Joe Johnston Route Trail is a 9.3 mile heavily trafficked loop trail located near San Antonio, Texas that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round.
Government Canyon State Natural Area charges an entrance fee of $6 per adult, children 12 and under are free. Reservations can be made here - https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/government-canyon Nice Point to Point trail. Dinosaur footprints recently found has added to the traffic. Rocky, mild elevations pretty canyon where the footprints were discovered.
Parking is good 6$/person
April 5, 2021Great hike but very rocky
March 27, 2021March 26, 2021Nice wide trail, partly of shaded & a few people on the trail.
March 20, 2021March 20, 2021Great hike
March 19, 2021Haven't been here a while. Didn't do the whole trail just to the dino tracks and back via Joe Johnston. Not much to see on the way there. Tin barn is off trail. But dino tracks worth the hike.
March 6, 2021Perfect trail to just go on a stroll on, take the kids, or go on a nice run!
December 28, 2020December 12, 2020December 6, 2020November 21, 2020November 21, 2020November 20, 2020balcones is all rock. joe is nice mix of dirt and rock. Ok views. lots of mesquite :)
October 31, 2020WARNING! Need reservations to hike here. All booked up for the weekend so couldn’t hike here at all!!!
October 25, 2020September 26, 2020Nice long trail, approximately 10 miles in length. The Sendero portion is very rocky. I would do this again but start my hike on the Sendero side and end on Joe Johnston Trail.
September 15, 2020July 25, 2020This trail is VERY ROCKY. It’s labelled as a hiking/biking trail but should just be strictly hiking. I did more climbing up rocks with my bike than actually riding. Overall as a hiking trail it was really nice but if you bring your bike be prepared to walk most of the trail.
July 6, 2020Great trail! Took me about 4 hours to complete I did about 8 miles. Nice overlooks and mostly shaded. Many spurs to take. No water when I went. Hot warm weather bring lots of water. Saw three hogs on the trail. Be mindful of your surroundings.
June 29, 2020Joe Johnson trail is wide and clean. A lot of traffic including bikes. Sendero balcones trail is rocky but nice and wide to hike through. Watch for bikes they come up pretty fast and are causing ruts in some places. Recharge trail is pretty flat and sunny.
February 28, 2020Took Joe Johnson to Windmill to small section of black loop down sendero ro recharge. Favorite parts were Windmill and Black Loop. Windmill was fairly flat with open area. no windmill that I could see.
January 12, 2020January 12, 2020November 17, 2019Nice enough for a walk in the woods, but not exactly remote or strenuous. The trails are well marked, sturdy shoes recommended due to some trails being crushed rock with some fairly large fragments. Didn't see any feral hogs, but lots of rooted up areas indicate they're active in the area. The dino tracks were in a creek bed, covered by water, leaves, and algae...but a little imagination conjured up images of them stomping through the canyon. The park ranger said that they are short staffed, so only open Thursday-Sunday most of the year. He also said that if you want to come on a busy weekend it would be good to call for a reservation as they cap the number of daily visitors. Overall, it was a pleasant little hike for being so close to San Antonio.
October 6, 2019August 12, 2019Nice and mostly peaceful trail. Saw several feral hogs and one ran across the trail right in front of me, then stopped and growled at me I growled back at it and it ran off. They have a deeper growl than I expected. Very cool primal experience. The dinosaur tracks had water on them and the ones that were dry were underwhelming. I could hardly tell they were tracks.
June 24, 2019A family friendly trail that should be started early for the best experience. Would definitely return. We enjoyed the birds, bugs, and tadpoles.
April 20, 2019Nice trail for a challenge hike but not much to see besides some old house an d a dinosaur footprint. Well shady but pretty rocky.
April 15, 2019Fun trail, not difficult but rocky in places, mostly shaded. We did the JJ trail to Zizelmann house, and back on overlook trail for a total of 6.7 miles. the dinosaur prints are totally cool.
