San Antonio Travel Forum

I will be arriving next Sunday, 6/8/08 about noon. I'll be traveling alone, so my schedule is completely flexible. I like outdoor scenic areas. What are some interesting things to see and do out of the city, and outdoors? Obviously it would have to be something I could do between noon and dark. I'll be in meetings for 3 days near the river walk, so would like to do something different on Sunday. THANKS!

Will you have a car?
If so, check out Lost Maples, west of the city, Government Canyon, northwest of the city, and the Gruene/New Braunfels area northeast of the city. Those are all about an hour outside the city (a little less for Government Canyon). Pedernales Falls is about 1.5 hours, but is my one of my favorite places in the state.

THANK YOU! Yes I will have a car. This sounds like what I'm looking for. BTW I see you're from Tucson, one of my favorite places to visit. Drove up over Mt Lemon and down through Oracle Jct. about a month ago on the way from Tucson to Phoenix. Be back sometime this fall. Thanks again for the SA tips.

I like the previous posters suggestions, but I think he would agree that you will have a prettier drive if you hop over to Interstate 10 and drive west towards Boerne (pronounced ber-ny) and Comfort, Texas. Interstate 10 will take you up into the Hill Counntry scenery, MUCH prettier that Interstate 35 to New Braunfels! From the airport, get on 410 and drive west. At the Interstate 10 junction, go west again. Boerne is about 30-40 minutes away at that point. It's smaller than New Braunfels, but has nice little shops and the Cibolo Creek that runs through it along River Road. You can find something good to eat and just do the stroll thing, in town and along the creek. Pretty little town. You could drive a bit further west on I10 and take in the little town of Comfort. Smaller and sleepier than Boerne, but there's a good restaurant about halfway at the Waring exit called PoPo's. Great homecooking, and the most amazing plate collection you will find anywhere. The mighty "Waddy-loop", the Guadelupe River, runs through Comfort, and anyone at a gas station can point you to the nearest place to see it well. On your way back to SA, just get back on I10 and head east until you can actually see the downtown area. Then watch for the switch to your left that heads to Austin, I35 North. Pretty quickly after that you'll see the turn off on your right to I37 South to Corpus Christi.You'll see downtown buildings on your right and Alamo Stadium on your left. Get off at Commerce Street or The ALAMO exit. You're back in SA and right by the Riverwalk! Enjoy your stay here!

upi might look into the wild-flower museum

http://www.austinmuseums.org/lady_bird.html

Good recommendations, all! Heading Northwest from San Antonio towards the "Hill Country" you will not be disappointed with Boerne, etc.

If you're not up for 2-3 hours in the car, I put in my vote for the Mission Trail south of downtown. Since you're staying on the Riverwalk, just travel south on South St. Mary’s Street. Approximately one mile south of downtown, after passing beneath railroad tracks, South St. Mary’s becomes Roosevelt Ave. Continue on Roosevelt 4 miles, to a drive-in theater on your left, followed by a large stone structure: Mission San José. At the first stop light past the mission turn left onto New Napier Ave. Follow the signs into the parking lot.

Check out the link for more info;
http://www.nps.gov/saan/planyourvisit/index.htm

HEY! THANKS to EVERYONE for the tips! I had a great time. Sunday I drove northwest to Governmet Canyon and hiked the Joe Johnson trail and Lookout trail. Then north to Boerne and across 46 East to New Braunfels. At New Braunfels, I jumped in the spring/river to cool off a bit, then headed back to the airport. For dinner Sunday night we went to Mamacita's, which was very nice. http://www.mamacitas.com/sanantonio.html The rest of the week I spent downtown. Stayed at the Omni on the river walk and did lots of walking. :)
Hot and humid, but hey, it's June in Texas! Plenty of sunshine, but enough clouds to keep it from 'blazing' and quite breezy which also helped combat the heat. The riverwalk was great as I remembered, and the evenings were especially nice. Look forward to coming back and having more time for fun!