COMANCHE LOOKOUT LOOP
- LENGTH: 1.7 miles
- CONFIGURATION: Loop
- DIFFICULTY: Moderate
- SCENERY: Cedar forest, views
- EXPOSURE: Mostly open
- TRAFFIC: Moderate–busy on weekends
- TRAIL SURFACE: Asphalt, gravel, concrete
- HIKING TIME: 1.3 hours
- DRIVING DISTANCE: 16 miles from the Alamo
IN BRIEF
This hike travels up and around a historic hill in northeast San Antonio. A paved trail ascends to a medieval-looking tower and an overlook with stupendous views of the city.
DESCRIPTION
This cedar-covered hill on the edge of northeast San Antonio has a long history. At 1,034 feet, it’s the fourth-highest peak in Bexar County and overlooks the Cibolo Creek watershed. Apaches and Comanches scouted for game from this point, which later became a prominent landmark for travelers. The section of El Camino Real that led to Bastrop passed along what is now the busy thoroughfare of Nacogdoches Road. Once owned by Republic of Texas President Mirabeau Lamar, the hill in 1923 ended up in the hands of Colonel Edward H. Coppock, a fanciful man who built a compound on the hill. He intended the tower to be part of a castle that was never finished. Developers acquired the property after his death and tore down the compound but left the tower. The property was traded several times during the 1970s and ’80s, but the bust meant that nothing was ever built, and in 1994 the land was saved from bulldozers by the efforts of a private group and transferred to the city for parkland.
The hike leaves the trailhead and follows a paved path up to the lookout, where you can inspect the four-story tower. From here, circle down and around the hill for a rewarding and invigorating hike. If the distance is too short for you, add the Library Loop to your hike. Benches appear at regular intervals along the route.
The concrete Comanche Loop leaves the trailhead and begins a rise through thick juniper laced with mesquite. A path soon leaves to the left. This is your return route. Keep following the trail uphill on asphalt. At 0.2 mile come to an X-junction. Keep forward on the asphalt path to take the Tower Loop. This path becomes concrete, goes around a circle, and passes by the old tower, now fenced in.
Keep along the ridgeline heading south. Live oaks are dotted across the summit, with picnic tables under their shade. A clearing at the south tip of the hilltop affords an excellent and far-reaching vista of greater San Antonio. Walk back along a concrete path, passing the lookout a second time.
Go right on the south section of the Tower Loop that zigzags downhill, returning to the X-junction. Keep straight again, taking a gravel trail that follows the shady downgrade, shortly passing Fox Run Elementary School on your right. Ignore two spur trails coming in from the left, and at 1.1 miles turn right onto Deer Loop, heading toward Rocky Creek Road and the edge of the park. Deer Loop passes through open grassland along the street before curving back into the low-lying but dense cedar and mesquite forest.
Keep forward at 1.4 miles, where Deer Loop comes back to Comanche Loop, and pass both ends of the Library Loop in quick succession at 1.5 miles. Keep curving around the hill through thick cedar. All too soon the path intersects the outward route close to the trailhead to complete the loop. Walk the few steps downhill back to the parking area.
NEARBY ACTIVITIES
McAllister Park, 7 miles away, has more hiking and biking, a dog park, picnic tables, playgrounds, and athletic fields.
GPS TRAILHEAD COORDINATES
N29°34’57.5″ W98°22’0.3″
From Exit 172 on I-35 north of San Antonio, take Loop 1604 west 1.9 miles to Farm to Market Road 2252, Nacogdoches Road. Head west on Nacogdoches Road toward San Antonio 1 mile. The trailhead at Comanche Lookout Park will be on your right.
