great workout!
River Place Nature Trail
- 6/24/2015
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Distance: 5.00 Miles
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I'm so glad this trail reopened. I hiked it a few times after the May rains, when there was tons of water in the creek. I usually start at the bottom and go two or three miles then turn back, since the upper section is not quite as pretty. The creek is gorgeous and there are several small waterfalls that empty into picturesque pools. There isn't much solitude--this is (rightfully) a popular trail. This would be a good place to hike while training for a backpacking trip. Stairs and more stairs!
nice hike and even better dog playground!
Turkey Creek Trail
- 4/28/2015
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Distance: 2.50 Miles
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I've been hiking Turkey Creek with my dog for a while now, but this spring has been fantastic. The frequent rains have made the creek nice and wet, and there are plenty of great doggie swimming holes. I love that this trail has both a shady, flat section and a rocky section with some hills and open spaces. Due to the water levels, I wear my Keen water shoes, and splash happily through the creek crossings while watching other people curse when they slip off a log and get their "real" shoes wet.
good dog walk
Onion Creek District Park
- 4/19/2015
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Distance: 2.00 Miles
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The Austin Parks Foundation website confirms that this is an official off-leash dog park (other than the playground areas, where leashes are required). The walk to the first creek crossing is 3/4 mile down what is basically a Jeep trail. From there you can play fetch in the shallow creek, then cross the creek and ascend a small hill to the rest of the trails. There is a veritable spaghetti bowl of trails up there, so you can really choose your own distance. I've done a couple of them, and even with a map, it is easy to get turned around since they're so twisty. Horses are allowed on these trails, so there is a good amount of horse poop (dogs think that is super fun to roll in!) but I've never actually seen a horse in the 5+ times I've been there this year.
Tejas to Sawyer and back
Good Water Trail
- 9/22/2013
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Distance: 8.50 Miles
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I did Cedar Breaks to mile marker 3 and back last year (not as much solitude there), but this time I started at Tejas Camp and went to Sawyer Camp and back. (Plus a detour down a jeep trail between mile markers 9 and 10 where I discovered a secluded camp site in some trees near a creek/drainage.) It ended up being around 8.5 miles.
Tejas Camp looked pretty nice, a good quiet place to camp if you don't need amenities (like showers). Depite it being a gorgeous, not-too-hot weekend, there was no one there. The toilets are adequate and there's water. Some of the camp sites are near one another, and others are more secluded. Most were shaded.
Sawyer Camp, on the other hand, was a mess. If they're not going to fix up the old toilet structure, they should just knock it down--it's an eyesore. Several of the fire/grill pits were broken and/or overgrown with grasses and vines. There was litter scattered around. The one picnic table there was OK. The lake level was low, and if you needed to go down to pump water, you'd have quite a trek. I saw only one, maybe two camp sites that would be worth pitching a tent in, and that's being generous due to the lovely solitude.
The trail itself was pretty good. Lots of varied terrain, switching from open fields to wooded sections to rocky outcroppings. I only saw a couple of other people the whole time. There were some sections where grasses have grown over rocks on the trail--it would be easy to twist an ankle or crash your bike here.