Bexar County: Dinosaur Tracks and Mission History

Discover Bexar County through a wide range of interests: open fields and seasonal wildflowers, nature trails and dinosaur tracks, mission history, and public art. When planning your trip, it helps to first decide what you would like to focus on. The natural sites offer specific landscape and trail experiences; the historic and cultural sites lead to other aspects of regional history.

Parks, Fields and Seasonal Blooms

The Bexar County Parks Division manages and operates 11 parks and 3 community centers, with a total of more than 480 acres of recreational space in Bexar County. The park facilities are open to the public; some areas can be reserved for private use. Bear this in mind if you plan to visit a specific area.

Bullis County Park lies in the northernmost part of the county. Open fields, opportunities for walking, and seasonal wildflowers give this park three specific things to experience. The wildflowers are explicitly seasonal, so if they are a deciding factor for you, the time of year is an important part of your planning. Open fields and walking opportunities also make Bullis County Park worth considering outside the blooming season.

Nature Trails and Dinosaur Tracks

The 1.23-mile Discover Trail is located in Government Canyon State Natural Area. This accessible and educational nature trail is suitable for the whole family. Another option is a five-mile hike in Government Canyon to the only known dinosaur tracks on public land in Bexar County. The distances are easy to compare: the hike to the tracks is more than four times as long as the Discover Trail. The two nature experiences therefore differ both in distance and destination.

Mission History and Public Art

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park encompasses four mission sites: Mission San José, Mission Concepción, Mission San Juan, and Mission Espada. Together with The Alamo, these four missions are among the historic places in Bexar County that are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The four names provide specific places to visit within the mission landscape; The Alamo is another named historic destination connected to this World Heritage Site.

At San Pedro Creek Culture Park, public art honors the history of San Pedro Creek and its significance to the region. Walker Ranch offers another historical point of interest: it was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1975. Public art and a listing on a historic register offer different ways to explore the county’s history.

Hot Wells and Local Products

Two dates are important to the history of Hot Wells. Bexar County acquired the ruins of Hot Wells and the surrounding land in 2015 for preservation and public use. The park on the historic site opened to the public on April 30, 2019. The sequence—from the acquisition of the site to the later opening of the park—helps distinguish these two milestones in the site’s history.

The Bexar County Parks & Recreation farmers market program offers fresh local food and handmade products. Here, the focus is on produce and crafts rather than trails or historic buildings. Market details may change; check the current schedule before your visit.

More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Leon Valley, Helotes, Stonewall County, Washington County, Mills County, Kerr County, Lynn County, Rockwall.

For the overview of the wider region: Texas.