If San Antonio views interest you, Comanche Lookout Park, is the place you must see. This park has the fourth highest elevation in Bexar County. There is a near 360-degree view of the surrounding area of northeastern San Antonio.
Although the hill is more than 1,300 feet above sea level, the hike is incredibly easy. It merely requires a climb of about 160 feet. The history of Comanche Lookout Park is rather boring, or unknown, but the views from the top are fantastic!
How to Get to Comanche Lookout Park in San Antonio, TX
Address: 15551 Nacogdoches Rd, San Antonio, TX 78247
Hours of operation: 5am – 11pm
The easiest way to access the path to the top is by parking in the south lot from Nacogdoches Road. While hiking the outer loop I also noticed two other areas to park around the loop. One lot was on the west side of Comanche Lookout Park, next to a library.
You can access the west side lot from Judson Road. Another small parking area can be found to the north near, Fox Run Elementary School. In my opinion the park is not quite large enough to require multiple lots, but more options are always nice.
Comanche Lookout Park is dog friendly and easy for beginners. You can walk your dog, run, bike, or exercise. The park is small, but it has a deceptive amount of hiking trails.
Trails at Comanche Lookout Park
Comanche Lookout Park, contains a blend of terrain. Some pathways are concrete, some are asphalt, some are gravel, and others are natural. Concrete walkways can be found near the library, as well as the parking lot off of Nacogdoches Road.
The trails around the hill are mostly made up of asphalt, which are showing serious signs of wear and tear. Many trails can be found which break off from the asphalt trails. Some of these are made by hikers, while others are probably due to rainwater runoff.
More than four miles of hiking trails exist within Comanche Lookout Park, and are surrounded by neighborhoods in northeastern San Antonio. The trails are good for beginners and are very easy to hike. The concrete walkway leading to the top of the hill is handicap accessible. The asphalt loop trails are no longer smooth in many areas. The loops will be rather bumpy if you are using a wheelchair.
On the west side of the park I noticed several exercise stations along the asphalt loop. Some of the stations included equipment for chest/back, balancing, quads/glutes, etc. There were also a few open areas which were empty. This is one of many San Antonio parks containing exercise stations in an attempt to promote activity.
History of the Lookout
Unlike some of the other San Antonio parks, the history of Comanche Lookout Park is boring, and very uninteresting. With a name like Comanche Lookout, and a four story tower at the top, I expected to find a history worth mentioning.
Hemisfair Park, and the Tower of the Americas in downtown San Antonio has a wonderful history. The San Antonio Missions have histories worth remembering. Even John James Park, a very basic community park on the east side, has an exciting history. Comanche Lookout Park does not.
The city website (sanantonio.gov) contains several paragraphs of historical information about this site. However, when I read it I laughed out loud. There is a brief mention that our ancestors (probably) used the hill as a lookout for hunting and raiding purposes.
This is followed by several paragraphs of information regarding various owners of the land. Apparently one owner desired to build a castle on the hill, and the tower was all that was developed – the end.
Most boring history ever. I’m positive the lookout contains a much better history. It just happens to be unrecorded. The tower is not even 100 years old, but it is gated and untouchable as if it played an important part in the history of Texas. There is no description of its purpose on site, and I have yet to see anyone admiring the quality of the structure.
Either knock the thing down, or reconstruct it into something we can use, San Antonio. Why let it stand as a piece of abandoned and unfinished work? With a useable tower Comanche Lookout Park could easily be better than Eisenhower Park and its views!
The Views at Comanche Lookout Park
After admiring the tower for three seconds, Abbey and I moved onto the scenic views, because they are the real attraction at the top of the hill. Beyond the tower you will find scenic views to the south, west, and the north.
It’s difficult to see much in the northeastern direction because of the trees. However, you can see around some of the trees if you get into the right spots.
It’s easy to see so many things from the top of Comanche Lookout Park, but you may need binoculars to see everything. I could see Live Oak, Randolph Air Force Base, Uptown, San Antonio Airport, and the Tower of the Americas downtown. This lookout is one of the best places to see downtown San Antonio from a distance.
Two others are at Eisenhower Park, and Pearsall Park. So far, these are three of the best places (I have found) from which to see the Tower of the Americas from a distance. Of course, you can see that tower from several points along the San Antonio Riverwalk as well.
Making a Quick Exit
If only I were four stories higher, I wonder what I might see? After taking in the views, Abbey and I began the journey back to the car. There are two dog friendly fountains at the top of the hill. We had used the one nearest the tower on the way up. We stopped to use the other one as well before heading down.
As soon as Abbey began to drink from the fountain, red wasps began to pour out along with the water! Some of the wasps began to swarm around the fountain. With their nest most likely damaged, it would soon be clear that we were responsible. Consequently, we quickly ran down the concrete walkway, past the tower, in an attempt to evade them.
Luckily, we were not stung, nor did we swallow any red wasps. We made our way back down to the car, but not before recording 5,871 steps. We had not touched all the trails, but we did hike the outer loop and tower loop.
The trails at Comanche Lookout Park are easy enough for the average person. There are enough trails to walk for nearly five miles without retracing your steps. Consider the trails, the exercise equipment, the dog friendly fountains (as long as there are no wasps in there), and the plethora of scenic views, and this may be one of the best parks in San Antonio. Let us know what you saw at the top of Comanche Lookout Park.
