McKinney Falls - Onion Creek

Type: Trail	Rating: (3.17)
Difficulty: (1.64)	Solitude: (2.68)
Length: 3.00 Miles	Elevation Gain: 297 Feet
ADAAccessible: N/A	Interpretive Guide: No
Dogs Allowed: Yes	Bikes Allowed: Yes
Cost: $4.00	More Information: More Info
City: Austin	County: Travis

Take Action

Topo maps provided by MyTopo.com Larger Map

Getting there: Head south on Hwy 183, past Hwy 290, the Colorado River and Hwy 71. After passing Hwy 71 Austin Bergstrom Airport should be on your left. Be on the lookout for McKinney Falls Parkway on the right. There is a brown state park sign that also marks the turn. McKinney Falls is about 3 miles from that turn on the right.

The Hike: The Onion Creek Trail loop is a relatively easy hike that is entirely paved. Not even the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail has as consistent a surface as you'll find here. That makes this hike about as easy as you can get and still be called a hike. Despite the paved trail and camping spaces dotting the park you'll still be afforded some great views and peaceful settings.

The Onion Creek Trail can be enjoyed by hikers of all abilities.

Our hike started slightly away from the main start, marked on the topo map by the waypoint, "Trailhead". This is right next to a restroom, convenient for last minute preparations before heading out. We proceeded in a counter clockwise direction heading west, working our way upstream. The creek to the right of the trail is Onion Creek. Along this stretch of the trail there are numerous picnic tables on which you can enjoy a meal before or after a hike. There are also about 10 primitive camping spots for setting up tents.

McKinney Falls plays host to lots of wildflowers in the spring.

At the waypoint marked "Diverge" you have an option. You can continue on the paved trail and complete the loop or you can take off on the unofficial Upper Onion Creek trail. On this day we did both, but for now we'll continue on the official park trail.

The trail occassionally gets a little steep, which explains why we did not rate this hike at a difficulty of 1. Though it is by no means terribly tough. After hiking a bit up hill look for a trail to the right near the waypoint marked "Shed". Not too far from the main trail this abandoned shed sits and weathers away. It does not look too old and was probably a later addition to the property, perhaps right before it was turned into a park in the 1970's.

Mc Kinney Falls was a working ranch in the past.

Although not marked by any waypoints, the trail in this area contains the most wildflowers that you'll see. Due to the nature of the trail, with trees and shrubs close in to the trail you won't see any wide open fields of bluebonnets, but you will see a consistent sprinkling of flowers along the side of the trail. Thankfully, they are largely untrampled. Remember, if people walk on the flowers they will not have time to germinate for next year. Stay on the trail and take photos. Don't trample any vegetation!

Only parts of the Horse Trainer Cabin's walls remain.

As the trail nears the park's front entrance you'll come across the remains of one of the rock walls that were used to contain McKinney's horses. A continuation of this rock wall was used to form the McKinney Falls park sign at the main entrance. McKinney was an avid horse breeder and his property included numerous breeding and exercise pastures as well as a training track on the other side of Onion Creek.

Upper McKinney Falls

McKinney's horse trainer, John Van Hagen, had his own cabin, the ruins of which you can see at the waypoint marked "House". The structure was built in the 1850's and used through at least the 1870's. The ruins are surrounded by barbed wire fencing to keep it from being damaged by visitors, but it's still possible to get a good look at the remains.

Onion Creek has carved interesting patterns in the rock at Upper McKinney Falls.

Normally at the start of the hike, the waypoint marked "Falls" is just about the end of the hike for us. This is Upper McKinney Falls and it is one of the nicer looking falls you will see in Austin. The rock has been carved in an interesting pattern reminiscent of Sculpture Falls on Barton Creek. However the extent of the water carvings and the water flow are greater here. Judging from the amount of rock that was carved but serving to control the water flow on the day of our hike the falls must be even more impressive after a great deal of rain.

Photos

Taken from Onion Creek Trail. (Photo by tjbustem)

Taken from Onion Creek Trail. (Photo by tjbustem)

Log Entries

One of the best $5 you'll ever spend.
User: sdonaldson - 2/21/2010 [View Log Page]
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: N/A

It's okay
User: texaskdog - 2/7/2010 [View Log Page]
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: 45 minutes

Wanted to do Homestead too but water was roaring! Nice thing is it made the falls GREAT and better than the trickle before, still had to pay the full $5 and they didn't tell us Homestead was uncrossable going in. The western side is far nicer but also the shortest part. It is a nice hike but nothing spectacular.

Nice day hike
User: Buddahbabym - 9/6/2009 [View Log Page]
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: N/A

This was a nice hike- and paved the entire way. The map from the park was not very accurate- but we were still able to figure out where we were going. McKinney Falls is very neat-however- the falls are not there this year- due to the draught? This was a nice- simple hike. Very enjoyable

Easy, slightly hilly
User: tjbustem - 3/27/2009 [View Log Page]
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: 2 hours

Mostly paved trails that meander past Onion Creek and up through a wooded area. After a while much of it began to look the same.

Peaceful, easy walk
User: row_01 - 1/3/2009 [View Log Page]
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Looking forward to returning in the summer and swimming in the water. The falls area was nice, there were people fishing there. The trail was easy, small hills at the beginning and flat for most of the rest.

Good Easy Walk
User: DirectionlyImpaired - 11/4/2008 [View Log Page]
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 4.00 Miles Duration: 2 hours

Entering the park I bought a state park pass and the rangers (are they still called that?) were very nice and I was given a good map to help from getting lost.

I started with the Rock Shelf Interpretive Trail which was short but interesting. The trail was a bit rough but not too bad and well worth the detour from the main trails. After that I started at the swimming area which was filled with kids and a bit loud and followed the paved Hike and Bike Trail past the camping area. Just past the camping area is a bit of a steep hill but there were benches to sit down and relax throughout the trail. It was a nice, easy and quite walk and I even got to stop and watch an armidillo foraging for food.

The only drawbacks were the noise around the swimming area and getting passed by 3 or 4 bikers but that was very minor.

Overall, I will definitely go back to try the Homestead trail.

Fun photo opportunities
User: rhiwink - 10/18/2008 [View Log Page]
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: 3 minutes

We love doing nature and flower photography, this hike had both.

Onion Creek
User: Ollie - 1/2/2008 [View Log Page]
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 2.00 Miles Duration: N/A

Nice hike and it was interesting to see the ruins.

Onion Creek Flashlight Hike
User: Kieve - 7/24/2007 [View Log Page]
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: N/A
This hike was great for a flashlight hike (after dark hike). The Onion Creek trail provided a paved trail... difficult to get lost. Easy footing for when the sun went down. It gets pretty dark out there. The trail travels through the camping sites & gave us some great ideas of where we'd like to camp next. Great for a group of hikers who were wandering around like the seven dwarfs with headlamps on their hats. All we needed to do was sing "hi ho". There were so many funky bugs & spiders along the way. I think if anything I would rename the hike "spider alley" for the MANY spiders we saw. There were some BIG Texas spiders there! Many of which were hanging out in the middle of the trail.

Easy trail
User: Riff Raff - 4/30/2006 [View Log Page]
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: N/A
The entire trail is broken pavement, so this is a nice and easy walk. There's one steep hill on it, which the bicyclists are warned about. There were lots and lots of people near the upper falls area naturally, and was almost run over by tricycles several times. Once I got past the main picnic areas though, it was actually a rather private walk. Fun.

Only showing last 10 log entries. View All Log Entries

Recommended Item

60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: San Antonio and Austin: Includes the Hill Country
by Tom Taylor, Johnny Molloy
List Price: $16.95 Our price: $5.43

This practical guide takes readers to the best trails found in the Texas Hill Country, all within easy reach of San Antonio and Austin. Destinations include secluded, low-traffic areas for quiet hikes as well more popular and heavily used paths. The former LBJ Ranch, the Guadalupe River, the Highland Lakes Chain, and the Lost Pines area are a few of the spectacular treks featured.