Terra Oak Route – Vapor Trail

Selected photos

The Terra Oak Route is a composition of two San Antonio Greenway Trails — the Helotes Trail and the Culebra Trail, and a levee.

The route begins at the Terra Oak Trailhead and follows the Helotes Trail for about 1.0 miles where it junctions with the Culebra Trail. The route follows a small spur trail that bends to the Southeast for about 100 yards where it terminates at the Culebra levee, continues to the end of the levee and then retraces steps back to the spur trail. A hillside path takes one down to the Culebra Trail. At this point the route makes a loop through Culebra Creek Park and retraces the Culebra Trail back to the Helotes Trail and the Terra Oak Trailhead. The hike is 4.6 miles (Helotes Trail = 1.0 miles, Culebra levee = 0.6 miles, the loop around Culebra Creek Park = 2.0 miles and then the return on Helotes Trail = 1.0 miles). For me this represents 10,000 steps which makes for a great way to start my day. Even better—I get to spend time with Colter, my Aussie dog.

The route begins at a forested area and about 0.75 mark the Valley of the Stadiums appear. This is an old limestone quarry but in my imagination it appears to be ruins of an ancient stadium. The stadium floor is densely covered in trees and reeds. It is filled with all kinds of wildlife—skunks, armadillos, wild hogs, deer, raccoons, coyotes, squirrels, coral snakes, garden snakes and many kinds of water fowl. The trail itself is lined with many types of wildflowers and trees. It is hard to believe that we are inside San Antonio and neighborhoods and businesses border the greenways.

In the diagram above I have also shown (in mauve) a pathway I call the Blue Cooler Trail. It is one mile in length and basically parallels the Helotes Trail. It is a rough, rocky trail, much like one would find hiking in a canyon. Parts of it coincide with a double track that I believe was used in the construction of the Helotes Trail. The Blue Cooler gives the hiker more of the hiking experience. I used to take Colter by this route. At the end of the Blue Cooler we would cross over the Culebra Trail and head southeast up the Culebra Creek valley. It is easy to find your own trail as another ancient stadium lines the Culebra Creek valley. We would walk on one of the tiers and work our way up the valley. This was a good alternative to the Terra Oak Route as we avoided the sidewalk path. No other people around also.