Judge the trail at Mud Creek Park by the first 300 yards, and you’ll be back in your car before your shoes get dirty. The trail heads uphill, chock full of rocks that threaten to send your feet sliding out from under you, and it’s flanked by construction on one side and a tacky wire fence on the other. If this trail were a blind date, he’d start off ugly with a bad personality.
So of course, it’s one of my favorite San Antonio urban hikes.
Mud Creek Park is tucked away off Jones-Maltsberger between Thousand Oaks and Redland Road, just a couple miles down the road from it’s prettier, popular cousin McAllister Park. On a busy day, the parking lot might have four, maybe five cars in it. But once you get up the aforementioned hill, you turn the corner into a wooded path flanked by limestone cliffs on either side. The longest loop, at about three miles, is a moderately challenging hike with lots to see.
The park lives up to its name after a rain, but most of the time, there’s neither mud nor a creek. The trails are all unpaved though, and rocky enough that you’ll want some ankle support and shoes with good traction. Some stretches of the trail are through open meadows, so a hat and sunscreen are a good idea on hot days. But most of the walk, the narrow trail winds through the woods and offers plenty of shade.
The park’s only amenities are a single porta-potty and a couple of trash cans at the entrance, and four benches placed along the trail in case you need to take a break. The trails aren’t marked, so an app like Runtastic or Map My Walk can help you find your way back to the car if you get turned around in the woods. No water fountains, so bring your own water—enough for you and any four-legged friends you might bring along.
Your reward for sacrificing creature comforts is a beautiful walk with constantly changing terrain, lots of birds, deer, and other small wildlife. Migrating butterflies are flocking to the meadow areas of the trail this time of year, hovering over the fall wildflowers. And chances are, you’ll feel like you have the park to yourself most of the time. On a recent Monday evening, one mountain biker passed us by on the trail, and I waved to one other hiker in the parking lot.
Fewer people means blissful solitude, but also brings a few adrenaline surges when you hear a rustle in the woods and have to play a quick mental game of “herbivore or carnivore?” If you’re walking alone, leave the earphones off for this hike, and make some noise every now and then to keep any wildlife from being surprised when you come around a corner. I personally like singing some Sondheim when I’m headed into the woods, but you do you.
Story and photographs by Dawn Cole, a Texas native who spent her formative years getting sprinkled with some California granola before coming back to the Lone Star State. She now works as a San Antonio high-school journalism teacher, after spending twenty years in media, fifteen of them in television news. She also a recovering blogger, retired stage mom, and a slightly crazy dog lady. You can find her on Twitter or Instagram.
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Mud Creek Park
166675 Jones Maltsberger Road
San Antonio, TX 78232
