Last updated: April 2, 2026
Place
McKinney Falls State Park
Photo/Mark Edward Phillips
Quick Facts
Location:
5808 McKinney Falls Parkway, six miles south/southeast of downtown Austin (as the crow flies) or 13 miles southeast of downtown Austin, Texas (by road)
Significance:
McKinney Falls State Park provides a good impression of the diverse ecosystems traversed by travelers along El Camino Real de los Tejas.
Designation:
Certified site; Texas State Park
MANAGED BY:
Amenities
2 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Trailhead
Just six miles southeast of downtown Austin, Texas, McKinney Falls State Park is a nearly 750-acre public park home to several historic sites affiliated with El Camino Real de Los Tejas. These include the Onion Creek Crossings, natural fords with a centuries-long history of use and travel, as well as the former properties of 19th-century Anglo-American settler Thomas F. McKinney, for whom the site is named.
The history of Onion Creek long predates the arrival of Spanish and American settlers to the region; Native Americans lived in the area as early as 6000 BCE. As part of this long legacy, ancestors of the Tonkawa Indians lived in rockbound campsites along the creek, some of them 2,000 years old.[1] The largest of these shelters, Smith Rock Shelter, sits under a large outcropping of limestone and remained home to Tonkawa groups as late as the 18th century. Following the footpaths created by Native Americans that would be incorporated into El Camino Real, Spanish traders, missionaries, and soldiers made camp along this creek in the early 1700s during their treks across Texas. Missionary Félix Isidro de Espinosa crossed the creek several times from 1709 to 1721, describing it as follows in 1716: “In this direction of northeast we came to a little spring of water which, years ago, I named San Isidro. From thence we advanced to the hills and found some arroyos with pools of water [leading to] the Arroyo of the Garrapatas...”[2] Modern-day Onion Creek is believed to be this “Arroyo of the Garrapatas,” which—roughly translated from Spanish—means “Stream of the Ticks.”
Onion Creek was a high-traffic segment along El Camino Real during the Spanish colonial period, being one of the few paths over the Colorado River. The site remained a critical crossing point for later Anglo-American settlers. Moses Austin, along with his son Stephen and 300 other settlers, crossed Onion Creek en route to San Antonio, where they would request a right of settlement from the Spanish government, paving the way for Anglo-American settlement in Texas.[3]
Among these early Anglo settlers was Thomas F. McKinney, a Kentucky-born trader who had already traveled extensively through the American Southwest and modern-day Mexico. While McKinney had received a league of land along the Brazos River in 1824 as part of Austin’s settlement agreement with Spain, he chose instead to relocate to Nacogdoches and open a trading firm with his uncle, Stephen Prather. The pair grew quite wealthy, and McKinney himself entered a variety of other business ventures across Texas. Most famously, he developed the Galveston City Company in 1836, through which he effectively owned Galveston Island. In 1850, McKinney moved just north of Onion Creek to a plot of land he had purchased from Mexican landowner Antonio De Valle in 1839. There, he built a stone house, gristmill, and racehorse track, though only the ruins of the home remain to this day.[4] After his death in 1873, McKinney’s wife sold much of this ranch land to the local Smith family, whose descendants donated this historic property—known today as McKinney Falls State Park—to the State of Texas in 1971.[5]
McKinney’s wealth was closely linked to the institution of slavery. McKinney owned several enslaved people throughout his lifetime and, although he initially opposed secession, he served the Confederacy during the American Civil War as a cotton agent.[6] Anglo-American settlers like McKinney used El Camino Real during the 1800s to forcibly transport enslaved men, women, and children. The route was one of the main thoroughfares through which enslaved people were bought, sold, and transported in the American West.[7] Cities like Natchitoches, Louisiana, and neighboring towns like Nacogdoches were significant centers of the slave trade, making it highly likely that portions of McKinney’s wealth came from the sale of enslaved peoples. When slavery was abolished in 1865, McKinney was forced to emancipate his 14 enslaved workers. Without their unpaid and coerced labor, McKinney had trouble maintaining his estate and lifestyle.[8]
Today, visitors can marvel at the park’s eponymous waterfalls, hike the short loop to the Smith Rock Shelter, and explore the ruins of McKinney’s homestead, all the while learning about the local history of El Camino Real.
Site Information
Location (5808 McKinney Falls Parkway, six miles south/southeast of downtown Austin (as the crow flies) or 13 miles southeast of downtown Austin, Texas (by road))
Available Facilities
Primary activities are camping, hiking, mountain biking, road biking, picnicking, fishing swimming, and wildlife observation.
Exhibits
Information on Thomas F. McKinney and the history of the park's land use is interpreted in the Smith Visitor Center.
Safety Considerations
More site information
El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail
[1] Vivian Elizabeth Smyrl, “McKinney Falls State Park,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed December 15, 2023, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mckinney-falls-state-park.
[2] Robert S. Weddle with Jonathan H. Jarvis and Darrell G. Creel, Archival and Archeological Research: Camino Real and the State Parks, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 2012, 33.
[3] National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Onion Creek Crossings at McKinney Falls, April 11, 2019, 11.
[4] Margaret S. Henson, “McKinney, Thomas Freeman,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed December 18, 2023, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mckinney-thomas-freeman.
[5] National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, 14.
[6] Henson, “McKinney, Thomas Freeman,” https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mckinney-thomas-freeman.
[7] “Underground Railroad Route Along El Camino Real de Los Tejas.” Trailwide Research, February 10, 2020. https://www.nps.gov/elte/learn/historyculture/trailwide-research.htm.
[8] Henson, “McKinney, Thomas Freeman,” https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mckinney-thomas-freeman.