Trails
Type: Decomposed Granite
/ Length (Miles): 0.50
San Antonio parks give people an opportunity to spend time enjoying the outdoors, with fresh air, sunshine and exercise on tap for visitors. Take a walk, enjoy the scenery, and de-stress. Studies show people who spend time in parks will be sick less often, which means less time missing from school and work, as well as lower healthcare costs and better overall health. And it’s fun and refreshing. Visit a San Antonio park today!
Alcohol is prohibited, all amenities are first come, first serve.
Park History
In the 19th century, the city's Water Works Company was privately owned by George W. Brackenridge. Company lands included today's University of Incarnate Word, Brackenridge Park, Mahncke Park and the San Antonio Botanical Garden. Water was drawn from the San Antonio River and pumped up the hill east of Broadway (then called River Avenue) to a storage reservoir on the Botanical Center site.
In 1891, after a drought almost dried up the river, Brackenridge drilled the city's first deep artesian well. Soon, the old pumping system was outdated and in 1906, after donating many acres of Water Works' land to the city for parks, Brackenridge sold the company.
Because he wanted "a continuous drive from the city through Brackenridge Park to the Reservoir," Brackenridge gave the city 25 acres around the reservoir and the strip of land connecting it to Brackenridge Park. He asked that the land be named for his close friend, City Park Commissioner Ludwig Mahncke. Today, a statue of Mahncke by famous sculptor Pompeo Coppini stands in the park and the old reservoir is the centerpiece of the Botanical Garden, used as an amphitheater for educational programs.