McKinney Falls

jerry mowrey

We spent a long weekend at this beautiful park. Hiking and biking trails everywhere. Huge rocks and boulders to climb. Onion Creek is so clear and lovely to enjoy. Met some of the park hosts and learned much of the wonderful hill country. If camping, most sites don't have sewage so expect a line at the dump station. Loved it, plus you're still essentially in Austin, so you can still enjoy the city if you wanted.

Michael Mills

This is such a neat park to visit. Awesome trails to explore and a visitor center that's informative. We enjoyed the upper and lower waterfalls even though the flow was minimal. Walking on the limestone rock was like walking on the moon almost (if I had to guess...haven't made it there yet). The rock overhangs were cool to walk through. Just a beautiful place right close to downtown Austin. Highly recommend a visit to Mckinney Falls!

Allison Bird

I read the reviews for this place before I came, and I know that I am from Utah, which is renowned for its nature and beauty, but this park was not worth the funds to go inside. All of the main attractions were within a five minute walk of the visitor center. The greatest attractions were not that cool. If you were looking for something really outdoorsy this is not your pick. We did get a good laugh from the old baldy tree being the largest in the park though. And to be fair the staff were amazing and beyond friendly.

Lorena Felix

I visited the park in November/2025. It's a beautiful and big place, it was easy to park in front of the path of the first trail. Honestly, I've seen other more beautiful places, it wasn't so cold, the hiking trail is not so difficult but you should wear appropriate shoes. I didn't really like the lack of signs and signs to find the entrance to the trails, it's very confusing. The park is big, and the lack of signs to find the entrance to the trails you need to guess. When I went there, many people were also confused to find the entrance to the trails, which direction to go. And you should be careful, because there are always people with bicycles also doing the trails.

Leah G.

Beautiful park. Hiked the Onion Creek trail and Picnic Trails. Very well maintained trails. Some signage is better than others but it is well marked compared to other parks I’ve visited. Wish I’d had more time here but loved what I did get to explore. Upper Falls didn’t have much “falls” to it but gorgeous nonetheless. Restrooms by playground area is clean and well kept.

Dawn H

Beautiful park in south Austin. Only issue was the bathroom had no bench and no soap holder. Mostly quiet but is near roads and airport. Burn ban cause it's so dry and not many bugs either.

Lily Angiolini

This is a beautiful park very close to the city. We arrived late, after dark and set up for a full day of appointments the next day. Unfortunately the campers before is emptied their black tank at the site which was pretty gross. The person at the front gate said they would come clean up, but not until after we leave. So, we shortened our stay and left as soon as possible. We can't really fault the park for the awful behavior of other campers. We never used the bathrooms/showers or laundry while there.

Mallorie Barr

We lucked out with light rain, which kept crowds away from the lower falls. To be in the middle of Austin, this park still allows you to separate and feels secluded. We loved that there were plenty of areas away from the trail to tuck away and enjoy the peace along the water. The rock shelves that were used as shelter for people of the past have been well preserved and were unique to this park. Park staff were friendly and attentive and the park facilities were well kept.

Chloe

My husband and I visited this park on a whim during our last trip to Austin to celebrate family. This park has been glued to my mind since we left. It wasn’t too hot, despite being summer in TX, thanks to the glorious amounts of shade in each area. I loved how grounding it was to be fully immersed in nature while walking the trails, exploring the creek, or diving into the swimming hole. Others at the creek were polite and considerate, adorably sectioned off into each their own little slices of heaven. Something that especially stuck out to me was how the limestone (I think?) rock structure (forgive me, I’m no geologist) serves as a natural “built in” diving board/ladder. There’s a short cliff like ledge that hangs over the water, perfect for cannonballs. It’s mostly solid besides a couple scattered holes sitting in the perfect spots for climbing back up to the stable ground above. While it’s not particularly my kind of fun, it’s a joy watching families splash in together and climb up to do it all over again. Regrettably, we didn’t time manage well enough to spend as many hours here as I would have liked. Now that we know it’s here though, we will come back with plans, booking an entire day, at least, to explore all this park has to offer! Or as much as we can at the very least. :D Will update with more love/pictures when we take our next trip to Austin in October

Nathan Bain

We had a great visit, even though were rained out most of the visit. The part is great in it's location if you want to see Austin, but definitely still feels "away". The campground were very nice and the access to Onion Creek to play in the water is wonderful. Unfortunately, we did not get to check out the trails. The staff, facilities, visitors center and all else was great. We'll be back for a visit with better weather!