Before heading to the Austin airport yesterday, I visited McKinney Falls State Park in the southeastern quadrant of the city. There, Onion Creek has sliced a channel through the Cretaceous limestone that underlies the region, exposing broad expanses of that bedrock and dropping over two scenic waterfalls (the Upper and Lower McKinney Falls).
Rising near Johnson City, Texas, west of Austin, Onion Creek winds through the Hill Country before snaking across southern Austin; almost 80 miles from its origin, the creek enters the Colorado River east of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
As one might expect, the State Park was crowded with tourists and local visitors on a warm Sunday afternoon. While other hordes were visiting the South X Southwest festivities downtown, nature is a potent competitor for human attention and this Park harbors some of the most scenic landscape in Metro Austin.
Rising near Johnson City, Texas, west of Austin, Onion Creek winds through the Hill Country before snaking across southern Austin; almost 80 miles from its origin, the creek enters the Colorado River east of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
As one might expect, the State Park was crowded with tourists and local visitors on a warm Sunday afternoon. While other hordes were visiting the South X Southwest festivities downtown, nature is a potent competitor for human attention and this Park harbors some of the most scenic landscape in Metro Austin.
