Park #20 presented something no other park before it had: a feeling of pressure. Picking just the right park for #20 seemed like a big deal. Not only would it be the last park we’d visit in 2014, but it would also be the location of our celebration – my kids and I reaching our #SA2020Resolutions goal of visiting 20 San Antonio parks in one year.
The only requirement my kids had for park #20: a playground. While doing a quick search using the cool, just-launched San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department’s Find A Park search tool, we reviewed a list of local parks offering playgrounds. Comanche Lookout Park grabbed my attention because we’d visited this park briefly a few years ago while making a trip to the adjacent Semmes Branch Library. I’d always wanted to go back to check it out.
Comanche Lookout Park may just be San Antonio’s perfect park. It does have a playground (suitable for kids up to 12 years of age) and swings. But it offers so much more: 4.5 miles of trails (most of them paved); a fun hike up a steep hill which rewards you with a panoramic view of San Antonio; plenty of natural nooks and crannies to explore; a bridge extending from the park to the library; and the library itself, just across the parking lot from the playground. If we lived closer to this park, we’d probably be there every day.
To reach the top of Comanche Lookout Park (which is the 4th highest elevation in Bexar County, at 1340 feet), you can take a paved trail that slowly increases in elevation, or you can brave this rocky hike (which I swear is much steeper in person than photographs are able to show).
Y’all, I wasn’t sure I’d make it (there was some huffing and puffing involved on my part). But, I did and let me tell you, the view from the top is worth every deep breath and screaming leg muscle it takes to get you up there. That’s the downtown San Antonio skyline off in the distance.
But, we weren’t done yet. We wanted to see the famed Comanche Lookout tower (which is located at the top of the park too). Turns out this tower was built not by some ancient civilization, but by a retired Army officer (Col. Edward Coppock) who was also a history buff and acquired the land in 1923. You can read more about Comanche Lookout Park’s history on the San Antonio Parks and Recreation website.
Few things are as awesome as a park located right next to a library. It brings two of our family’s favorite things together: love for the outdoors and love for books.
We’ll never forget the time we spent visiting 20 San Antonio parks in 2014. Now, all we have to do is figure out how to top our 2014 challenge in 2015. Got any ideas?
The #SA2020Resolutions Outdoorsy Team, from left to right: Upside Down Girl, On the Move Boy, Parkaholic, and Mom (aka Colleen Pence)
Check out all of the San Antonio parks we’ve visited this year as part of our #SA2020Resolutions.
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