New Braunfels has opened roughly 3.1 miles of natural-surface hiking trails at Northwest Park, the city's largest public park. The low-difficulty trail system winds through woodlands, grasslands, honey mesquite thickets and old jeep roads on the 140-plus-acre site, and it's now open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
According to Community Impact, the trails opened on October 26, with the primary trailhead located at 965 Conrads Lane. The park itself sits along FM 1102 south of Conrads Lane, and the city has installed trail markers on trees along with wayfinding signs throughout the property, per a city news release cited by the outlet. The 140-plus acres were purchased by the New Braunfels Economic Development Corporation in 2024, making Northwest Park the city's largest public park, as reported by Herald-Zeitung.
New Braunfels Parks and Recreation Director Ken Wilson said the new trails are only the beginning for the property. “Opening these trails is just the first of many improvements for this property and brings a much-needed injection of public park space to that area of the city,” Wilson said, according to Community Impact's report. Wilson also credited the New Braunfels Parks Foundation with donating 15 acres of land and financially supporting the signage and trail construction, and he said volunteers with the Comal Trails Alliance will help the city maintain and improve the trails going forward.
A Kiosk Maps the Bigger Trail Vision
The primary trailhead includes a kiosk called Completing the Corridor, featuring a map that shows the growing connectivity among area parks, trails and neighborhoods. Per the city news release, that connectivity includes the future Sunflower Ridge Park, and planned links are intended to connect the area to the existing Alligator Creek West Loop. Once those connections are built out, the combined system will include about 5 miles of paved and unpaved trails, according to the release.
The city's own trails webpage notes that New Braunfels already maintains a network of more than 8 miles of hike-and-bike trails inside city limits, though that figure comes from a general city page rather than a count tied specifically to Northwest Park. City officials have framed the broader push as part of a parks and open-space strategy meant to boost livability and community identity, according to a city newsflash page.
A Long-Term Master Plan Is in the Works
A long-term master plan for Northwest Park is expected to go before New Braunfels City Council in the coming weeks, the same report from Herald-Zeitung notes.
Two concepts were put forward for attendees to review and discuss at that meeting, the outlet reported. Both proposed concepts share many of the same amenities, including pavilions, restrooms, playgrounds and open lawn areas, giving residents a chance to compare layouts before city leaders settle on a final direction.
A Second Trail Project Moves Forward Nearby
Northwest Park isn't the only trail project advancing in New Braunfels right now. City Council approved an advance funding agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation for the separate Waterway Lane Hike and Bike Trail project in a 5-1 vote on September 28, as reported by Community Impact.
That project is planned to span 2.4 miles, connecting FM 306 to Gruene Road, with an estimated cost of $3,659,475 — about $728,600 from the city and $2,914,400 from TASA funding. City staff were set to finalize the funding agreement with TxDOT before moving into project design, following a public meeting held in June 2025 to gather community input before the project was submitted for construction grant consideration.
