This trail walk (or "hike") is a fairly pleasant one. We went early March, and it was a bit…read moreovercast that day. It's about 30 mins or so to the very end where the mini falls are. During that time, it was lush and water was flowing pretty high, but you had to go all the way to the very end to see water. Ive also been here one time in April and the water was flowing about halfway through the trail. It's not strenuous at all, very nice refreshing walk. Brought the pup out there and he did really well. Getting there, don't follow the Sculpture Falls direction because it will take you to a non-accessible location. Instead, make a U-turn on Capital of Texas Hwy and head east. Then you'll turn into the mopac entrance but instead of going on ramp, you take a right and you'll see a bunch of cars parked. The entrance to the trail is off the right side.

Decided to go for a little hike and ended up going to see the sculpture falls. The falls weren't…read morelarge but just as beautiful. The walk however was exhausting. Going down wasn't too bad but going back up was. We later learned it was called the hill of death. The pictures do not show the intensity, depth, treacherousness or level of difficulty walking up the hill.

The hubs and I are on a walking tour of nearby parks. We get dedicated talk time in a focused…read moremanner and we also get a number of steps in with walking (10,000 steps a day is the goal). St. Edward's park is small somewhat unkemp park. The entry is filled with prickly cacti. Once you make it past the cacti, the park opens to small, narrow and rocky walking or hiking trails. There is a section of the wooden fence which is falling down. While the foliage is appealing, navigating this park can be very challenging. We did not stay for an extensive period of time. It's a high probability we will not be returning to this park. There are more visually appealing parks in Austin and there surrounding areas to choose from.

Don't come here until Austin get out of drought condition. Also there are other posts about car…read morebreak-in so be careful. A lot of trash at the parking lot btw. Some people just don't take care of things. Currently the weir is dry and the creek drying up. Without water, the scenery is not as vibrant as before. You can tell they been sun bleached. If you get close to the water you can see there are still small fishes living in the water.

Decided to check out this trail because I was in town and was not disappointed. I may have gone the…read morewrong way because I didn't make it down to the creek but it was still beautiful. Kind of difficult so it is a great workout with great views. Definitely worth going to see the views of hill country! Best, Bob B.

A favorite spot to enter Barton creek Greenbelt. Park along camp craft rd using the park mobile…read moreapp. Enter the trail which is very rocky with loose stones and at an incline with little shade on way down/up. There is plenty of shade along the Greenbelt trail but not the hill of life. Bring plenty of water to drink. The decent/incline takes 10-15 min each way. There is a swimming hole directly at the bottom or a short distance to the right at the lost creek dam. Sometimes the water can be low so ask around before you go. The trail to the left also leads so sculpture falls. There are some trail markers but might be hard to follow for first timers. Can use google maps to help know where you are.

This was a really fun little hike. Its about 3 miles, and is actually part of a much longer trail…read moresystem that can take you all the way down to Bull Creek if you want to make it a longer day-type hike. It had good parking, easy access, and takes you from the road to wilderness rather quickly. There are creek beds, decent elevation gain (about 400 ft) and in the middle of the hike you walk through a protected area. My wife and I lived it and its a good change of pace. We went on a Sunday at about 9:15 am and there was only 2 other people on the trail.

Ever go for a hike in one of our many local green spaces for a date with nature and come across…read morethis stuff that doesn't belong? Food wrappers. Discarded water bottles & beer cans. Empty runner's gel packages. Dog poop (bagged or otherwise). Graffiti. Loud and unruly guests with music jamming & coolers full of adult beverages, acting a fool? You won't find any of that here at Bright Leaf. Why? Guided hikes only, by appointment and on 2 scheduled dates per month. While it's a little annoying to not be allowed to explore in solitude at my own pace, I'm happy to give up that privilege in exchange for having a protected pristine natural space to learn about our Central Texas flora and fauna in its natural state as the seasons change. Unlike some similar preserves (such as West Cave), the hikes at Bright Leaf are provided free of charge. Hoa's review from 2009 still beautifully tells the story of Bright Leaf Preserve (Georgie Lucas' priceless gift to us all), so do read it. If you still want to know a bit more, stick with me here. On our date in early April 2016 graciously arranged by fellow Yelper, Alicia K, we shared the trail with 2 other groups and our guides took us out in opposite directions so that we still were able to experience the environment fairly free of other humans outside of our group of 4 families. The guides also provided an assortment of snacks and chilled beverages for us at the trailhead, although most of us packed in water as is prudent to do. Our volunteer guide was very knowledgeable about the park, its history, and all of the living things contained therein. During our 2 hour, 3 mile hike, we would walk for 20 minutes or so, and then stop for a fascinating lesson about one of the native or invasive plants or creatures we could see. Besides learning the names of several wildflowers I'd been admiring for years, I learned about the edible onion-like weeds that grow everywhere this time of year, and the myriad of uses for the twisted yucca plant (thread, needle, rope, soap, salad topper). My favorite plant spotting was the asparagus-like shoots of the crested coral root orchid http://goorchids.northamericanorchidcenter.org/species/hexalectris/spicata/ , which are native to the area and are seen blooming only once every 5 years or so. The preserve is the spring/summer home to the tiny endangered golden cheeked warbler and we were lucky enough to visit just after they had returned from their winter trip to Mexico. Have you ever heard this bird's song? Come to Bright Leaf in the spring and you'll have your chance. Hear a sample here: https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/golden-cheeked-warbler Bright Leaf is open for regular guided tours at 9am on the second Saturday and Sunday mornings of each month. Additional hikes can be arranged with prior notice by calling 512-459-7269. Hikes go about four miles and last about 2 1/2 hours. There's one creek crossing (getting wet is unlikely) and the hills are very gentle on this finished, well shaded trail. Our group from ages 7 to 55+ had no trouble at all with the terrain. Want to help? Besides making a donation to help support the preserve, you may also sign up to learn to lead hikes or work on seasonal park maintenance projects. Hike guides are called "Docents" and they are trained via periodic classes put on by Friend of Bright Leaf. Call or email FriendsOfBrightLeaf@gmail.com for more information. Additional information: http://www.austincf.org/WhatWeDo/BrightLeafPreserve.aspx http://brightleaf.org/c.html

Bright Leaf is a nature preserve located near Mount Bonnell which was donated. For access, you need…read moreone of the volunteer guides to let you in. A couple of days each month it's open to the public. It's a beautiful hike. Not too strenuous and mostly shady. At a few points, you get a nice view of Westlake Hills. There are a wide variety of plants, and our guide said that he occasionally sees snakes, owls, and other animals. Due to the restricted access, it's less crowded than similar trails near the city. It's worth the effort to gain access and hike in this area.

I just visited Lake Travis for the first time. I have been to Austin many times but never got out…read moreto the lake. It was stunningly beautiful especially this park it was 100% worth a visit.

Loved camping here, but I am very sad that the water level has been too low for years to cliff…read morejump. I remember when Pace Bend used to be THE cliff jumping spot. I couldn't even get a campsite reservation because it was so popular a few years ago. It is truly past its prime now, and not just with the lack of cliff jumping. The campsites seem to be at about 50% capacity. We drove past so many camping areas that were closed. They're not using their usual online reservation system, and instead you have to reserve by emailing them and requesting specific sites. This is very inefficient as I saw quite a few vacant sites in person that were supposedly taken according to the website. We stayed at Kate's and Johnson campground, which is a primitive car camping site with pit toilets. There were no sinks, but there was hand sanitizer, and the bathrooms were quite clean for pit toilets. The campsites each had a grill and fire pit, but there was a burn ban so we couldn't have a ground fire. There was also a picnic table at each site. They limit each site to two cars, and they told me I couldn't park elsewhere in the park or pay for just the parking for an additional car. I would have had to pay for another site just to add one car. There's a lot of land in this park and not a lot of people with plenty of empty campsites even on a weekend, so I thought this was a little unreasonable. We went hiking on the blue trail per the recommendation of the lady at the lady who checked us in at the entrance. She told us it has the best views of the park. We certainly reached the highest point of the park, but there were no views. It was all rocks and trees. The trails are all pretty short. We went up the blue trail and down the yellow from the southeast trailhead, and it was a total of 3.6 miles. I liked the hike for a bit of exercise, but there wasn't really anything to see, so we felt deceived. My friend went swimming in the lake, and he seemed to enjoy it except for the sharp rocks at the bottom. I didn't go swimming, but I'm sure it would be enjoyable on a hot day.

The address listed is for Steiner Ranch Steakhouse. The land on the other side of the fence is a…read morepart of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve that is not generally open to the public. It's possible there have been guided hikes there in the past, but this is not an open public hiking spot.

This hike was organized and guided by my friend James so not sure of the details that get you a…read moreguided hike here. But it was super fantastic with some awesome photo opps. This was somewhat of a clandestine meetup with vague directions - "meet at the Farm type gate right beside the Steiner Ranch sign on 620" with instructions that you are locked out if you do not arrive on time... No dogs or kids allowed.... Totally worth the weird hard to find trail head and adventure that ensued...

This is the trailhead located at 51st southbound on 183, for the 183 Trail. The parking lot…read moreconsists of 24 non-handicapped parking spaces, and 1 handicapped parking space. The parking lot has lighting. There are no trees to provide shade on the lot. From this location there is easy access to the following 3 areas: the bridge which crosses over 183 leading to the YMCA across 183 to the Walnut Creek Trail; the 183 trail (it's a sidewalk next to 183); and the Little Walnut Creek Greenbelt. The YMCA has a larger parking lot than this area though, however, that parking lot is located on 183 northbound. Additionally, there is some workout equipment at the base of the ramp leading up to the bridge, a couple picnic tables near the highway, and a map of the historical Chisholm Trail. An auto collision business and Enterprise-Rent-A-Car are located next door. If you walk up the ramp towards the bridge, you will see a few cameras mounted on a pole monitoring the bridge and surrounding areas. Note that no stairs can be used to access the bridge; onto the ramp. This allows those with wheeled apparatus, such as unicycles, tricycles, bicycles, and wheelchairs to access the bridge and cross over. For runners coming from the west on 51st Street, seeking to access the Walnut Creek Trail, this provides great access in that direction. I have also observed many cyclists take this route over the bridge in both directions, as bike lanes are available on 51st street.