What we’re about
This walking group explores the dynamic past and present of Austin's built environment. Tracing the origins of Austin street names, walking streets in their entirety, and stubbornly circumventing limitations posed by half-baked pedestrian infrastructure plans of yore, these events are intended to be adventures but not guided tours. Librarians and blacksmiths, photographers and mechanics, sociologists and forensic accountants alike should feel welcome, provided we have at least two things in common: a deep curiosity about the city of Austin and two strong feet to carry us where curiosity leads.
This monthly group won’t be the fastest hiking group in the city, but we’ll cover long-ish distances, up to 7-10 miles in cooler months. I won’t assume everyone has a car (I don’t), and if you don't you should have the ability and patience to navigate Austin’s far-from-perfect patchwork of bikeshare, public transit, etc. if needed to get to and from the start and end points.
At the end of these walks we’ll find a place to rehydrate, get some food, and talk about it all.
Upcoming events (2)
See all- Two Saints, Two Asphalt Rivers (San Antonio/San Jacinto)Austin Central Library, Austin Public Library, Austin, TX
Nature-inspired street names prevailed in the early days of Austin. While east-west streets from the river to 29th took tree names, city planners named many of the north-south streets after rivers.
Keeping in the urban spirit of this group, this 6.2 mile walk sticks mostly to San Antonio Street and San Jacinto Boulevard, shaded by modest residential and office mid-rises. San Antonio is named after the Spanish-Mission-lined river flowing from midtown San Antonio into the Gulf of Mexico. Its namesake street is made of asphalt. San Jacinto takes its name from a river flowing southeast from Walker County past Houston likewise into the Gulf of Mexico. Its namesake street is also made of asphalt.
Shiny metal boxes course down the length of both asphalt streets, often cursing the abundance of too many other shiny metal boxes. We, as free-moving pedestrians, don’t have to have anything to do with any of that. In fact we don’t even have to stick to the asphalt rivers. We’ll cross through two of the four downtown squares- Republic and Wooldridge, then hit Waterloo Park on the loop back along Waller Creek and then a stretch of the Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike Trail to close the loop.
We’re always hungry at the end of these walks, both for food and more conversation. To follow our ritual from each of the first six walks, I’ll provide a few recommendations– this time, two healthy spots The Well and Local Foods– fully expecting to be overruled by a thoughtful group vote.
ROUGH TIMELINE:
- We should complete the walk itself by around 11 am, though we typically hang out for an hour or more after the walk
TRANSIT LOGISTICS:
- Official walk map here
- Metered street parking is free on Sundays. There are also free parking lots by the MoPac on both the north and the south of the Colorado River.
- A great many CapMetro buses lead to downtown, depending on where you’re coming from.
- CapMetro’s bike share also has numerous nearby stations.
