The Salado Creek Greenway from Loop 410’s Robert L.B. Tobin Park to Lady Bird Johnson Park is a wonderful 3-mile round trip walk, jog or bicycle ride along a wide concrete trail.
This piece of the greenway actually begins on the north side of Loop 410 at Los Patios, but the folks at Los Patios don’t want you parking in their lot. You’ll be towed if you do. So, the safe thing to do is to park for free in the Tobin parking lot–south of Loop 410 in between Harry Wurzbach and Starcrest–then walk, jog or bike under the loop. When you’re standing in the Tobin lot facing Loop 410, head diagonally to your left. You may click each of the photos below to enlarge them.
If you’ve never seen skateboarders in action, the Skateboard Park in Lady Bird Johnson Park is the perfect place to witness what they’re all about. Plus, watching them is a nice break before you return to the trail to walk back to Loop 410 (1.5 miles) or continue onward to McAllister Park (another 2.4 miles). The round trip distance between Loop 410 and McAllister Park is 7.8 miles. We met a gentleman along the trail who said he does the almost 8-mile loop on a regular basis.
My husband and I opted to return to Loop 410 as it was getting close to lunch. We dashed over to The Barbecue Station to pick up some sliced brisket to go. Perfect ending to a perfect day!
By the way, check out two more posts I did on the Salado Creek Greenway, from the Robert L.B.Tobin Park to the Oakwell Trailhead and from McAllister Park to Lady Bird Johnson Park.
Denise Barkis Richter, Ph.D., author of “San Antonio’s Passport to Fun,” has been blogging about San Antonio since June of 2010. Follow her at facebook.com/SanAntonioTourist so that you’ll never miss a post. Her love affair with the Alamo City began at Hemisfair in 1968. She moved to San Antonio in 1979 as an 18-year-old college student, and San Antonio has been her home ever since. Denise completed certification to become a professional tour guide in 2019. Please contact her at sanantoniotourist at gmail dot com if you’d like for her to curate a fabulous San Antonio experience for you!
Great post. The trail looks great, but crossing the access road? Hopefully there’s parking at the Lady Bird Park end?
Gayle, Both Lady Bird Johnson Park and McAllister Park have free parking, so you may start there and head south to 410. We live closer to the Tobin Trailhead, so it makes more sense for us to start there. (We also start at the Oakwell Trailhead.) I’m hoping that the city will eventually link the Tobin Trailhead to Los Patios/410 Trailhead so that bushwacking becomes a thing of the past. However, it is possible to cross…just a little bit of a challenge. Thanks for reading/commenting! Cheers, Denise
If there is any way to update your information about this section of the greenway it would be appreciated. There is a paved path from the Tobin traihead parking lot now that goes under 410 and onto the the section of the trail at Los Patios. It’s a foot path anymore!
Julie, Will do! I need to get back to that piece of the greenway. Thanks for the reminder! Cheers, Denise
There is another greenway called the Leon Creek Greenway, which starts right next to a Via Bus station next to the Ingram Mall. i think it goes up to Bandera but might go a bit further. I go there now and then to walk, and its a rather nice place to walk or ride bicycles. There is a point where you will need to head up to the road and cross a bridge with the cars, but you don’t need to worry about getting run over.
Thanks for the tip, Guillermo! I love that SA is getting more and more green spaces. Thanks for reading/commenting! Cheers, Denise
Actually just did a bit of research, the Leon Green way is about 16 miles long and goes from 1604 to Quintana Rd. near IH-35 S.