Old Settlers Park

Type: Trail	Rating: (2.33)
Difficulty: (1.38)	Solitude: (2.06)
Length: 2.50 Miles	Elevation Gain: 400 Feet
ADAAccessible: N/A	Interpretive Guide: No
Dogs Allowed: Yes	Bikes Allowed: Yes
Cost: Free	More Information: More Info
City: Round Rock	County: Williamson

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Topo maps provided by MyTopo.com Larger Map

Getting there: From I-35 in Round Rock head west on Hwy. 79. After about 4 miles, turn left onto Harrell Parkway. There will be a sign indicating that it's the entrance to Old Settler's Park and you can use Dell Diamond as a landmark to tell you when to turn.

The Hike: Your hike should begin at the waypoint "Trailhead" on the topo map. The first parking area upon entering the park is not ideal since it requires a short walk on the road or across a field to get to the trail.

There are two segments to the trail. To the south, a loop circles around the Chandler Branch of Brushy Creek. Like almost all of the trail in Old Settlers, the trail surface is paved concrete and the terrain mostly flat. Unlike the northern half of the trail system, there are patches of shade here and there. As a bonus, it appears the southern part of the trail is less crowded than its northern counterpart, which resides closer to the lake and ballfields.

Much of the trail is exposed to the Sun, but a few portions provide at least a little bit of shade.

Despite not being near the park's ballfields, the southern loop passes right next to THE ballfield in the area, the Dell Diamond. The home of the Round Rock Express minor league baseball team resides just south of the park and the trail passes close to the outfield fence at its southern end. With the right aim and conditions a hiker could theoretically catch a home run ball.

A small lake sits in the park and is popular with anglers.

The northern half of the trail system starting from the Trailhead heads north towards the lake that resides within the park. Since so many of the park's amenities lie near the trail in the northern section there are more people here. The trail surface is all paved concrete, with the exception of one segment of gravel road that cuts back to the southern loop. This segment is shown on the topo map as a blue trail.

The southern end of the park's trail system passes right by the Dell Diamond, home of the Round Rock Express baseball team.

As the trail approaches the lake there is another parking area with large pavilion, playscape and restroom facilities. The trail parallels the edge of the lake and the shore was full of people casting lines in hope of landing a fish.

As the dammed up lake narrows back into the shape of a stream the trail crosses it and seems to wander right into the middle of part of the park's frisbee golf course. There were no signs to indicate that walkers or bicyclists weren't allowed there, so it seems fine to go on through. At the waypoint "Alt-TH" the trail comes to an end and its time to turnaround. There is additional parking available here, so one coule start the trail from this point.

Old Settlers is a pleasant park that provides miles of well-maintained hike and bike trails. Don't expect a real hiking experience and you'll enjoy the outing well enough.

Photos

Log Entries

zzzzzz
User: texaskdog - 3/31/2010 [View Log Page]
Rating:

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Solitude:

Distance: 5.00 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 17 minutes

If you live in Round Rock and want to walk around a lake, great! You can make the northern part a loop but they dont make the trail directly connect. Somehow the geniuses creating this trail made it go up above (yet around) the creek so you cant even see it. I only gave it a two because we went on the off-path trail (doesn't connect) and went through the trees. Heard an animal in the trees twice and Erica said to watch out it could be wild and have rabies. Two minutes later we smelled a skunk!

User: gzkemp2 - 12/3/2008 [View Log Page]
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 2.50 Miles Duration: N/A

One Hot Trail
User: rainwatter - 7/30/2008 [View Log Page]
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Solitude:

Distance: 3.25 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 48 minutes

Little watterdrop and I conqured this trail, which was very easy (paved, no drastic changes in elevation) except for the heat. There are few trees and much of the trail is black asphalt. As the second portion of the trail is a loop, once you head out there is no quick way to get back so becareful if you have little ones.

That being said, the hike itself was very pleasant. We saw a few other persons, but spent much of the day in relative solitude. We brought along our fishing gear for the first part of the hike and took a break to try and catch a bass. We didn't have much luck, but we caught several crawfish and the ducks were very friendly. The second part of the hike we combined with some geocaching.

We saw a good variety of wildlife: Crawfish, turtles, minnows, ducks, a hawk, a cardnial, and several squirls. We also identified some carnivor scat (probably a fox), racoon scat, and an owl pellet. 1013 cb.

Easy city hike
User: karlye72 - 7/25/2008 [View Log Page]
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 2.50 Miles Duration: 45 minutes

Easy hike that winds you through sports fields, trees and near the RR Express stadium. The walk was nice enough. We did hear a lot of buzzing from the RC airplanes on one portion of the walk. We just pretended they were Cicadas. If your walking your dog bring your own poop bag we did not see any provided but the do provide a lot of garbage cans.

is this a good place to inline skate?
User: Collin - 10/31/2007 [View Log Page]
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 1.00 Mile Duration: 1 minute

Nice hike and bike trail
User: Austin Explorer - 5/20/2006 [View Log Page]
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 5.00 Miles Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Found a few geocaches while I was on the trail. All but one segment is paved and is practially flat. About as easy as they come. The southern portion of the trail is less crowded, but only marginally so.

Great Place for Disc Golf
User: maxrebo - 11/23/2002 [View Log Page]
Rating: N/A Difficulty:

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Distance: 2.00 Miles Duration: N/A
Disc Golf is great, if you can find the holes

Huge Park
User: Centex Trekker - 4/14/2000 [View Log Page]
Rating: N/A Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 1.20 Miles Duration: N/A
This place is getting nicer and nicer.

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