- Brackenridge Book
- Cultural
Landscape Report - Go For Goats
- Sunken Garden
Theater - Pump House &
Lambert Beach
Revealing the Park's History
In July 1863, the Union Army defeated Confederate forces at Vicksburg, effectively taking control of the Mississippi River and stranding 50,000 soldiers on the river's west side. Left to supply shoes, harnesses, saddles, and more for these soldiers, Confederate army quartermasters turned their attention to a tannery in San Antonio, on land that today is in Brackenridge Park. Details of this story and so many others about Brackenridge Park are revealed in San Antonio author Lewis F. Fisher's latest book, “Brackenridge: San Antonio’s Acclaimed Urban Park”. Click here for more of Richard Marini's article about the tannery in the Express News. To purchase the book, click here.
Cultural
Landscape Report
The Brackenridge Park landscape contains an astonishing 12,000 years of documented prehistoric and human interaction with the upper course of the San Antonio River. In that span, its 120-year existence as a municipal park is relatively short. Brackenridge Park is thus more than a municipal park...
The goats were so successful in clearing seven acres in the Wilderness Area that they loaded up and headed home earlier than planned.
The Brackenridge Park Conservancy (BPC) in collaboration with San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department welcomed 150 goats through Rent-A-Ruminant® Texas to assist with naturally cutting or “mowing” overgrown vegetation. Goats, which graze on many varieties of grasses and plants, are an effective, eco-friendly, and sustainable solution to vegetation management. The Park’s approach cleared unwanted or undesirable plant species and removed extra brush, negating the need for commercial mowing and the use of herbicides.
Sunken Garden
Theater
The Brackenridge Park Conservancy, working together with the City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department, has begun the process to renovate the historic Sunken Garden Theater and create a more functional event venue for the citizens of San Antonio and visitors alike.
Pump House &
Lambert Beach
The general goal is to repair and enhance historic features of the site as outlined in the CoSA 2017 Bond Project. These site features include the Brackenridge Lily Pond, Upper Labor Dam, Upper Labor Acequia, Pump House, and Lambert Beach. The directive for the areas are: preserve and rehabilitate the Lambert Beach river walls acequia walls and upper labor dam; preserve the lily pond walls and water gates; and rehabilitate and restore the pump house structure.
Every San Antonian has a memory of Brackenridge Park — family gatherings under the shade trees, driving through the low water crossing, riding the paddle boats on the river. Enjoying Brackenridge Park has been a part of our shared history for more than a century.
Situated just below the headwaters of the San Antonio River, the site of Brackenridge Park has been an oasis for humans for 12,000 years, from indigenous people who found water, food, and shelter here to Park visitors today who come to relax along the river, to wade in the low water crossing with their children, and to explore the Park's historic sites and some of San Antonio's most beloved attractions.
Brackenridge Park is free and open daily from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Join us for a special event, "Birdsong Brackenridge," on April 11. Sponsorship information will be...
Mark your calendar for the 2023 Parktoberfest, scheduled for Sept. 24. Stay tuned for details. Parktoberfest...
The Family Fishing Experience is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 4. Stay tuned for details....
What's New at Brackenridge Park
Lions Field Center
Lions Field Community Center in Brackenridge Park is one of four locations for adults to participate in recreational, educational, and social programs, including exercise, art, games, and special events. For adults 60 and older, the annual fee is $7. For adults 18 to 59, the annual fee is $15. For more information, call (210) 207-5830.
