Trails
Type: Trail
/ Length (Miles): 2.0
Pools
Address: 3100 Hiawatha
/ Phone Number: (210) 532-2027
Fitness Stations
Exercise Equipment by Landscape Structures
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!
Programs & Classes (Southside Lions Park - East)
Amenities Available for Rental (Southside Lions Park - East)
The following amenities are available for rental. Use the links below to view facility details or calendar availability. Learn how to make a reservation.
Programs & Classes (Southside Lions Park - West)
Amenities Available for Rental (Southside Lions Park - West)
The following amenities are available for rental. Use the links below to view facility details or calendar availability. Learn how to make a reservation.
Pavilion rentals (in area of lake off Pecan Valley Drive) fees:
The cost to rent the pavilion Monday through Thursday is $15 an hour with a 4-hour minimum. The cost for Friday through Sunday and holidays is $30 an hour with a 4-hour minimum. Alcohol is permitted on this side of the park only.
Community Center rental fees/policy:
Gym practices and/or games:
$30 per hour flat fee with two-hour minimum. Does not include activity room.
Volleyball rentals area available at this facility by request only.
General use - gym only or meeting room only
$50 an hour with a two-hour minimum plus $100 deposit. Security is required for any event with DJ or band.
Special events for gym only or meeting room only - charging admission and/or selling concessions:
$75 an hour with a two-hour minimum and $50 deposit.
Approximately 20 tables and 85 chairs are available with the rental. However, it is important to call the center at 532-1502 to confirm the number of tables and chairs that will be available for your rental.
Free wi fi is available at the community center, its parking lot and a nearby playground, 3100 Hiawatha, and also near the playground and pavilion near the lake off Pecan Valley Drive. Patrons are invited to bring their laptops during center hours to work on homework, job hunt, and surf the Internet.
Related Facilities
Park History
Southside Lions Park is a 600-acre tract that was purchased by the City from the estate of George W. Brackenridge in 1944 and 1964. The park, also known as Hi-Lions Park, takes it name from the organization that worked to preserve the area for public park land. In 1944, the City purchased 346.45 acres from the Brackenridge estate for the purpose of a landfill. Residents of the Highland Park area and members of the Highland Park Lions Club successfully petitioned the City to use the land as a park instead of a garbage dump. Prior to development of the park, 22 acres were deeded in 1953 to the San Antonio Independent School District for construction of Highlands High School.
The area adjacent to Salado Creek was cleared in 1956 for a picnic area and a 33-acre sports center was developed. Service clubs and citizens donated funds to purchase some 400 trees that were planted in 1957. The City bought the remainder of the Brackenridge estate tract in 1964, and throughout the 1960s, improvements were made to the park. A recreation center, softball fields, tennis facility, dam and 10-acre lake were built on the property. In 1986, Community Development Block Grant funds were used to build a gymnasium and to upgrade the community center that was dedicated on November 1, 1986.
Trails and lighting improvements were provided with funds from the 1994 Quality of Life bond issue. A new playground was also constructed and further additions and improvements were made to the community center, including renovation of the gym and a dance studio/multi-use room.
In 2010, the City completed a $3,548,289 project that rehabilitated the dam and spillway in Southside Lions Park. The project involved the raising of the park’s earthen dam approximately two feet, adding a concrete labyrinth and spillway, adding rock riprap for erosion control, re-routing a 24-inch water line under Salado Creek, and providing tree wells for Bald Cypress trees along the dam. The project addressed the failure of the previous earthen dam with the construction of a new spillway to alleviate the potential for downstream flooding. The funds came from Housing and Urban Development 108 Community Block Grants, Unified Development Code fees, 2007 Certificates of Obligation, 1999 Park Bonds, 2005 Water Revenue Bonds and the San Antonio Water System.
Also in 2010, the City dedicated the Southern Segment of a new Salado Creek Greenway with a trailhead at South Side Lions. The trailhead is located just east of the lake off Pecan Valley. The multi-use trail, which also has trailheads at Covington and Comanche county Parks, offers stunning views of Salado Creek, surrounded by towering bottomland hardwood trees and natural, flowing springs that run from the adjacent hillside to the creek. The total length of the 10-foot wide trail is 2.3 miles. The project was funded through Proposition 3 and Proposition 2 sales tax initiatives at a cost of $2,847,000.