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St. Edwards Park

Type: Trail

Length: 4.00 Miles

Elevation Gain: 150 Feet

Cost: Free

Rating:

(3.58)15

Difficulty: 2stars

(2.10)

Solitude:

(3.03)

ADA Accessible: N/A

Bikes Allowed: Yes

Dogs Allowed: Yes

Interpretive Guide: N/A

City: Austin

County: Travis

More Information: More Info

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The beginning of the trail is dominated by pocket prairies covered in grasses and wildflowers.

Getting there: The park resides on both sides of Bull Creek aloong Spicewood Springs Road west of Capital of Texas Highway. There are two parking areas for the park. From Hwy 360, take Spicewood Springs west for about two miles. Be on the lookout on the left for a small parking area to the left with a white mailbox. At this spot there is parking for at most 4-5 cars parked parallel to the road. Alternatively, proceed down Spicewood Springs for at most a quarter mile and look for a larger parking area on the left. This parking area can hold about 15 cars.

Coppertone wades in Bull Creek along St. Edwards Park's Creek Trail.

The Hikes: Part park, part preserve, St. Edwards Park is not too well known, even among long time Austin residents. It's hidden away on old Spicewood Springs Road, beyond the Loop 360 boundary beyond which most people do not venture.

The park consists of two parts, one park and one preserve. The portion of the park on the north side of Bull Creek resides within the City of Austin parks system. South of the creek, the park operates under the somewhat more stringent rules of the Balcones Canyonland Preserve system, which among other things mandates that dogs be on leashes.

The southern portion of the park rises above the nothern half's floodplain, providing some great views of the Bull Creek valley below.

The different rules for different portions of the park pale in comparison to the differences in terrain on one side of the park from the other. The north side of the park includes some pocket prairies and river bottom habitat. The southern side rises above the northern portion and consists mostly of rocky slopes covered in Cedar and Oak.

St. Edwards Park features two hikes that are chronicled here on <%=sSiteName%>. The Creek Trail parallels Bull Creek upstream for a mile, often within earshot of Spicewood Springs, but providing a few wonderful spots from which to view or wade into the creek. The Hill Trail takes the high road by crossing Bull Creek and and ascending to the highest point in the park at the southern tip. Of the two the Creek Trail is the easiest. The Hill Trail provides far more solitude and more of a challenge for hikers who like to climb.

Photos

Family hike w/MeetUp.com group. (Photo by maddix)

Waterfall at St. Edwards Park (Photo by tawaterk)

Log Entries

Nice hike
By offoxandbear on 10/3/2015
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Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: N/A

Lots of trails here, although quite a few are out in the open. Looks like a great place to swim too. If you take the northern trail that follows Spicewood Springs Rd, beware that it narrows as you get further along and we spotted lots of Poison Ivy.

Love this area
By Sunshinedog on 7/19/2014
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Distance: 8.50 Miles Duration: N/A

The dog and I love this hike. water is always flowing and after you get out of the main park area we almost never see anyone, except a horse or two on the trail. Be sure and park in the actual parking lot to help protect your car from break-ins. We cross over the raod hike up the other side and hike into Balcones reserve when it is open. absolutely love the high trail that looks over everything.

By Jamie on 3/1/2014
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Distance: 5.00 Miles Duration: N/A

St. Edwards Park - Hill & Creek Trails
By maddix on 6/16/2013
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Distance: 4.00 Miles Duration: 2 hours
Took the family & pooch hiking with the North Austin and Round Rock Hiking Meetup Group. This was our (my) fist MeetUp.com event ever, not counting the previous Sunday when the hike got rained out before it ever started. Scenery is very nice and the creeks were flowing. We did a 2 mile loop (Hill Trail) then two miles along the creek (Creek Trail). We are eager to come back when we can spend more time exploring and hanging out along the creek versus keeping to a schedule.

By ValEpiscopo on 4/22/2013
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Distance: 2.60 Miles Duration: 1 hour
Hiked perimeter and across creek in two places.

Beware of This Park!
By blueyonder on 3/11/2011
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Distance: 1.00 Mile Duration: N/A
The hike is lovely and it's a great place to take kids and dogs, but after a beautiful day with friends here, we came back to find our car window shattered and purse stolen. I had even set the alarm and hidden the purse under the seat! From what I understand, this happens frequently at this location. So sad, it's a treasure and somewhere I've enjoyed visiting since I was a kid, but we won't be returning.

By tawaterk on 2/8/2011
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Distance: 1.00 Mile Duration: N/A

It was very lovely, however, had a bad experience. Came back to the car in the parking lot to discover that someone had stolen my purse out of it which was locked. Don't know how they broke in but they did. My life has been bad news since this happened. I believe that they should patrol more often around this parking lot as I was told by the police that it has happened pretty regular at this park.

very nice park
By nathanec on 10/10/2010
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Distance: 1.65 Miles Duration: 50 minutes

Went here after Hurricane Hermine went through so the creek was nice and full and some of the trails had been washed over and were a little over grown, met up with a family that i walked along with for a while, because I didn't really know the park after moveing from El Paso, It was a very relaxing place and a nice place to let your mind wander.

Hiking Details
By austinyogagirl on 8/1/2009
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Distance: 4.00 Miles Duration: 2 hours

I lead a group and we decided at the 3 trail decision point to go to the right and it took us about 45 minutes out until we came to a low water crossing and didn't see the trail head; its up close to the road on your left.

Finally, we had water last night and saw a few turtles in and around the stream (more of a pond due to drought) and one small baby turtle on the bank.
There was also a snake that I stepped over so be careful. My dogs loved the hike and even though the water wasn't great right now it's still a very solitute hike and we didn't see anyone until later in the hike (around 8:30am).

After I got back to the parking lot some mountain bikers were coming and I was told you can also ride horses on the trail. I think the early you go the better chance you have of seeing wildlife.

By ili on 5/9/2009
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Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: 1 minute

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