Honey Creek Now Has Two Ways In, and Only One Reaches the Creek
"Previously open by guided access only." That is how Texas Parks and Wildlife described Honey Creek State Natural Area when it announced the new trailhead in the southwest part of the property, which opened August 8, 2026. Honey Creek opened for limited access in 1985. For the 41 years since, visiting has meant signing up for a guided walk and showing up at Guadalupe River State Park on the right morning.
The new trailhead stops short of the water. Its 3.5 miles of trail run through the oak savannah that serves as the creek's watershed, and the TPWD announcement says plainly that seeing Honey Creek itself still means joining one of the weekly guided hikes. That split is on purpose. The draft plan for the whole natural area treats the creek as the part to protect and the land around it as the part to open.
With two ways in, the logistics have split too. Which visit you book decides whether you bring the dog, how early you leave and what you end up seeing.
| Southwest trailhead | Guided Honey Creek walk | |
|---|---|---|
| What you see | Oak savannah uplands that drain into Honey Creek | The creek corridor itself |
| How you go | Self-guided on 3.5 miles of trail | Guided, about 2.5 hours |
| When | Daily, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. | Saturday mornings, plus select Sundays |
| Booking | Day-pass reservation, gate code by email | Registration required through the events page |
| Pets | Allowed on trails | Not allowed |
| Where it starts | Its own entrance off Park Road 31 | Guadalupe River State Park |
The pet rule makes the biggest practical difference for anyone in Spring Branch with a dog. Before August, a dog couldn't come into Honey Creek at all, because the guided tours don't allow pets. The new trails do. The tours still leave from the park headquarters at 3350 Park Road 31. The trailhead has its own entrance off Park Road 31, and the gate code comes in your reservation confirmation email.
TPWD calls the southwest trailhead phase one of a multi-phase plan. A Public Use Plan for the whole natural area was presented at public meetings in Bulverde on July 22 and New Braunfels on July 23, and the questionnaire that followed closed August 21. The presentation, posted on YouTube, puts conservation first and divides the property into three management areas, each with less public use than the one before:
So the August opening shows where the plan is headed. If it moves forward as presented, more trails, overnight stays and buildings would come in the outer areas, and the creek would stay guided-only no matter how much else opens. According to the presentation, the plan still needs technical studies, design, phasing, funding and implementation decisions.
The trailhead is built for a first phase. The presentation lists its starting facilities as a vault toilet and a pavilion. TPWD notes there is no public water refill station, so you need to bring enough water for the whole hike.
Because the trailhead runs on reservations, a spur-of-the-moment visit looks different than it would at a typical park:
Check the Honey Creek alerts page before you drive out. On November 8, TPWD posted a notice that all trails were closed and to check back for updates.
The same alerts page lists two hunt closures that shut down the whole complex this winter. Guadalupe River State Park, its Bauer Unit and Honey Creek all close from 8 p.m. November 20 to noon November 24, and again from 8 p.m. January 11 to noon January 15. Only permitted hunters can enter during those windows.
The November closure takes out the Saturday before Thanksgiving, which leaves these guided creek walks on the calendar through mid-December:
TPWD has also scheduled a special program on the new ground. The Guided Bird Walk at Honey Creek, on November 15 and December 6, takes visitors over the new trails with the natural area's superintendent as guide. Registration is required. It's the one listed event that combines the two kinds of visit, a guide on the trails that are otherwise self-guided.
Honey Creek's guided walks start at Guadalupe River State Park, so the park's holiday programs fall on the same mornings and evenings. The park events calendar lists:
Turkey Talk on Thanksgiving Day, November 26; Opt Outside Day on November 27; Art in the Park: Christmas Cards on December 5; Christmas in the Park on the evenings of Friday, December 11 and Saturday, December 12; and Christmas for the Birds on December 19.
That means you could do the Saturday creek walk on December 12 and come back that evening for Christmas in the Park, both starting from the same park.
Honey Creek's land came together over almost four decades. Part was acquired from the Texas Nature Conservancy in 1985, more came from a private owner in 1988, and the final parcel was added in 2023. The August trailhead is the first time any of that land has been open without a guide, and under the draft plan the creek and its springs would stay with the guided walks.
Here at Missy Stagers, we follow changes like the Honey Creek plan because they shape everyday life in Spring Branch, from the trail you take on a Saturday morning to what might get built along Park Road 31 in the coming years. If you want to talk through what's changing in the area as TPWD works through later phases, our team is glad to help.
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