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Explore the San Antonio River Walk
Native Americans who once gathered in the grassy plains and rolling hills of what is now Central Texas had a special name for the clear waters burbling forth from limestone outcrops.
They called the main life-giving stream Yanaguana, which means refreshing waters. You will know what they meant as soon as you step down from street level, slip into the shade of towering cypress trees and feel the cooling river breezes caress your skin.
Renamed the San Antonio River in 1691 by Spanish explorers, the river has since brought settlers, ranchers, farmers, craftsmen, artists and many others from around the world to its meandering banks. A tapestry of modern skyscrapers, colonial missions, museums, historic neighborhoods and a diverse international culture has sprung up around the famed river.
The Genesis of the River Walk
In earlier years, heavy rains would often flood downtown San Antonio, which held back growth. Many city fathers wanted to turn the river into a storm drain and cover it with streets.
The San Antonio Conservation Society battled to keep the river alive, and backed a design by architect Robert H.H. Hugman in 1929 to create a charming walkway that hugs the landscaped banks. The first section of the San Antonio River Walk, the part mainly known as the horseshoe bend, was finished with WPA funding and local taxes in 1941. Take a self-guided tour of the River Walk with your smartphone.
The River Walk has since grown to a stunning eight miles and will stretch to 15 miles by 2013. Each part offers a unique look and feel. The entire River Walk is dog-friendly and some restaurants are too. You can explore the River Walk on foot, on a bicycle and most sections, by river cruiser.
River Walk South of Downtown
ACCESS: Foot, Bicycle
DISTANCE: One mile
This fairy-tale-like section of the River Walk, just south of downtown, is as good a place as any to begin a tour. Leave the new Lucchese boots in your room (but keep the new Stetson or Mexican straw hat) and go explore.
Bordering this lush stretch are the back yards of the fashionable King William Historic District, with its Victorian and Italianate mansions built in the 1800s, on farmlands that once belonged to the Alamo mission. King William's bed and breakfasts are some of the most interesting places in the city to stay.
Step off the River Walk a few blocks and explore Southtown, an artsy enclave with restaurants, shops, galleries and interesting residents.
Step back on the River Walk and your stroll will take you past the Pioneer Flour Mill and the adjacent Guenther House, built by the founder of the mill in 1860, which is now a museum and restaurant with an arbor-covered, riverside patio.
Look upstream and you’ll see the Tower Life Building, a multi-faceted 33-story tower built in 1928, which is a visible beacon from many points in the city.
River Walk Downtown (Horseshoe Bend)
ACCESS: Foot, River taxi, Guided river tour
DISTANCE: Three-quarters of a mile
There is much to explore on the River Walk’s original horseshoe bend, which is packed with hotels, restaurants, outdoor patios and shops. Restorations, adaptations and clever conversions have helped reinvigorate many of the historic buildings lining this fabled part of the walkway.
The Omni La Mansión del Rio Hotel, for example, was once the home of St. Mary’s College and School of Law and the Mokara Hotel & Spa was a furniture store.
The Hyatt Regency Hotel was built from the ground up and it is here that a 1981 River Walk extension, the Paseo del Alamo, is found. Enter the hotel’s soaring atrium, continue up a landscaped water course to street level and, you guessed it, to the Alamo. There’s no escaping it.
Farther along, you’ll see a 1930s classic-revival library that is soon to become The Briscoe Western Art Museum. Next is the 1941 Arneson River Theatre, with a romantic, mission-bell backdrop and amphitheater that serves as a river entrance to historic La Villita, developed in 1809 as the city's first neighborhood. Today it is La Villita Historic Arts Village, a collection of artisan shops and galleries. For many this is the heart of the original River Walk.
On the River Walk’s horseshoe bend, at the Hilton Palacio del Rio Hotel, a hotel built with pre-fabricated and furnished room modules to open in time for HemisFair, the 1968 World’s Fair, is the start of a River Walk extension that was also constructed for HemisFair.
This landscaped walkway, originally ended in the lagoon between the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and the Lila Cockrell Theatre of the Performing Arts, where a new neighbor, the towering Grand Hyatt San Antonio roots its way into the San Antonio skyline.
Here, the intrepid urban explorer is encouraged to walk under more recent extensions to the Convention Center and up a curling ramp to Plaza de Mexico, a symbol of the long-time collaboration between San Antonio and the Mexican government, represented by the Universidad Nacional de Mexico and the Instituto de Mexico, a cultural center offering performances by Mexican musical groups and free shows by Mexican and American artists.
A 1988 River Walk extension culminates in the basin that is the core of Rivercenter Mall.
River Walk North - Museum Reach
ACCESS: Foot, River taxi, Bicycle
DISTANCE: Two miles
This contemplative and lushly landscaped stretch of the River Walk, which opened in 2009, offers vistas and surprises at each twist and turn and connects to even more shops, galleries, hotels and restaurants.
You may want to consider staying on this quiet section of the River Walk -- you're still just steps from the busy restaurant and nighclub section of the River Walk. Try the Drury Plaza, a repurposed bank building from 1929, or the boutique Hotel Valencia, which has a hip, contemporary feel. The big brands have a presence here too: Embassy Suites, El Tropicano, Crowne Plaza and Hyatt. The Hotel Havana, graciously restored to its original Cuban grandeur (cigar den included), dates to 1914.
Take in the mesmerizing art installations along the way, each unique and most linked to a bridge or overpass. Stop at the Southwest School of Art, which once housed the Ursuline Academy of French nuns founded in 1851. It has beautifully-landscaped grounds, an eclectic gift shop and a wonderful bistro called the Copper Kettle. The next stop is the San Antonio Museum of Art, a repurposed castle-like brick brewery from 1884 that now houses a renowned Latin American folk art collection and has a riverside cafe.
The trip ends at the Pearl Brewery complex, also built in 1884, which today is one of the most exciting urban villages in the making. Trendy restaurants, shops and a Saturday farmers market are clustered among residences, offices, studios, a prestious Culinary Institute of America branch (with a great cafe) and the River Walk’s second amphitheater, Park at Pearl, where you can catch live music concerts and other performances.
By 2013, the River Walk will go north to Brackenridge Park, the Central Park of San Antonio.
River Walk Far South - Mission Reach
ACCESS: Foot, Bicycle
DISTANCE: Three miles (expansion underway)
The newest miles of the River Walk, south of downtown and the King William neighborhood, are unlike any other part of the riverine park: It is the beginning of a major restoration project on eight miles of the river. When the Mission Reach is completed in 2013, this ecosystem restoration project will create a meandering riparian woodland by planting over 23,000 trees and reestablishing hundreds of acres of riparian and aquatic habitat. Considered a national model for urban ecosystem restoration, it will include picnic areas and hiking and biking trails that join the Alamo and downtown to four Spanish colonial missions.
See Also
The Nation's Coolest River Walk (Travel + Leisure)
Top Five Things To Do on the River Walk
A Self-Guided Smartphone Tour of the River Walk
The River Walk Food Scene
Saturdays at the Pearl Farmers Market
The River Walk Shines During the Holidays
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