McKinney Falls State Park, State park with waterfalls in Austin, US.
This protected area sits in southeastern Austin, covering a forested landscape where Onion Creek flows over limestone ledges and forms two drops along its course. Trails wind through dense brush of juniper and oak, while the creek shifts from a narrow trickle to a broad flow depending on recent rains.
Thomas McKinney settled here in the 1850s and built mills powered by water and horses to grind grain for neighboring farms. Thousands of years earlier, Native communities used this area as a camp, and archaeological finds show they returned to this spot across many generations.
Residents often come here for cooling swims in natural pools below the lower waterfall, especially during hot summer weekends when they gather on flat rocks and wade into clear creek water. The ruins of a nineteenth-century homestead draw visitors who enjoy walking through shaded trails and imagining frontier life in what was once open prairie land.
Visitors reach both waterfalls by short footpaths from the parking lot, with flat sections near the entrance accessible for wheelchairs. Water flow varies widely by season, so a visit after recent rains shows the falls at full strength, while dry spells leave only thin streams.
A single juniper tree known locally as Old Baldy stands beside a trail and has lived for over five hundred years, making it the oldest of its kind in the entire county. Its twisted branches and wide trunk hold few leaves now, yet it has marked the landscape for centuries for all who pass through this valley.
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