Quail Creek Park

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.

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 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.