volunteers, is working to combat invasive vegetation within the 53-acre sanctuary.
“We’re making good progress despite this weather recently,” Ball said, “but we’re working on a 4-acre area right now, removing primarily ligustrum and some other larger shrubs and trees.”
