Park #8 in our family’s quest to visit 20 parks in 2014 for #SA2020Resolutions is the Salado Creek Greenway. This linear park, a series of hiking and biking trails, belongs to the larger Howard W. Peak Greenway Trail System in San Antonio which includes 32 developed miles across our city and, when completed, will be comprised of 130 miles of walking, biking, and hiking trails.
There are actually five different sections of the Salado Creek Greenway. My kids and I spent a small part of one sunny summer morning walking (and riding scooters) along the north section of Salado Creek Greenway, heading east, which runs from McAllister Park to Loop 410. Eventually, the McAllister Park section will grow longer to the west when it’s connected to new sections of Wurzbach Parkway.
Because we left the house at 10:00 a.m. on that sultry summer morning, we missed the cooler temperatures of the early morning so we didn’t get very far into our exploration. A certain child-who-will-remain-nameless was extremely put out (euphemism!) by the heat and by her mother’s cheerful assertion that, hey, a little sweat never hurt anyone! She begged to differ. And she begged to go home. And she pleaded with the tenacity and fire of one thousand sweaty south Texas summers. And, finally, when even the birds started glaring at me for the noisy disruption to their day, we left. While we barely covered one mile of the four miles that Salado Creek Greenway North offers, we did, even in our short time traipsing the trail, have a few adventures worth sharing.
Parking is somewhat inconvenient on the McAllister Park end of the greenway. You either have to park at McAllister and cross the busy Starcrest Drive which is down to one lane and full of construction (not my choice with two kids and scooters in tow). Or, you can park on the other side of Starcrest on a side street that leads to the back side of the San Antonio Airport (not an optimal choice either, but it was our only option).
A better solution might be to jump onto the greenway from the trailheads at either Tobin Park (just south of 410 east) or Lady Bird Johnson Park (off of Nacogdoches) and finish your walk at the McAllister Park end.
What we didn’t get to see on this greenway during our visit that I hope we see will one day soon: Morningstar Boardwalk. This unique stretch of the trail takes visitors along a Salado Creek wetland area by Nacogdoches Road and leads them to Lady Bird Johnson Park. We didn’t explore that far on that hot summer day, but I learned from the San Antonio Parks and Recreation website that the boardwalk was named in honor of an Army Staff Sergeant, Christopher Morningstar, a San Antonian who gave his life in service to our country.
San Antonio should be proud of the beautiful trail system former Mayor Howard Peak championed for our city years ago. With 32 miles included so far, it’s connecting us to the natural places in our city and making it easier for families to stroll between parks. Go check out these greenways if you haven’t already!
Check out all of the San Antonio parks we’ve visited this year as part of our #SA2020Resolutions.
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