Some Damaged Parks To Reopen Within a Week

The river parks damaged in the October flood are scheduled to be partially reopened within a week.

Purgatory Natural Area and Blanco Shoals Park suffered extensive damage and will be closed indefinitely. Capes’ Camp and Thompson’s Island have been closed since the Memorial Day flood and will remain so indefinitely because of dangerous flood debris.

When the parks reopen, visitors will be allowed in but may find damaged areas roped off and trails in disrepair in the wake of the historic flooding, which washed away landscaping material and deposited large trees and hazardous debris in the river.

Children’s Park

Children’s Park suffered damage to playground equipment and lost the engineered wood particles on the ground under the equipment.

Rio Vista Park

Rio Vista Park’s trails were heavily damaged. Fencing protecting the riparian vegetation planted as part of the Habitat Conservation Plan has been damaged, and visitors are asked to steer clear of roped off areas.

Bank stabilization features installed as part of the HCP held strong for the most part but sustained some damage in the flood.

Ball Fields

Parks crews are working to clear debris from the softball and soccer fields in order to get them back in operation as quickly as possible.

Purgatory Natural Area

The trails familiar to many users of Purgatory Natural Area are gone, and much of the area is unrecognizable. The park is off limits and very hazardous. Experts will be brought in to the park in the near future to help guide the City’s rebuilding efforts.

In addition to repairing the extensive damage to many of the City’s most beloved parks, staff members with Parks and Rec are assisting with debris removal at homes that were damaged in the flooding.

“San Marcos is known for its incredible park system, and our crews are working hard to repair the damage and clear the incredible amounts of debris from this historic flood,” said William Ford, Assistant Director of Community Services-Parks and Recreation. “When we are able to open the parks, we invite visitors to come and enjoy them but respect the cordoned-off areas for their safety.”

When the parks open, river users are warned not to go beyond the waterfalls at Rio Vista Park because of hazardous debris downriver of the park.

“Not only do we have to contend with debris from the Memorial Day flood, but now there is new debris in the river from this most recent flood,” Ford said. “The river is a completely different body of water from what many users are accustomed to and presents many hazards downstream that were not there just a few weeks ago.”