Barton Creek Trail and the Hill of Life (Austin, TX) – October 2020

Full disclosure here.  I lived in south Austin from 2003-2005, and just about every weekend I (and Stoop) went and walked the Barton Creek Trail.  A few times I started at the neighborhood off Scottish Woods Trail, but most of the time I parked at the entry point under the south Mopac bridge and headed “upstream” towards the dam, which was near the entrance to the neighborhood off Scottish Woods Trail.  Once I walked through that very neighborhood and down the edge of 360 to get back to the south Mopac bridge entrance where I parked (with Stoop close by my side).  When I was there, I don’t ever recall that area being called the “Hill of Life.”  I’m going to say it was probably mentioned then, and I just don’t recall it now.

So since I hadn’t been able to use much vacation in 2020 (like many of us), I had some time to burn (since traveling anyplace was still out of the question).  I decided a middle-of-the-week return to the Barton Creek Trail would be good.  Back when I lived in south Austin, I ended up doing the entire trail all the way to Zilker Park as well as some side paths (over a few different visits, and making sure I’d gone in every entry point).  It would be nice to revisit this, because I hadn’t been here in over a decade.  Also, I just assumed the “Hill of Life” was an area I hadn’t explored yet, so I figured it was something new.

Parking in the neighborhood off Scottish Woods Trail looked new to me, but once I got on the main rocky hill going down I recalled that part.  Oh, my dumbass.  It seemed to me I’d been on the “Hill of Life” before and didn’t realize it.

When I came in to do this trail, instead of heading towards the dam, I decided to go downstream.  There were a few areas I was able to walk out on rocks and get pictures of nice water.  Those were some beautiful areas.  Strangely (and very unexpected) as I followed the water down, the volume decreased until it was non-existent.  None of the trail looked familiar to me at all, so I was amazed at how much it had changed in a decade.  What surprised me more was the lack of water.  Austin’s massive drought period was circa 2012-2015, and we’d gotten significant rainfall since then which had filled the lake back up.  Why was Barton Creek so damn dry?

I did find the swimming hole area where I used to let Stoop frolic around, and that was bone dry.  An area near that showed the five-foot drop-off which used to make up the main swimming hole.  I even stood in the middle of what once was the creek.  When I travelled this before, there was water all the way to Zilker.  I got close to the south Mopac bridge, went up to the entry point, and even that section of the trail didn’t look the same.  As far as I was concerned, this was a brand-new trail which I’d been on today.  I enjoyed the hike immensely, but found it interesting and concerning at how much it had changed.  What was the rest of the trail going to be like when I did that in the next day or two?

Turkey Creek Trail (Austin, TX) – October 2020

I was first shown this trail a few years back, and it was a nice hike.  I had every intention to get over here as part of the GRC Summer Tour, but ended up going to places which were a little easier to get to.  To be fair, this is still mostly within the Austin city limits, but it really is “way out there.”  First at the intersection of 2222 and 360 head north, and then there’ll be a left turn on to City Park Road.  There are very few developments here as you go through the winding hilly road, so make sure you have a full gas tank.  You’re heading towards the Emma Long Metropolitan Park, which is a green space for camping and water access (to the Colorado River).  You don’t quite go that far, as there is a small parking area a short distance from the main park entrance.

The first section of the Turkey Creek Trail parallels the road a bit, and then turns away from that.  The creek has been dry whenever I’ve been here, but I expect you’ll find some flowing water after heavy rains.  The elevation change isn’t bad as you go deeper in the wood.  Eventually there’s a fork in the trail.  It doesn’t matter which way you take, because one will loop you around to the other.

As I always joked “You can’t go wrong if you go right,” you can guess what direction I went.  From there the elevation increased a bit, but it was still an easy climb.  There’s a lot of trees, so you don’t get a nice vista of the hill country.  The trail plateau’s as it starts to loop back.  Coming down the east-side gave me a great view of some vine-covered cliffs.  Other than a few birds and a smattering of squirrels, there was little wildlife.

Once I hit the fork, then I came back the way I’d gone in.  There’s no side trails, or other places to explore.  Doing the whole loop took me about 90 minutes, but certainly no more than two hours (counting the stopping for pictures).  It’s worth checking out, as is any trail in the area where you live.