Park
McKinney Falls State Park
Limestone-shaped waterfalls and swimming holes along Onion Creek, beside a ranch and racetrack ruin.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to McKinney Falls State Park in Austin traces the story of Thomas McKinney, an early Texas colonist who turned this bend of Onion Creek into a private ranch for breeding and racing thoroughbred horses in the eighteen fifties. It follows his stone house, gristmill, and a racetrack whose exact location no one has ever pinpointed, through to his death deeply in debt in eighteen seventy-three. You will also hear how the same waters later became one of Austin's favorite swimming holes, and why they were closed for twelve years.
This audio guide was created using AI.