Take a walk on San Antonio’s Greenway Trails

When I first moved to San Antonio about 10 years ago, I found a place next to the Blue Star Arts Complex off Alamo Street. It wasn’t long before I stumbled across the newly constructed Mission Reach portion of the Greenway Trail System. Eight miles of trails had just been laid along the river, connecting all of the missions from the Alamo south.

I marveled at the scale of the project, providing a way for people to exercise, enjoy the outdoors and travel around the city safely. In that first year, I walked the trail every day with my dogs and then, after a few months, pushed a double-wide stroller with my newborn twins. I felt calmed by the sound of the river, renewed by the fresh air and invigorated by the movement.

Today, the Greenway Trail System is made up of about 82 miles of trails that run through important areas of the city. Former Mayor Howard Peak founded the trail system in the mid 1990s when he was a councilman in District 9. Peak helped purchase land to create the first sections of trail in Walker Ranch Historic Landmark Park. As mayor a few years later, he solidified support for a broad network of trails along all of the major creeks of the city.

On a quest this year to walk the entirety of the trail system, I have seen deer rutting, hawks ferrying just-caught prey to their nests, tiny grass snakes sunning themselves, and an untold number of misty, golden sunrises and cozily-dimming evening skies hung with sepia moons — all within the 1604 loop.

Walking reduces the risk of heart disease, can help prevent osteoporosis and cuts in half the chance of dementia. Walking also helps avoid excess weight, reduces unhealthy cravings, eases joint pain, boosts immunity and reduces the risk of some cancers. Those are just the physical benefits. Going for a regular walk has been shown to improve mood, improve quality of sleep, reduce stress and increase creativity and focus. All of these benefits only multiply when walking with a friend or walking in a natural setting or even better, both at the same time.

But I think there is something even more important than this list of personal benefits. Walking draws something else from us. When we walk, with the solid ground beneath our feet, our whole body moving and all of our senses tuned to our surroundings, we become connected to something deeper within us and around us. For a time, we become grounded in the world.

When we walk, released from behind our closed doors and insulated cars, we become true participants in our community. We see our neighbors and they see us. We understand in a more visceral way the needs of our community.

When we choose to spend our time free from our endless to-do lists and achievement-oriented days, we become true participants in our own lives.

Walking is one of the best ways we have to connect to ourselves, to one another and to our place. And in our beautiful city, with its lattice of trails, walking outside is accessible to most all of us.

Spring is shining with warm-but-still-fresh mornings. Today is the day, my fellow San Antonians, to get outside, go for a walk and mend our hearts and our world one step at a time.