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Quail Creek Park

Type: Trail

Length: 0.40 Mile

Elevation Gain: 50 Feet

Cost: N/A

Rating:

(2.50)4

Difficulty: halfstar

(0.50)

Solitude:

(0.88)

ADA Accessible: N/A

Bikes Allowed: Yes

Dogs Allowed: Yes

Interpretive Guide: No

City: Austin

County: Travis

More Information: More Info

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Map

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Getting there: From central Austin head north on I-35. Turn left on Rutland Drive. Turn right on Means Meadow and look for parking spots along the side of the road once it veers to the left.

Much of the park consists of open fields of grass. Here the trail skirts around the grove of trees on right and the storm water catch basin to the left.

The Hike: Quail Creek Park is what the city of Austin calls a neighborhood park. At about 16 acres, it's designed to serve the needs of residents who live nearby. In addition to some picnic areas, a swing set, soccer field and volley ball court the small park also includes a very short hike and bike path. I tackled the loop in a clockwise direction typically following the well worn trail as far out along the parks boundary as possible.

This section of the trail is wide open and the traffic along the road is fairly heavy. When the trail reaches the chain link fence marking the boundary of the creek storm runoff catch basin turn right as it heads toward the center of the park. Strangely, the creek that runs through the park is not Quail Creek. Maps show it as Little Walnut Creek, which joins up with the Walnut Creek downstream. We do not know why the name discrepency exists.

The dense grove of trees provides ample shade on sunny, hot days.

The trail heads straight through the park to the opposite side before turning again back towards the road. I did not take any of the side trails along the way as they either seemed to dump off into the catch basin (to the left) or into the play area that the loop would eventually reach anyway (right).

Upon nearing the road the trail branches. The left branch follows the road. The right branch strikes into the heart of the large stand of trees that is the parks most interesting feature. The foliage cover is very thick at the center of the stand. So thick that there is little undergrowth. The trail will pass picnic areas and a swing set before dumping out at the end of the stand and very near the starting trailhead.

There's nothing particularly exciting or scenic about the trail at Quail Creek Park. However, it's a nice little starter or training trail for the nearby residents who are the park's intended audience.

Photos

Park is in the middle of a neighborhood (Photo by plectrudis)

Trees around the edge, large open spaces in middle (Photo by plectrudis)

Nice fall color (Photo by plectrudis)

A flower seen along the trail. Not sure what it is. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Log Entries

Interesting plantings of native plants, easy gravel path
By plectrudis on 12/8/2018
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 0.40 Mile Duration: N/A

Visited one very cold day in December. It's a shortish walking trail with a nice selection of natives planted along the trail. It's about 1/3 shade, 2/3 sun, I think. It's a very open park, and pretty busy, so not a good spot for solitude.

By ValEpiscopo on 5/16/2015
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 1.00 Mile Duration: 30 minutes

I enjoyed this hike. It is a park that the entire neighborhood seems to use. However, the atmosphere is very inviting, with the number and diversity of trees. The grass had not been mowed, but there weren't any insects bothering me. I jogged the half mile perimiter and then added a figure 8 in the middle of the park to approximate a mile.

Couch-to-5K training program
By bowlesfamily on 4/23/2013
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: 30 minutes
We did an eight week couch-2-5k program here via the local YMCA (right down the street). Although very small, this little park has lots of amenities for kiddos, friendly local dog walkers and a pretty well maintained trail with some interesting elevation changes.

A short neighborhood stroll
By Austin Explorer on 4/27/2002
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 0.40 Mile Duration: N/A
This small park does not feature a trail that you'd go out of your way to visit. However, it provides a nice flat surface on which to get a little fresh air and stretch your legs if you live in the Rundberg area east of Lamar.

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