San Antonio, the seventh largest city in the United States, gives both visitors and residents ample opportunity to connect with nature.
Since March 2020 and the onset of #PandemicLife, San Antonio’s green spaces have provided those of us with cabin fever a safe space to experience life outside of our homes. Turns out, nature is good for us.
Forest Bathing
“Back in the early 1990s the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries coined the term Shinrin-yoku — which translates roughly as forest bathing.” Jaunts in nature help boost our immunity and improve our mood.
Over the past 10 years, I’ve featured more than 20 green spaces on this blog, and one of my goals of 2021 is to feature even more! I hope the following posts inspire you to explore our beautiful city and to connect with nature in the new year. I also encourage you to download the iNaturalist app before you head out to help document flora and fauna in our neck of the woods.
Here’s to our improved immune systems and moods! ¡Viva San Antonio!
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!
Green Spaces in San Antonio
Crownridge Canyon Natural Area
Government Canyon State Natural Area
Olmos Park and Olmos Sports Complex
Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto of the Southwest
Salado Creek Greenway (Loop 410 to Lady Bird Johnson Park)
Salado Creek Greenway (McAllister Park to Lady Bird Johnson Park)
Salado Creek Greenway (Robert L.B. Tobin Park to Oakwell Trailhead)
Salado Creek Greenway (Jack White Park to Willow Springs Golf Course)
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!
Wonderful posting. I am curious as to why Mitchell Lake Audubon Center is not included as a green space. Maybe it’s not a green space, but it always felt like a green space to me.
Marge, It definitely is! I haven’t done a post on Mitchell Lake, but I will. Promise. It did make my book! It’s a lovely green space that San Antonio is sooooo fortunate to have. Thanks for reading/commenting! Cheers, Denise
Thanks for all this information, Denise.
A Happy New Year to you, and stay healthy,
Pit
Thank you! Happy New Year to you and yours, too. Take care, Denise
🙂
I encourage you to visit Rodriguez Park (ZIP Code 78227). There is an independent segment of the Leon Creek Greenway Trail connected to this Bexar County park. Technically the park is “Mrs. M. E. Rodriguez Park” and I haven’t found information on who Mrs. M. E. Rodriguez was and why this park was named for her. We visited the park on Thanksgiving Day 2020. The gates were closed due to anticipated rains during the weekend, but visitors were encouraged to park along a nearby side street. During our 1.5 hour walk through the park with our 3 dogs, we saw 11 other people. I would guess that normally more people use the park, given that there are numerous picnic tables along with other facilities. We had a very calm and pleasant walk along the trail.
Thanks for the tip, Diane! I will definitely check it out. I’ve seen a funeral home on the corner of Guadalupe and Frio named Mrs. M.E. Rodriguez. https://www.merodriguez.com/index.cfm I also tried finding information on her, but no luck. Sounds like a story the E-N needs to do! You can tell it has been there for awhile, and it’s unusual for a woman to have run a business.
According to their website, the M.E. Rodriguez Funeral Home has been providing funeral services since 1921.