Return to Balcones Park

lots of traffic
User: jimmy peace - 8/18/2019  [View Log Page]
Rating: 1point5stars Difficulty: 1point5stars Solitude: 2point5stars
Distance: 6.00 Miles Duration: 4 hours, 30 minutes

creek was dry, always see nice folks  i walked it from balcones to walnut creek and back 

awesome
User: jimmy peace - 6/10/2016  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3point5stars Difficulty: 2point5stars Solitude: 4stars
Distance: 4.00 Miles Duration: N/A

today i finally conquered the entire park... and even hiked from here over to walnut creek park, for a round trip total of 5.7 miles,. and even sipped from the springs

hiked right after the rains today
User: jimmy peace - 5/19/2016  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3point5stars Difficulty: 1point5stars Solitude: 4stars
Distance: 1.80 Miles Duration: N/A

i didnt know this was the headwaters of walnut creek

Great wooded area
User: Eveline - 5/18/2013  [View Log Page]
Rating: 2point5stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 3point5stars
Distance: 2.00 Miles Duration: N/A

Enjoyed this hike.

No flowing water and stinky
User: terlanmat68 - 9/9/2012  [View Log Page]
Rating: 2stars Difficulty: 1point5stars Solitude: 2stars
Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 8 minutes
This is a pretty interesting trail and would be even better had there been any water. In the lower area, the sewer smell was really bad.
User: cwlatapie - 5/20/2012  [View Log Page]
Rating: 1star Difficulty: 1point5stars Solitude: 2point5stars
Distance: 5.00 Miles Duration: N/A

Some construction going on. The hiking trails had some trash and dog doo. Over all OK, I probably wont go back.

Enjoyed it quite a bit
User: actualattic - 3/3/2012  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3point5stars Difficulty: 1point5stars Solitude: 2point5stars
Distance: 4.00 Miles Duration: N/A
Lots of birds. Was swooped by a hawk. Not a whole lot of people for a weekend. Parked at the park and went on the trail behind the pool. The trail was very rocky till you get to the main trail. The tunnels were neat.
Smelly but interesting
User: elpea - 3/13/2010  [View Log Page]
Rating: 2stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 3stars
Distance: 1.00 Mile Duration: 40 minutes

I started out my hike at the park and don't know what distance I covered.  As another user mentioned, there is a small trail behind the pool (two trails actually) that can take you to the main trail.   Maybe it's just because it's been rainy this year, but it was STINKY.  I was trying not to gag at certain parts. 

If you start at the park or want to go to the park, you have to go under two MoPac lane bridges side-by side.  Under one was a pretty elaborate homeless encampment, which is fine, but maybe not always safe for people going solo depending on the type of campers.  There's also a cool wooden train bridge. 

I wouldn't recommend going this time of year (winter/spring) if you don't want to get your feet wet because you have to cross some water at low points.  I turned around at the deeper water crossing, so I didn't make it to the end of the trail.

There were some interesting things.  On one side-trail, I found what looked to be a homemade BMX ramp course still in the process of being built out of dirt.  There's also lots of fallen trees and little bits of trash all along the trail.

 

User: texaskdog - 3/12/2010  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 2stars
Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: 1 hour

Nice path.  I would have given it a 4 as it is very nice except for 3 things: Its kinda short, the 2 tunnels are not lighted (you can see the light at the end but if there were somethign in the path youd trip and you cant take a bike through it, and you cant really get up to the street) and way too close to apts.

Beaten path OFF the beaten path
User: Ginger - 11/22/2009  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 4stars
Distance: 3.50 Miles Duration: N/A

This is an interesting trail that runs between neighborhoods.  It is mostly paved, so it was perfect for a hike the day after rain showers.  Of course, that posed some problems where the trail was under water because the creek had risen.  The dog loved it!  4 dew claw up.  There were no people around so we let him off leash and he had a blast--wallowing in mud pits and splashing around in the creek.  The tunnels were a little creepy, but not too intimidating.  The water was high, so the water fall was very pretty. 

User: strontium87 - 10/17/2009  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3stars Difficulty: 1star Solitude: 3stars
Distance: 2.00 Miles Duration: N/A
April 2009 after work easy walk
User: sandew - 5/1/2009  [View Log Page]
Rating: 1star Difficulty: 1star Solitude: 1star
Distance: 2.00 Miles Duration: 1 hour

No water in the creek.  Very little water from the springs, guess because of the drought. 

he trails away from the creek go everywhere unmarked.  When went away from the creek on one of the trails, it lead to the volleyball & horseshoe area.  Couldn't find a well marked trail out to the parking lot/pool area. 

There needs to be trash cans in a lot of the areas other than the pool and playground, as there was a lot of trash.  Tires were near the turn-around area along with a lot of old lumber.  A trail map would be nice at beginning of the trail too. 

User: texasag - 8/13/2008  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3point5stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 5stars
Distance: 2.00 Miles Duration: 1 hour
interesting...
User: texianof1836 - 9/29/2007  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 5stars
Distance: 2.00 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes

This was a nice easy hike with some interesting features. The creek bed was dry when I went, but I bet this place is pretty nice during wet weather. Didn't see a single person the entire time, which I thought was odd for a saturday. The terrain was nice and rocky, but my favorite features were the tunnels and drainage ditches. I'm weird like that I guess. All in all this was a great stroll through the woods with some interesting man-made additions.

Nice City Hike
User: jeff - 8/24/2007  [View Log Page]
Rating: 4stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 4stars
Distance: 2.00 Miles Duration: 45 minutes

I took my 8 year old on my latest visit. He really enjoyed the adventure of having to walk around one area of the trail that was submerged in water. The waterfall area is a nice little gem to see when there has been a recent rain. Great solitude since we went on a weekday.

Worst trail i've been on in austin so far
User: smeevil - 5/31/2007  [View Log Page]
Rating: 2stars Difficulty: 1star Solitude: 2stars
Distance: 2.00 Miles Duration: N/A
I didn't reach the second tunnel so maybe that's why, but the smell is pretty bad, lots of trash, and the first tunnel really smelled like waste. It was very easy so that was a bonus for me though because my legs were sore from previous hikes.
User: rhouston0405 - 2/20/2007  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 2stars
Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: 1 hour
Post-urban trail?
User: figment - 5/23/2005  [View Log Page]
Rating: N/A Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 4stars
Distance: 4.00 Miles Duration: N/A
We started from the Balcones District Park - take Mopac, go West on Duval, take a right on Amherst, and there is a big parking lot by the swimming pool. Go around the swimming pool fence to find a small unmarked trail head that leads into some woods and meets up with the main trail. Took the main trail up the dry creek to a nice spring and then turned around. The woods here are surprisingly lush and dense.

Followed the main trails all the way to the end from the park. This trail is very strange - although nothing was probably here 20 years ago, already this trail feels like you are hiking through some sort of lost civilization - the path is some sort of decayed concrete road, the fence along the way looks torn down, the bridges have seen better days, and the broken-down roadster at the end looks like a prop from a bad B-movie. Very lush scenery along the way, and watch out for misleading side trails that take you into apartment complexes

Nice little trail.
User: Caledonia - 4/7/2005  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3stars Difficulty: 1star Solitude: 3stars
Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: N/A
This was a nice surprise. The abandoned car and trash wer disappointing but I like the location. Nice little creek and shady trail.
this trail's seen better days
User: manwithdog - 1/11/2005  [View Log Page]
Rating: N/A Difficulty: 1point5stars Solitude: 2point5stars
Distance: 3.80 Miles Duration: N/A
Started off of Dorsett and was a little irritated at all the trash along the trail. We humans are such a sloppy bunch. As described in the write-up, the trail and scenery greatly improve after the 2nd tunnel. Though I only met a few people along the trail, the steady hum of Mo-Pac let me know I was still in the city.
Interesting urban trail
User: schrochem - 1/24/2004  [View Log Page]
Rating: N/A Difficulty: halfstar Solitude: 1point5stars
Distance: 3.60 Miles Duration: N/A
I went on this hike the day after a big rain so it was kind of disconcerting to see all the trash along the creek. The good news about going after the rain was plenty of water in the creek. There are several offshoot trails so it is probably advised to read the writeup so you don't go wandering around looking for the main trail. As you get closer to the park you start to see more people. Most of the time you will be reminded you are in an urban setting because of the apartments and condos being built next to the trail. It was nice to see some water in the waterfall near the park. I had been down there several times and it was dry. If you want to go to the park you can scramble up the hillside right where the waterfall is and check it out. Scott
Strange trail material
User: Centex Trekker - 4/30/2003  [View Log Page]
Rating: N/A Difficulty: halfstar Solitude: halfstar
Distance: 1.50 Miles Duration: N/A
I did just under half of it geocaching. I like "killing two birds with one stone".
Surprising hike
User: cprice2k3 - 4/4/2002  [View Log Page]
Rating: N/A Difficulty: halfstar Solitude: halfstar
Distance: 2.00 Miles Duration: N/A
I was not aware of the actual size of this hike. I live very close to here, but only hiked the Balcones Park side of the trail. I'm looking forward to hiking the full trail.