Mount Bonnell, Limestone summit in Austin, Texas.

Mount Bonnell is a limestone height above the Colorado River in Austin, rising about 775 feet above sea level. A stone slab at the summit, set in flagstone paving between low stacked-stone walls, is carved with "MT BONNELL", "A PARK BY COVERT SR. TO TRAVIS COUNTY", the date 1938 and the name of the commissioner precinct. From the top, visitors look over Lake Austin and the city.

The limestone height was named for George W. Bonnell, who came to Texas in 1836, served as commissioner of Indian affairs under President Sam Houston, and published the Texas Sentinel in Austin in 1840. Albert Sidney Johnston may instead have named it for his friend Joseph Bonnell, a captain in the Texas Army; there is little contemporaneous evidence for either derivation. A historical marker placed in 1969 records the name and the hill's role on the old Indian trail into Austin.

The name Covert Park comes from the Covert family, who donated the land; the stone entrance marker records the transfer to Travis County in 1938. Picnics and outings were already held here in the 1850s and 1860s, and a local legend credits an 1850s excursion to the hill with inspiring the song "Wait for the Wagon and We'll All Take a Ride".

You reach the observation platform by climbing 102 stone steps that are regularly maintained and straightforward to navigate. The best time to visit is early morning or late afternoon when the sun is lower and the light is clearer.

In 1898, Hazel Keyes slid down a cable stretched from the summit of Mount Bonnell to the south bank of what was then Lake McDonald, below. The descent was staged as a public stunt and recorded in the marker text at the site.