Near the US 290 frontage road in Sunset Valley, the Violet Crown Trail's own directions start in the Spec's Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods parking lot. Trail users may park there as long as they stay away from the store's front spots. The best spaces are the ones closest to the 290 access road, and from them a crushed granite path heads east to the trailhead.
The trail keeps working this way all the way south to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. From the Greenbelt down to La Crosse Avenue, the Violet Crown Trail runs on sidewalks, shopping center paths, greenbelt easements and space under a highway. The parking comes from a liquor store, a pharmacy, a MoPac overpass and the curb. So the access point you pick decides your morning. It sets where the car goes, whether there's water, and how far you'll walk before the scenery shows up.
A trail built from sidewalks, underpasses and a shopping center path
The trail has two characters on this side of town. After it leaves the Gaines Creek Greenbelt, it enters the City of Sunset Valley and becomes what the trail's own guide calls an urban hiking trail. It follows the sidewalk along Brodie Lane and then down Home Depot Boulevard. It then turns into the Williamson Creek West Greenbelt and follows the MoPac access road sidewalk to William Cannon Drive.
At William Cannon, the route crosses south over the road, passes west under MoPac, and picks up the crushed granite path that loops around the Arbor Trails Shopping Center until it reaches the Whirlpool Trailhead.
Just before Ben Garza Lane, a spur trail crosses Williamson Creek and runs under MoPac into the shopping center at the northwest corner of William Cannon and MoPac. The spur dead-ends at the shopping center for now. The trail's guide says the City of Austin plans to build a sidewalk from there to the intersection.
South of Whirlpool, the trail changes texture. The stretch from Whirlpool to the Wildflower Center mixes crushed granite paths with concrete sidewalks, and the trail organization describes it as smoother and better suited to wheelchairs, road bikes and trail users of all ages. Along the way it links neighborhoods, retail centers, a library, parks and the Wildflower Center.
Some of that smoother ground came together piece by piece:
- Sendera Mesa connection, 2016. A Neighborhood Partnering Program grant paid for an urban trail from Davis Lane to the Sendera Mesa Drive sidewalks, which lead to West Slaughter Lane.
- Convict Hill to Dick Nichols District Park, 2019. Austin Parks and Recreation built the north portion and Hill Country Conservancy built the south portion to Davis Lane. The surface is part decomposed granite and part concrete, chosen to handle water flow and erosion.
- Slaughter Creek connection, 2019. This piece runs from Slaughter Lane into the Slaughter Creek Greenbelt and includes two low-water bridge crossings.
- Circle C Metropolitan Park, 2024. This is 1.7 miles of 10-foot-wide decomposed granite east of MoPac. It ties into the park trails west of MoPac and crosses Slaughter Creek before ending at La Crosse Avenue.
The trail grew in pieces over about a decade, and its access points reflect that. A few have dedicated lots. Most borrow space from somebody else.
Where the car actually goes
Here is each access point from Sunset Valley south to the 45SW Trail, with parking and amenities as the trail organization lists them now.
| Access point | Location | Parking | Listed amenities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 290 Trailhead | 4934 W US Hwy 290 Service Rd, Sunset Valley | Spec's lot, away from the store entrance | Dog waste station, pollinator garden, water fountain |
| Sunset Valley Trailhead | 1200 Home Depot Blvd, Sunset Valley | Some street parking, follow posted signs | None listed |
| Whirlpool Trailhead | Convict Hill Rd and Latta Dr | One-way lot under the MoPac overpass, enter from Latta, exit onto Convict Hill | Dog waste station, trash can, bench |
| Deer Park Trailhead | 4920 Davis Ln | No trail lot; street parking may be available | Picnic bench, trash can, dog waste station, pollinator garden |
| Slaughter Trailhead | 5011 W Slaughter Ln | Back of the Walgreens lot | Dog waste station, benches along the trail |
| La Crosse Trailhead | Eastern end of La Crosse Ave, near 4801 La Crosse | Back-in angle and parallel street parking | None listed |
| 45SW Trail, MoPac Trailhead | Near MoPac and SH 45 SW | Dedicated lot entered from Archeleta Blvd | Dog waste station, trash can, bike station |
The fine print matters most at the lots the trail doesn't own. At Slaughter Trailhead, Walgreens asks trail users to park at the back of the store so customers get the closest spots. The trail entrance is at West Slaughter Lane and Sendera Mesa Drive, just east of the building. At Deer Park, parking is prohibited in the nearby Primrose School and medical center lots. At La Crosse, the trail asks visitors to stay out of the Wildflower Center and Veloway lots.
Whirlpool is the one access point between Sunset Valley and La Crosse with a lot built for the trail, and it sits under MoPac. The trailhead has also been renamed. Hill Country Conservancy now calls it the Whirlpool Trailhead and notes that it was previously the Dick Nichols Trailhead, so older directions may use the old name. A few steps down the trail, next to the MoPac barrier wall, the Whirlpool Patio has a stone sculpture of a Barton Springs salamander, a mural of nearby Whirlpool Cave, and panels about cave ecology and the Edwards Aquifer.
If you're coming from Dick Nichols District Park, there's no trailhead to drive to. Take the Park Loop Trail about half a mile to a spur heading east toward MoPac. From that junction you can go straight toward Latta Drive or turn right toward Deer Park.
Water, dogs and weather depend on where you start
On the Southwest Austin access points in the table, the trail organization lists only one water fountain, at the 290 Trailhead behind Spec's. None of them list a restroom. The trail's guidance says there are few restrooms and water fountains along the whole route and asks people to bring plenty of water. On a warm afternoon, a walk south from Whirlpool toward Slaughter Creek means carrying everything you'll drink.
Dogs follow a similar boundary. According to the trail's posted guidance, they're allowed on the Violet Crown Trail from the Mile Zero Trailhead at Zilker through the La Crosse Trailhead, and they must stay on leash the whole time. At La Crosse, the trail runs close to the Veloway, and crossing from the trail onto the Veloway is prohibited. Cyclists yield to pedestrians and pass slowly on the left with a bell or a call. Alcohol, camping and fires are not allowed anywhere on the trail.
The low-water crossings in the Slaughter Creek Greenbelt also make weather part of the plan. The trail is open dawn to dusk except during rain events, and closures after flooding may be posted on the trail's closures page or its Facebook page.
La Crosse is still the end of the line
South of La Crosse, the published sources don't agree yet. The City of Austin's Violet Crown Trail project page says construction on the Gateway Trailhead extension from Circle C Park toward Hays County began in fall 2025 and that the segment was completed in summer 2026. The page calls the project substantially complete and says a rain garden is planned before spring 2027. The trail's own Plan Your Trip page still lists a "Future Gateway Trailhead" as part of Phase II. It describes the Gateway as the point where trail users will move from an urban trail to single-track through the City's Water Quality Protection Lands.
Until the trail organization lists the Gateway as open, the continuous Violet Crown Trail ends at La Crosse. It's also where dogs have to turn around under the posted rules. The full trail is planned to run 30 miles from Zilker into Hays County. When it does, the route will leave the Wildflower Center, wind through the Water Quality Protection Lands that protect the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer, and overlap part of the 45SW trail before heading south and ending in a loop south of FM 967 in Buda.
The separate 45SW path, a short drive farther south, is open now. It's a 4.5-mile shared-use path along the 45SW Toll Road from MoPac and Escarpment to FM 1626, and its MoPac trailhead lot off Archeleta Boulevard can be reached without taking the toll road.
A few miles north, more path work is finishing up. TxDOT's Oak Hill Parkway reached substantial completion in September after rebuilding a 7-mile stretch with 14 miles of shared-use paths, and Community Impact reported that a TxDOT spokesperson expected landscaping and other remaining tasks to continue through the end of the year. TxDOT's project page lists shared-use path improvements among that remaining work, so lane closures are still possible.
Two mornings to put on the calendar
Hill Country Conservancy has two volunteer cleanups scheduled on the Southwest Austin stretch this season:
- Saturday, November 7, 9 a.m. to noon. "Sweep the Creek," the conservancy's It's My Park Day cleanup, starts with a short hike and then clears trash and debris from the Williamson Creek section near Ben Garza Lane and MoPac. Parking is at the Sunset Valley Trailhead, and the conservancy supplies gloves, bags and trash pickers. Volunteers pulled more than 300 pounds of trash out of the creek in 2025. Event details are on the Hill Country Conservancy site.
- Friday, December 11, 9 to 10:30 a.m. This cleanup is at the Whirlpool Trailhead at Latta Drive and Convict Hill Road. It's free, it lasts about an hour and a half on the trail, and supplies are provided. Registration opens at 10 a.m. on Friday, November 20. The listing is here.
For the November 7 cleanup, park on the street along Home Depot Boulevard at the Sunset Valley access point listed in the table.
We know Southwest Austin from the curb, the trailhead lot and the street, the same way you do. If you want to talk about a home within walking distance of Whirlpool, Deer Park or La Crosse, or you just want to compare notes on which access point fits a weekday morning, the team at Austin Home Girls Realty is glad to talk trails with you.
