The Trailist: Northern Salado Creek has network of mountain bike trails 

It had been a while since I checked out the trails along the Salado Creek Greenway, and I was reminded last week of why. Riding these trails reminds me of how I felt last summer watching the movie Oppenheimer—it starts out fun but eventually ends up feeling like a long slog.

No complete and accurate maps exist of this constantly shifting trail network that includes well upward of 7 miles of singletrack on the North Side. I’ve done my best to outline the major paths, but I’ve omitted the countless parallel tracks, shortcuts, access paths and deer trails that branch off the trails I’ve mapped below.

Luckily, getting seriously lost is difficult because of the narrow belt of greenway land, mostly lined with residential homes on either side. The concrete Salado Creek Greenway feels like an interstate compared to the dirt tracks that tumble through the creek bed and all over its banks, and it’s easy to find your way back to that concrete ribbon if you get tired of following the tracks through the trees.

As a primarily cross-country rider, I don’t mind exploring new routes with technical riding and more of an emphasis on picking through obstacles than hitting jumps or drops. But the trails on Salado Creek lack the navigability of the trail systems in San Antonio’s more popular mountain bike spots: the Leon Creek Greenway, OP Schnabel Park and McAllister Park. Even Panther Springs Park, about 8 miles north of this section of Salado Creek, has a more coherent trail network, in my view.

What the Salado Creek singletrack trails do offer is a way to see San Antonio’s prettiest urban creek up close. Crumbly cliffs line both sides of the Salado along most of this route, and the trails pass by countless grottos, overhangs, springs and pools that would be full and flowing if not for the current drought. Be careful of low branches and overhangs that threaten to whack riders across the face. 

With less bike traffic than other areas, these trails are not a bad spot for hiking or trail-running. Late fall through early spring is probably the best time to visit, with the summer’s endless mosquitos and thick undergrowth that makes navigation more difficult. The Trailforks app has better maps of the area than MTB Project, but neither is complete and accurate. It would take several rides to learn the area.

On Thursday, I started from Blanco Road near Phil Hardberger Park–East and explored the singletrack on both sides of the greenway about 5 miles north/upstream. I stopped just downstream from Medicine Wall, the rock climbing area that opened in 2020. 

I began with the trail on the east side of the creek, relatively far from the greenway, passing tall bluffs that supported a metal overlook at Hardberger Park. At their base, the limestone walls had tiny holes eaten away by water, looking as if termites had burrowed through it.

I think the best trail segments are here, on the east side of the creek between Hardberger Park and Huebner Road, as well as the west side just north of Huebner. These areas had several sections with more open areas, wider curves and fewer rock gardens to navigate.

Soon after passing Hardberger Park, the trail hooked right into what would be a small waterfall cut by a stream in a rainier year. Last week, it was just a series of limestone shelves that made for tricky riding. The cramped trail squeezed between some rocks and roots and I couldn’t quite make it through without putting my feet down.

That trail grew more technical and confusing from there, with the tree canopy coming in closer and beginning to snag my helmet and handlebars. I kept to the most well-worn path and managed to avoid all but one of the side trails that spit me back out onto the greenway. The trail system eventually peters out and returns to the greenway just south of Huebner Road.

My favorite trail segment begins just north of the Huebner Road bridge, where a singletrack branches off the left side of the greenway and shoots straight uphill. After this short, steep climb, it follows along a stone wall adjacent to the greenway before delving left into the trees.

Here, the riding was just easy enough to maintain some speed, though the piles of loose rocks, roots, logs and ledges required enough problem-solving to keep me alert. The trail passes a beautiful cliff pocked with grottos visible from the greenway, then follows along the creekway with at least two well-worn parallel paths. I’ve only mapped one here, as they seem to intersect several times.

My favorite part of the ride came when the greenway began hooking east and the singletrack stayed north, climbing over some earthen banks and heading away from the creekbed. This area had some sections of relatively open cedar brake, where Ashe juniper form a thick canopy that lets little light in and chokes out undergrowth. 

I could tell the trails in this area used to be more extensive but likely crossed onto private property that’s now blocked by a fence enclosing a new development. The singletrack emptied back onto the greenway where the belt of park space, wide on the curve just to the south, narrowed again as the greenway resumed heading north.

This stretch of greenway offers a short section of singletrack on the west side that runs about 0.6 miles. It’s one of the least rocky and easiest trails in the area and includes multiple paths through grassy creek bottoms. It returns to the greenway near the trailhead just south of the Loop 1604 overpass.

North of Loop 1604, one singletrack begins again on the north side of the greenway just after the overpass. That track also leads to an area called the Powerline Trail, which I haven’t covered here. This section is clearly designed for riders, including some wood-built features. But even here, the tree cover remains thick and the rock gardens are technical enough that it’s hard to get too much speed, at least for me. After the trail crossed the greenway and ended up on the south side of the concrete trail, it became too difficult to tell it apart from side trails, and I ended up giving up.

The only section nearby I didn’t attempt during my visit was a section of singletrack on the south side of the greenway north of Loop 1604. This looked relatively flat and followed along the creek bed, but I knew it would eventually converge into the access trails for Medicine Wall. Trailforks also show two short paths on either side of the greenway along the upslope about 1.3 miles north of Medicine Wall that I didn’t explore on this trip.

I probably won’t visit these trails too often, but I plan to return at some point to see how they’ve changed and get a break from some of the other, more familiar mountain biking spots in the city.